Table of Contents
Handy Links and Tips
Coursetune application |
|
Help Articles |
|
Interactive tutorials |
https://coursetune.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/1500000453842-Interactive-Tutorials |
Coursetune education videos |
https://coursetune.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/4409708477719-Coursetune-Training-Videos |
Case Studies |
|
New Feature Reviews |
|
Higher-Ed Implementation Tips
|
|
Implementation Stages
 |
Stage 1- Preparing Stage 2- Learning Stage 3- Growing Stage 4- Integrating Stage 5- Innovating |
Admin FAQ
As an Admin in Coursetune, you’ll get asked many of the same questions as people begin working in the application. Here are the most frequently asked questions and how to answer them.
- What is Coursetune?--> Coursetune is a collaborative online tool for prototyping, designing, mapping, and aligning curriculum at multiple levels. It’s built for teams to have all their curriculum goals, outcomes, and assessments in one place. Coursetune has a patented visual design that enables seeing courses in new ways for continuous improvement.
- Why are we using Coursetune?
- What is the goal of this project or initiative, and where does this software fit into that project?
- What is the scope of work that I will be expected to complete in Coursetune? How much time will I have to dedicate to this project?
- Is there a deadline for this work?
- Which colleagues will I be working/collaborating with?
- What support, guidance, or training will be provided for my work:
- From colleagues on campus?
- From Coursetune support?
- Which of my other responsibilities will this software support?
- How will this make my job easier?
- What technology am I using right now that Coursetune will replace?--> Spreadsheets and documents are the most common tools that Coursetune replaces. Instead of binders that sit on a shelf, Coursetune is a dynamic presentation of the curriculum.
- Is this software intended to replace or add to a process or technology that I am already using?
Stage 1- Preparing
|
"Once Coursetune gave our team a demo, it was love at first sight for Ashley and me; we knew immediately Coursetune provided the tools our institution needed to create the outcomes and assessment solutions we sought." Amanda Lattin, Professor, Aromatherapy Program Chair, American College of Health Sciences |
What to communicate to your team: “We are starting an alignment journey by documenting our goals, strategizing for success, and aligning our projects and people.”
What you’ll be doing:
- Getting setup and adding your first users.
- Creating goals and plans for your project in Coursetune.
Technology setup
The first step to getting up and running with Coursetune is ensuring you have the right technology and access. Coursetune does NOT work for mobile devices and may be very challenging for small touchscreen devices.
|
Browser |
Preferred: Chrome, Secondary: Firefox |
|
Computer type |
Minimum processor type: Intel i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 Minimum memory: 8GB Any desktop or laptop with a mouse |
|
Access |
Internet access required |
Help articles:
Preparing for your first import
|
Set clear expectations with your team |
Get everyone excited about what they’ll see after their import with this video of a course “unboxing”. Share this article: Coursetune takes data loading out of your hands to communicate what to expect. |
|
Gather files, mark them up, and send them to support@coursetune.com |
Help articles: |
Stage 2- Learning
|
“I'll tell you, once you get started adding activities and you properly train the faculty to use them, you certainly won't want to go back. The data and the visualizations are incredible. We're starting to look at our courses in a completely different way. I started to see holes and requirements and engagement and time of requirements that we've never been able to see before.“ Michael Hower, Lt Col, USAF (Ret.), Strategic Advisor at Air University/ASU Partnership |
What to communicate to your team: “We will build familiarity with the tools and understand how the features will help us meet our goals.”
What you’ll be doing:
- Learning about Coursetune.
- Supporting and training your team.
- Getting your structure and naming customized.
