The college is approaching the start of the undergraduate academic year, and faculty are thinking about course web sites. LIS has many ways to help faculty think about what is possible with technology in the classroom (if you don’t know where to start, try your liaison:http://go.middlebury.edu/liaisons),  but we realize that there are faculty who simply want to jump in and start experimenting on their own.

Below are a some ideas for the do-it-yourselfers. This is not meant as a comprehensive list, just some suggestions to make things easier.

Start at the Hub

Every course has a basic site automatically created in the Course Hub ( http://courses.middlebury.edu ). This is where you can see all of the web-based resources available to your class. After logging in, you will see a listing of your classes with a big grey button to the right for each one. To see what is available click on the following buttons:

MANAGE RESOURCES → +ADD A RESOURCE

One Place to Find Them

Every student will see a list of their courses in the Hub. If every syllabus and course web site is made available through the Hub, then students will be able to find the resources they need for every class in one central location.

Add Your Syllabus

Click on the SYLLABUS link on the right-hand side of your Course Hub site. You can add your syllabus in a number of ways:

• Write/paste it inside the Hub

• Upload it to the Hub

• Link to it from a web site

Public or Private

We currently have two services that support course web sites: Moodle and WordPress. Which one is right for your class? This depends on what you are doing with your class, and how you plan on using the web site. There are a number of features in each one, but in general here is one way to think about the decision:

MOODLE starts off with the idea of a private classroom. Activities like quizzes and forum discussions are meant for students who are in the class, visitors are only welcome by permission. If you would like your classroom activity to be private, choose Moodle.

WORDPRESS starts off with the idea that you want to share with the world. Commenting on posts, image galleries, and Google Maps make for an engaging experience. If you would like your course to interact with the world, choose WordPress.

You Can Build It, Just Make Sure You Unlock the Door

You can make your Moodle course site “unavailable to students,” a nice feature while you are building your site. However, please remember to go back to the settings page or the Hub and set the course to “available for students” when you want them to access your course materials.

DMTs at Their Service

The Digital Media Tutors (http://go.middlebury.edu/dmt ) have spent the summer working on web sites, videos, and other multimedia projects. They have built up their working knowledge so that they can help your students with their multimedia assignments. The DMTs are available for walk-in support in the Wilson Media Lab ( http://go.middlebury.edu/wilson ).