When to Use?
On Blackboard Ultra's Course Content page, you can create learning modules and folders to organize your course content. Within either of these areas, you can add documents, file attachments, tests, assignments, multimedia, links to websites, discussions, and journals. While learning modules and folders are similar from the instructor's perspective, there are key differences when it comes to the student's experience. This article will walk you through the differences and similarities between the two and when to utilize each.
Understanding the Differences
- Learning modules are intended for a logically structured collection of course content – similar to a chapter in a textbook
.
- Instructors and students experience modules differently.
- For students, learning module content is presented sequentially, with navigation arrows that students use to move through the content horizontally.
- Learning modules can help immerse the student in the concept you are teaching because students are able to navigate from one content item to the next without distractions or extra clicks.
- A module can cascade the items down like a drop box, or up, to minimize scrolling through the modules.
- Students and instructors see content the same way:
vertically.
- To interact with content, students open and close each item. The order doesn't matter.
- You cannot add a Learning Module to a Folder.
- Folders are best suited for organizing course documents such as a syllabus, instructor contact information, course schedule, resources, etc.
NOTE: You can create sub-folders within a folder, however, Blackboard Ultra only supports a two-level folder structure. You cannot create or upload a third folder into a second-level folder.
Folders serve as a containing element for any item type. Students can click on any of the items in the folder, then close that item to launch another.
Modules encourage sequential viewing of the items they contain. When a student launches an item in a module, a link at the top right of the page encourages them to advance to the next item in the list. With modules, you can even force students to view items sequentially. Students will see the items listed within the folder but will be unable to launch the second item in a list until they've viewed the first. If one of the items in the list is a quiz or assignment, they won't be able to view the items below it in the list until they've submitted the quiz or assignment.
Key Differences:
- Learning modules can contain a folder, but a folder cannot contain learning modules.
- You can add one level of a folder to a learning module, meaning each folder can only contain content items, but not additional folders.
- Folders help you visually organize your material in the Course Content area. However, when viewing a learning module, students experience the content seamlessly and do not see folders as they navigate horizontally.
If you want students to proceed through the content by viewing each item in a particular sequence, use a learning module. If an order doesn't matter and/or you are adding content such as the Syllabus, course overview, resources, etc., use a folder.
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