Courses List

The Courses list gives you a possibility to view a full list of currently registered courses. A user logged in as Teacher can enroll into courses published by other user, create new courses, as well as manage his/her own courses: publish, delete, edit or export them.

The Courses list displays the following data for every course:
-Course Name - a concise description of a course;
-Category - a group to which a course relates (for example, Dentistry education or Language courses);
-Fee type - payment basis of a course: Free or Paid.

Additionally, next to his/her own course, the Teacher can see the icons for course management:

Icon	Name	Description
	Published Unpublished	Allows the Teacher to publish a course (make it available for Students) or leave it unpublished
	Delete	Allows the course submitter (or the SuperUser) to delete a course.
	Edit	Allows the course Teacher to change general settings of a course.
	Export	Allows the course Teacher to export and save course settings in a file of XML format.

The system allows creating new courses by means of:

• Adding a new course;
• Importing a previously exported course package.

To add a new course from the Courses list page:

1. Click the New course link at the top or at the bottom of the Courses list page. The following form will be displayed:

2. In the displayed form specify settings for the newly created course. Fill out the form fields as described in the table below:

 

Field	Step
Course categories	From the list select a group to which the created course will belong.
Enter name	Enter the name of the created course.
Description	Enter the description of the course if necessary. Use the embedded Visual Editor to format the description text.
Course metadesc	Enter a line for representation in search engines: this line will be displayed as a topic in the list of search engine results.
Course metakeys	Enter key words that describe your course; these key words will to be taken into account by search engines when searching for relevant Web-pages.
Start date/ Ending date	If you want to make the course available only within a certain period, select check boxes and specify the start and ending dates of the availability period in the Start date and Ending date fields. You can use the day, month and year lists or set a required date with the help of the calendar icon (). Note:  - If you set only the Start date, the course will become published only after the start date; - If you set only the Ending date, the course will be published only till the ending date.
Course published?	Select Yes if you want the course to be published (that is, be accessible for Students), or select No if you don't want to publish it.
Access level	Select the level of users who will be able to access the course. For multiple selection, use the Shift and Ctrl keys. Every user group located higher in the hierarchy tree, inherits the rights of the lower group. For example, the Editor User Group inherits the access permissions of the Author and the Registered User groups.
Course language	From the list select the language in which the course user interface will be represented.
Add Chat room?	Select Yes if you want to use a chat room for communication in this course; otherwise select No.
Enable homework?	Select Yes if you want to enable home tasks option; otherwise select No.
Use Register of Attendance?	Select Yes if you are planning to register Students' attendance for the course; otherwise select No.
Add Forum?	Select Yes if you want a forum for the course to be enabled; otherwise select No.Please note that this option may be not available if the Forum is disabled by the Administrator of the site.
Self Registration	Select Yes if you want a user to be able to self-register in the course;Select No if a user will have to ask for the permission of the Teacher (course author) to register in the course. In this case a user will have to notify the Teacher (course author) by means of e-mail to be enrolled into the course
Fee type	Select a necessary payment basis for the course: Free or Paid.
Additional registration info	Select Yes if you want to ask some additional question when a user will be registering for the course. Enter the question into the Registration question field below. Select No if you do not want a user to be asked any questions during registration.

3. When finished, click Save in the top right corner of the form to add a course; click Cancel to discard changes and close the form.

The Joomla LMS system allows a user to import packages of two types: previously exported Joomla LMS course packages or BlackBoard course packages.

To import a Joomla course package:

1. Click the Import link on the Courses list page.
2. Click the JoomlaLMS tab of the displayed form.

2. Fill out the form fields as described in the following table:

Field	Step
Package file	Click the Browse button to select a JoomlaLMS package file on your computer.
Merge with course	From the list select a course with which the imported course should be merged. If this field is left blank, the course will be imported to the system as a separate essence without merging.
Tool name	Select the sections of the course package that should be imported to the system: Documents, Learning Paths, SCORMs, Links, Quizzes, Announcements, Homework, Gradebook.

3. Click the Upload File & Install button to import the selected JoomlaLMS package to the system.

To import a BlackBoard Course package:

1. Click the Import link on the Courses list page.
2. Click the BlackBoard tab of the displayed form.

3. In the New course name fields specify the name of the newly created course.
4. From the list select a course with which the imported course should be merged. If this field is left blank, the course will be imported to the system as a separate essence without merging.
5. Select the sections of the course package that should be imported to the system: Documents, Learning Paths, SCORMs, Links, Quizzes, Announcements, Homework, Gradebook.
6. Upload a BlackBoard course package. Here you can use one of the two options:

• Import a course from a BlackBoard course ZIP package stored locally. If a BlackBoard course is stored on the local computer, press the Browse button and select a necessary file; click the Upload file & Install button.
• Import a course from a BlackBoard course ZIP package uploaded into the Joomla Media folder. Sometimes a course package file can be too large. In this case it is easier to upload a file to the server using the FTP manager instead of common web interface. Such files are placed into the Media folder located in the Joomla site root folder. To import a file from the Media folder, specify only the name of an uploaded file and click the Install button.

In some cases it may be necessary to change basic settings for a course (for example, if the course requirements have changed). Only the Teacher of the course can edit the course data. When the Teacher is logged in, he/she can see additional management icons next to the courses he/she has created:

To edit course settings:

1. Click the Edit () icon next to a corresponding entry in the Courses list or on the Course Home page. As a result, a form with the data you set when creating a new course will be displayed.
2. Change the data in the corresponding fields as needed.
3. When finished, click Save in the top right corner of the form to add a document; click Cancel to discard changes and close the form.

Only the course submitter, that is, a person who has created the course and administers it (or the SuperUser) can delete a course. When the Teacher is logged in, he/she can see additional management icons next to the courses he/she has created:

To delete a course, click the Delete icon ( ) next to a corresponding entry in the Courses list. Confirm the deletion by clicking the Yes icon ( ) or link displayed on the page.

A Student, who desires to attend some course, needs to be enrolled into it. Depending on the course settings, enrolling into courses can be performed in two ways:

• By the Student him-/herself. If the Self registration option is enabled for a course, a user will be able to register him/herself without addressing the Teacher. Such courses have a check box next to them.
• By the Teacher administrating a corresponding course. If the Self registration option is disabled for a course, a user will need to send an email to the course Teacher, who will have to decide whether to enroll the Student to a course or not. Such courses are marked with an email icon () instead of a check box.

To be enrolled in a course with a self-registration:

1. Select the check box next to a necessary entry in the Courses list.
2. Click the Enroll link at the top or at the bottom of the Courses list page.
3. Select the check box on the Subscription form to confirm your agreement with the course terms and conditions.
4. Click the Subscribe button.
   

As a result, the course will get the Already subscribed icon () in the Courses list section.

To be enrolled into a course without a self-registration:

1. Click the email icon next to a necessary course. Your current mail client will be used to create and send an email to the Teacher of the course.
2. Make up an email in the free form; then send it.

As a result, after the Teacher has received your email, he/she will add you to the users group him/herself.

Once you have created a new course, it is possible to export its data into an external file that will be stored on your computer. This option may be very convenient if you want to make a backup copy of the current course settings. All settings of a course are exported in the form of an XML file with its subsequent archiving: as a result, you will get a course pack in the ZIP format.

Exporting prevents you from accidental deletion of any course data, or the course itself: you can re-import an exported course into the system and install it at any moment of time.

To export a course:

1. In the Courses list click the Export icon () next to a corresponding entry in the list.
2. In the displayed window specify a folder in which you would like store an exported pack.
3. Click Save.