CourseWorks is Columbia University's course management system, a web-based environment that provides instructors and students with instructional and administrative tools for all courses. CourseWorks is based on software called Prometheus, originally developed by the George Washington University and has since been customized extensively for the Columbia community.

A CourseWorks site can contain your course information, as well as tools for managing your content. With it, instructors can publish a syllabus, send messages to students, conduct online discussions, and provide students with access to files of any media type, including text, slides, video clips, and music. CourseWorks also provides additional features such as a grade book, tests and quizzes, and a drop-box for assignments.

Skeleton course Web sites, with basic course data such as the instructor's name and meeting times, are automatically created in CourseWorks for all Columbia University course sections. To get started on your course's Web site log in at http://courseworks.columbia.edu.

Why should I use CourseWorks?

CourseWorks makes course management simple and efficient. Instructors and students have come to expect that, at a minimum, basic course information will be available for all of their courses. This information might include a course introduction, syllabus, and class roster. CourseWorks simplifies the process of publishing Web pages so that faculty can begin making a website with a minimum of training and effort and you can modify the content at any time. CourseWorks offers a single destination for all of your courses, past and present. All of your content will be retained by the site, and it can be reused in future semesters. CourseWorks is both a communication space for current courses and an archive for past courses.

Faculty can use CourseWorks to:

• Inform students about the classroom location, meeting time, and instructors' contact information
• Present the course introduction and overview
• Add and edit basic course information such as a weekly syllabus and reading lists
• Facilitate online discussions
• Disseminate documents, assignments and short readings to the class
• Present film clips, slides, maps, animations or audio clips.
• Provide links to online library resources including library reserves, reference tools and electronic books.

Additionally, if you teach in a classroom with a networked computer, you can show media that you have stored on your CourseWorks site, such as slides, video clips, or links to other sites, without having to bring additional equipment or storage media to class.

CCNMTL's Educational Technologists are available to assist faculty and instructors interested in using CourseWorks. Numerous workshops are presented every semester. Check this Web site for a schedule. Additionally, a number of Quickstart Guides are available to help instructors get started on their own.

CourseWorks Sections

The CourseWorks course template includes several "sections", which can be enabled (or disabled) by the instructor at any time during the semester. Any content added to sections, whether enabled or disabled, is retained in the system unless it is manually deleted by the instructor (or another course member who has edit access). Course content can be copied from one course site to another through the "course migration" tool, which is only available to instructors and system administrators. The following is a list of sections in CourseWorks:

• Introduction - the course Web site's default space, which holds a basic course description or overview, instructor contact information (automatically supplied via the registrar), requirements, etc.
• Syllabus - a space for a more detailed (daily, weekly, monthly, or topical) listing of what will happen during class sessions
• Lectures - a series of folders that can hold notes, video, or audio of lecture presentations
• Assignments - a series of folders that can hold documents, descriptions, and requirements for a course's assignments
• Test & Quiz - a testing and polling tool
• Bibliography - a space for required and supplemental reading lists or other pertinent information
• Class Files - a space with folders to hold and organize all types of digital documents
• Discussion Board - a space where students can respond to instructor's questions or start their own online discussion
• Grade Book - a grade tracking tool, which is made available to students at the instructor's discretion
• Class E-mail - a tool to send emails to individuals, groups, or the entire class roster
• Settings - the administrative heart of the course Web site, which is used to enable/disable sections, add/remove class members, create groups, etc.
• Research Guides - help students with many aspects of their research and writing. Created by Columbia University librarians, these guides are geared to the requirements of specific departments or programs. They provide direct access from CourseWorks to recommended databases and sources of library assistance and training. To request a guide for your department or program, or to obtain more general information about this feature in CourseWorks, please contact a librarian at: researchguides@libraries.cul.columbia.edu.

If you are developing a course Web site on your own without CourseWorks, feel free to refer to the Web Publishing Guide or consult with an Educational Technologist about hybrid CourseWorks options.

Contact Information
To speak with an Education Technologist about building a course Web site, please call (212) 854-9058 or send us an e-mail at ccnmtl@columbia.edu.

Faculty may also stop by the CCNMTL Faculty Support Center in 204 Butler Library Monday through Friday from 10:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.

To learn how to activate your course Web site and add course information, view or print the appropriate faculty QuickStart guide.

For more hands-on training facilitated by a CCNMTL Educational Technologist, register for an upcoming workshop.