LMS Files - Available or Unavailable in students WebVista (1:41)
Quickly ... How it works ...
Students click the "Syllabus and Content" smartlink in your section. (see picture)
Unavailable ()
Available
Students are blocked from seeing your LMS files, and instead see a default message of "This section currently is unavailable. Please check it later. For questions, please contact your instructor " or a custom pre-message (see example)
Students see a student-view of your LMS files (see example).
The details ...
By default, your LMS content is NOT available to students in your WebVista section until you release it. Your LMS content being unavailable is visible by the red (not released) next to the course in your LMS instructor view. With the red in your LMS instructor view, and if you see students in the LMS Student Roster, those students can enter your WebVista section, but when they click the "Syllabus and Content" smartlink (see example) inside your WebVista section to see your Carlson LMS materials, students are blocked and instead:
Students see a default system message
" This section currently is unavailable. Please check it later. For questions, please contact your instructor. "
or students see a custom pre-message from you
e.g. "I will be releasing content for your course on September 6. If you have a question before then, please contact me via email at _______@umn.edu." (example student-view of custom pre-message )
By turning the red OFF (toggling to "available"), students can access your LMS content through the WebVista smartlink called "Syllabus and Content" in order to see the LMS Syllabus, Word files, PPTs you have input with LMS. Remember, you can always time/date individual files if you want to release the course but still hold back certain content.
As a guideline, we recommend (1) posting a custom pre-message when your red is on and (2) making your LMS content to Available at least one-week prior to the course start.
Unavailable Custom Pre-Message (view video, 1:08)
If you have the red ON (unavailable) you can input a custom pre-message for your students, in lieu of using the system default message. To use this feature, choose the radio-button "Show my custom Pre-Message to students" button and enter a message in the text area below. Be sure to click the "Save" link when finished.
STUDENTS click the "Syllabus and Content" WebVista smartlink (see example). Students are BLOCKED from instructor's LMS syllabus and files, and instead see the pre-message (see example)
Example Pre-Message:
Welcome to [Course Name]. I will be using WebVista this semester. If you are unfamiliar to WebVista, I recommend you read the materials at http://webct.umn.edu/students. I will be releasing some materials to this special "Syllabus and Content" WebVista Smartlink soon. Afterwards, you'll be able to access the course syllabus and course files using this "Syllabus and Content" smartlink from your student view. Check back around [Date]. If you have any questions before then, contact me via email at youremail@umn.edu.
As a guideline, we recommend inputting a custom pre-message to students welcoming them to your course and giving them an indication of when you plan to release your LMS content.
the function pulls an exact snapshot of LMS content from a previous course section into your current, blank course section.
The LMS Copy-a-Course-Section feature is most useful at the beginning of the term when you want to pull in a snapshot of a previous course into your current one as a way to pre-populate content. If you have any questions, ask your Cluster support staff. Used at the beginning of the term, this feature may save you a lot of time in getting started with your current term.
Be sure to START from a BLANK course-section!
Go to your BLANK course-section in the LMS "My Courses" area.
Go to the Section Management area.
Scroll down and click the "copy all content..." option
On the resulting page, select the TERM you wish to copy-from in the left-hand drop-down menu (you may need to toggle the drop-down until it pulls correctly).
Once you have the term you wish to copy-from, select the checkbox next to the course-section on the LEFT that you wish to copy into the (current, blank) course-section on the RIGHT.
On the right, click "copy." Note! This is a destructive copy. It first erases the current, blank course on the RIGHT and then copies a snapshot of the course from the left into the current blank course on the right. This is usually okay because the current course on the right (current,blank) is empty.
Once the copy is completed click "back" and it will return you to the current (now full) course-section you started from.
NOTE: The copy-a-course feature does NOT copy time/dating of objects! If you had any time-dated sessions or PPTs, PDfs, etc, you need to re-do all the time/datings on each item. Re-do the time/datings BEFORE you turn OFF the red- to avoid accidentally providing access to Answer Keys, etc.
Download LMS files (Instructors)
There is a way to download your LMS files to your computer (e.g. archival purposes).
Scroll down to the very bottom of the Section Management page. Look for the "Download Course Content" frame.
In this frame, instructors can choose which portions of their LMS course to save to their local computer.
Announcements
Creates a PDF
Student Roster
Creates a *.csv file with First Name, Last Name and Email Address
Syllabus
If the built-in syllabus is used, downloads the PDF file
Sessions
Downloads files and descriptions as sub-folders, files and description.PDFs
Additional Resources
Downloads the content as a PDF file.
A download will appear, where the system will prompt you to save a Zip file (*.zip). Save this file to your local computer and then you can extract it later.
Section Management 
(1:25) 
section. (see picture) 
)
) 
As a guideline, we recommend (1) posting a custom pre-message when your red 