Instructors can choose between several layout options for a course site’s homepage. Each choice is made up of an arrangement of Widgets and has been designed to highlight different site elements: focusing on content, course structure, or communication.
Unfortunately, true customization is limited to these selections.
It is possible to change the active homepage layout at any time through the ellipsis button in the bottom-right of any homepage.
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Homepage Options
All homepage options consist of a combination of the following widgets:
The default option (#4) offers a balanced and familiar set of widgets in Announcements, Visual Table of Contents, Calendar, and Single Instructor Profile.
Activity Feed: An interactive hub for site members to post messages that are visible site-wide. Instructors can also link to assignments, quizzes, and other tools.
Announcements: A typical communication tool that allows instructors to create course announcements using the full text-editor. These can be targeted at specific roster sub-sections and by default prompt email notifications.
Calendar: A monthly course calendar that will display upcoming events within the site, including date-dependent assignments, quizzes, discussions, etc.
Single Instructor Profile: A profile card with some brief biographical and contact options along with an image. Only one profile can be added to a homepage.
Visual Table of Contents: An interactive tiled list of content items that links directly to course material and provides students with a progress bar to track what they have read. Each item is tied to a Content Unit and all changes are managed within that tool (including the display image, which can be changed from the default by adding another image to the first page in the Content item). Other configuration details can be changed (e.g., default image, text colour, and progress bar colour) please reach out to edtech@brocku.ca for more information.
Slight changes to the configuration of the Visual Table of Contents will appear Monday June 19th, 2023 to replace the default banner image to match the banner image used for the entire course site.
The look and feel of the different homepage options will change as more content is added to a site. It may be best to toggle between the options once the rest of the site is set up.
1. Announcements | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile
Recommended for those that want their homepage to focus on communication in online synchronous and asynchronous courses. With a small calendar feed and profile for a single instructor.
2. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation with an interactive table of contents. As well as a small calendar feed on the side.
3. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Single Instructor Profile
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation with an interactive table of contents. As well as a profile for a single instructor on the side.
4. Announcements | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile (Default as of May, 2023)
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have an equal focus on communication and course topic navigation with an interactive table of contents. As well as a small calendar feed and profile for a single instructor.
5. Announcements Only
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have a focus on communication with the announcements tool only. Useful for training or department project sites, as well as for those who like to keep it simple.
6. Visual Table of Contents Only
Recommended for those that want their homepage to have a strict focus on content navigation with a large and visual interactive table of contents. Useful for training or department project sites.
7. Activity Feed Only
Recommended for those that want an interactive and free-flowing experience. This tool is like a social media feed that can quickly link to other site items and has discussion options. It is popular in K-12 sites and could be used to present a different course experience.
8. Activity Feed | Visual Table of Contents
Recommended for those that want an interactive and free-flowing experience alongside content navigation.
9. Activity Feed | Visual Table of Contents | Calendar | Single Instructor Profile
Recommended for those that want an interactive and free-flowing experience alongside content navigation. As well as a small calendar feed and profile for a single instructor on the side.
Change a course site Homepage
Navigate to a course site’s homepage or click the Course Home tab in the navbar.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the ellipsis button in the bottom-right corner.
Select the Manage Homepages button to view and choose between the different layouts.
Remove the Banner will eliminate the image across the top of a homepage, along with that instance of the course name. More details can be found on the Navbars and Banners page.
The Manage Homepages page will show a full list of homepage options with a brief description. Note that Widgets are positioned differently in the various options and it may be worth toggling between them to compare. Select from the Active Homepage dropdown menu and click Apply.
If your department or program is interested in a custom homepage please reach out to edtech@brocku.ca to explore custom options.