Admin-only rights
You have ULTIMATE POWER, so we want you to know where you will be asked to do things no one else can.
|
Here’s the list of tasks that ONLY Admins can do: |
|
|
|
|
|
Customizing Coursetune
Coursetune works best when it feels familiar. Make it your own space. You’ll want to customize the names of levels and layers for your particular culture. You can give these Individual courses a structure to work within if you define these characteristics with your team in mind.
|
Start here with a glossary guide to learn how to talk the talk of tuning. |
Here is a list of all the glossary articles that define the vocabulary of Coursetune. |
|
Name the levels |
|
|
Set your defaults |
|
|
Share this customer story with your team about scaling and innovative uses of Coursetune from the University of Missouri System. |
|
Building your folder structure
There are a few general steps to follow to set up your folder structure using the levels of Coursetune. This structure informs how you report on the data you create. Consider what types of information you’ll need at each level. You can make a variety of folders without having to duplicate the effort of making the same course in each by using shared courses. Here’s a link to the Guide for Shared Curriculum.
|
Build your folder structure level by level |
|
|
Level 1 is the highest level of your folder structure. It is typically your institution. |
Check that the name of your Level 1 is correct. If not, use this: How do I customize the level names in Coursetune? |
|
Level 2 is the secondary structure of folders. You’ll typically use this level for divisions or departments. |
Name your level-2 folders: To create: Changing settings: |
|
Level 3 is the third set of folders that hold a collection of courses. Each folder lives in a level 2 folder. These typically are used for programs. See notes below on questions to consider. |
Name your level-3 folders: To create: |
|
Level 4 is the final structural level that provides the foundation for Coursetune, the course. These are not folders. They are individual course graphs. |
Your course will be created during the document importation part of your implementation. You do NOT need to create courses that are part of your import documents. |
Questions to consider for structuring your folders:
- Do you want to order your courses by course ID (default) or alphabetically by the course name?
- Do you want to display the course ID (default) or turn it off?
- Do you want to assign a default bundle name for the program? If you’ve organized all the courses by a standard unit like weeks, units, or modules, then the answer is probably yes.
Stage 3- Growing
|
"Coursetune allows faculty engaging in online content development to engage in the process of pre-planning from the standpoint of making sure that the content communicates the intent that they wish that it would have in order for students to be able to meet the course level outcomes by the end of the course." Barbara Williamson-Holley, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology and Distance Education, South Carolina State University |
What to communicate to your team: “It’s time to add users to our team with specific roles and responsibilities. We can make sure we are all on the same page and working together on the same vision in Coursetune.”
What you’ll be doing:
- Strategizing for new user onboarding and the scope of work
- Defining outcome mapping strategy for alignment
- Conducting a review for gaps in the data
Two steps- adding users and assigning roles to them
Admins will manage their team by adding, deactivating, and reactivating team members.
You can add users one at a time, or you can add a bunch of users all at once. When you add a new user, they will receive an email from Coursetune inviting them to create a password and log in for the first time. Read: What is the new user account acceptance workflow like?
After adding a user, you must assign each user to a role in the Coursetune application. If you skip this step, users will log in and see nothing. In Coursetune, the user’s team role and goals define their status as viewers, commenters, editors, or managers.
It might be good to start with assigning managers and editors to the Level 3 folders. Typically, Level 3 might have one manager and one or two editors. We recommend keeping editing rights to a minimum to preserve the data. All roles play a part, and it is up to admins and managers to delegate proper workflow.
|
Work together in Coursetune. |
Here is a list of articles about setting up your team. |
|
Add a new single user. |
|
|
Add multiple users. |
|
|
Assign roles to new users. |
|
|
Define the roles at different levels. |
Additional help articles:
- Why doesn't every new user get assigned a role?
- Why does an admin also get added to the team?
- What does it mean to inherit roles?
Finding and seeing user roles
If you get questions about who you’ve already added and their roles, you can look them up using the articles below.
|
Find a user’s role. |
|
|
Find recently added users. |
|
|
See all the roles assigned to a user. |
|
|
See all your roles. |
Growing your team
As you grow your team for collaboration in Coursetune, you can maximize the tools and align even more of your curriculum for continuous improvement. There’s no race to the finish. You should follow and discuss intentional strategies for adding people and giving them tasks to accomplish. Use these resources to support a grassroots effort of growing your team.
|
Share these links to learn the talk of Tuning. |
|
|
Prepare your team for collaborative curriculum discussions. |
Use this guide for better curriculum discussions. |
|
Share user guides to help your team. |
This article includes a list of all available user guides. |
|
Get inspired by the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy’s Colleen M. Culley’s 2021 Camp presentation about her grassroots effort to grow her team. Watch the video here. |
|
Collaborating in Coursetune
Curriculum transformations happen when teams rally around a goal with an alignment mindset. We’ve designed Coursetune for teams to collaborate, manage projects, and track progress. As the Admin, it will be your responsibility to give your team the tools they need.
|
Use our template to document how your curriculum process works now and how it will change with Coursetune. |
Go to your shared Google Drive folder for your template. or start a new one by copying and editing this template. |
|
Share educational videos with your team to set up discussions. |
|
|
Give your team time to explore, play, and prototype on Z-Examples and Play Space. |
Each instance has a folder that includes feature examples, guided course models, and a place to play without affecting the curriculum. |
Planning team training
Culture matters when it comes to planning team training. Every institution is unique. Spend time getting to know your faculty’s needs and addressing them with compassion and understanding. The best gift you can give faculty is time to play and explore.
Looking for advice or inspiration for getting your faculty onboard? Watch Fort Hays State University’s Camp 2021 presentation about new program development and collaboration with faculty. Here’s the video.
Stage 4- Integrating
|
“Coursetune has really streamlined the process for us. Prior to Coursetune, we did everything through Google spreadsheets, Google documents, and also email. Version control was a real problem before.” Erasmus Addae, Associate Vice President of Distance Education, Office of Distance & Alternative Education, Austin Community College |
What to communicate to your team: “Coursetune supports the processes we already have in place. We can integrate Coursetune with our LMS to make it easy for faculty and staff to communicate and collaborate on their course development.”
What you’ll be doing:
- Evaluating data connections and documenting them.
- Discussing systems integration with stakeholders.
- Setting up and testing connections.
- Organizing resources and support for integration
Integrations with Coursetune
 |
Coursetune can become the centralized curricular database at your institution. There are multiple ways to connect Coursetune to your other data systems. Use the resources below to help you prepare and plan for your needs. |
|
Before you start an integration, document your data systems and how they interact. |
Review this deck about systems integration and talk to your Coursetune contact about doing a Data Crosswalk exercise. |
|
Use these resources for connecting your LMS. |
Canvas Resources: https://coursetune.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360002739394-Canvas- Canvas Integration Overview: Moodle Resources: https://coursetune.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360004983773-Moodle Blackboard Resources: https://coursetune.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360006809774-Blackboard Moodle Resources: https://coursetune.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360004983773-Moodle D2L Resources: https://coursetune.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360007091793-D2L-Brightspace |
Stage 5- Innovating
|
"In one of their accreditation exit interviews for the nursing department, during which they had used Coursetune, the accreditor actually mentioned the software by name in the exit interview, which is a bit of a testament to what was going on there." Andrew Feldstein, Assistant Provost for Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies, Fort Hays State University |
What to communicate to your team: “Coursetune makes our lives easier. Especially when it comes to reporting and collecting evidence that shows our courses and curriculum align with industry standards, institutional benchmarks, or external accreditation sources. Let’s review our strategic plan and plan for the next big initiative.”
What you’ll be doing:
- Preparing for large reporting projects (i.e., accreditation).
- Creating new course collections for innovative projects.
- Iterating on structure and organization.
- Revisiting your strategic planning.
Preparing for accreditation
One of the most common uses of Coursetune is mapping courses to standards. We will import any outcome set that you own and have rights to. We also have a large number of sets available for Higher education. Here’s the list of available sets for importing into your Coursetune instance. Watch this video to see how Mapping sets can make your life easier.
Mapping also gives you the ability to show the student’s experience across a program. Using the mappings and assessments, you can tell the story of what students encounter across the courses in a program. The reports in Coursetune give clarity and rigor to what was taught, when, and why.
You’ll also be able to use outcome sets for mapping more than just standards. You can map institutional values, ethics, and DEI goals. Share this inspiring article with your team: 3 Ways Curriculum Mapping Enables Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Certificates, Badges, and More
Once data is in Coursetune, you can treat it like legos, moving it around, copying it, putting it in other folders, and testing it out with reports. The four-level folder structure of Coursetune allows you to customize multiple ways the same data is organized. You may have the same course in a grade level folder, a discipline folder, and a core curriculum folder. Your reporting needs will dictate how you want your folders named and structured.
Ready to get creative with your courses that are already aligned? Start by creating program folders and sharing proxy courses into them. You can use this technique to establish prototypes for certificates, badges, and micro-credentials. How can the same course live in multiple places? By using a source course and creating proxy courses. Here’s a guide to shared curriculum that explains how to use proxy courses: Guide to Shared Curriculum.
Designing online programs
Getting started designing for online programs? Coursetune has a feature made just for altering an existing course to account for different modalities or course durations. It’s called the Variations feature and it will need to be turned on for a course to allow variations to be made.
The Variations feature ensures consistent curriculum architecture (what we call the nucleus) while allowing for natural variation in modality, instructor, learning resources, assessments, and time frame. Use this feature to create different modalities based on courses that already exist. Read: The Glossary entry for Variations. Use this resource to start making course level variations: How do I edit a course (level-4 object) variation?
Sharing your success
Once you’ve made progress on your goals and initiatives, we’d love to document your success and celebrate with you! Part of our process involves establishing your plans at the very beginning and then looking back at what you’ve accomplished. We use this as a foundation for capturing your success story and then build it out using interviews with your team. These case studies can become powerful tools to share with stakeholders and peers. See how other teams have shared their wins by reading through the case studies on our blog here.
Troubleshooting
What to do when things are slow:
Coursetune is a web application that runs best in Chrome. To optimize your speed, follow these steps.
- Clear your cache and refresh the page.
- Limit the number of tabs you have open.
What to do when someone can’t log in:
If a team member didn’t receive a welcome email, follow these steps to help get them online.
- As an Admin, you can set a temporary password for the user. Use this article to find out how. Once the user logs in, they can update their password.
- They can log in at https://app.coursetune.com/. Their email is the user name.
- Give the user this article: How can I change my password?
- Or, the user can click the “forgot password?” link on the login screen and follow the prompts. Send them this article to guide them: How can I reset my password if I can't log in?
When you can’t remember what something was called:
If you want to know the name of something in Coursetune, start by browsing the Glossary. Many items in Coursetune can take on custom names, so you will want to keep your team Glossary updated on your shared google drive. Ask your Coursetune contact for the link if you’ve misplaced it.
When you can’t remember where something was:
There’s a single tool that can help you search across all of Coursetune called Universal Search. If you need to search for a course element, an outcome, or an activity asset, you can use the search tool to find it and jump to the item location. Read: How to search for something in Coursetune.
Why someone can’t do something:
Usually, it’s because their role and permissions aren’t set correctly. Here are some resources for troubleshooting:
- Check the roles of a user.
- Make sure you’ve set the roles to the correct level. Read how roles and levels work.
- If you need to change someone’s role, use this guide.
Coursetune is a community.
Support is always available.
|
“When I was playing and building, and trying to figure it out, there was always somebody on the other end of the chat literally ready to answer your questions, [or] jump on a Zoom call,” Debora M. Dole, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, Associate Professor, and the department’s Vice-Chair |
- Consider adding a regular team training each month with Coursetune. Email support@coursetune.com for more information.
- Be sure to use the Coursetune help site. This customer portal offers many searchable articles and videos on how to use Coursetune. While you’re there, drop us a line in the live chat and one of our support staff will help you with anything you need.
- You can also access our live support chat while you’re logged into Coursetune. Check out the chat window in the bottom left corner of the screen. (Make sure you’re using Chrome.)
Here are other ways to contact Coursetune support:
Call: (866) 860-8863
Email: support@coursetune.com
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.