EdgeEX — Customizing courses: Creating, adding, and editing educator-created activities

Use this article to create an activity and add it to a customized EdgeEX course. 

For information about how course customization works in general, reference EdgeEX — Customizing courses overview.

Sections in this article

• Frequently asked questions
• Adding an activity to a course
• Creating a new activity
• Adding an activity from your activity library
• Editing an activity in your activity library

Frequently asked questions

Can I delete an activity that I have created?

Yes. You can delete an activity from the course by clicking the trash icon that displays on educator-created activities. There is not a way to delete an activity entirely from your activity library once it is created.

Can I edit an activity that I have created?

Yes. Reference Editing an activity in your activity library below for steps.

Can I add a custom activity to my course that another teacher has created?

No. At this time the activity library and its contents can be viewed and edited only by the educator who created the custom activities.

Does customization, such as adding or hiding content, affect in-flight progress for students?

Yes. Adding or hiding activities, lessons, and/or units can affect a student's progress because it changes the ratio of total time to completion time. If the total time after customization is less, the progress can appear to increase. If the total time after customization is more, the progress can appear to decrease.

Adding an activity to a course

1. Access the Customization Editor for one of the following:
   • Course in the District Catalog
   • Course in the School Catalog
   • Section
   • Enrollment
2. On the left navigation, select the Lesson that you would like to add an activity to.
   
3. At the top-right of the list of activities, the Add Activity button displays. Click it.
   
4. From the drop-down list that displays, click the applicable option:
   
   • Create New Activity: Create a new activity to add to the customized course and save to your activity library.
   • Add from Library: Add an activity from your activity library or edit an existing activity.

Creating a new activity

1. To create a new activity, click Create New Activity.
   
2. The page displays. Input the following information, then click Next.
   
   

   Note

   All fields except Activity Description are required.

   Field	Action
   Title	Input the activity title. This title will be visible to educators and students.
   Activity Description	Input a description of the activity. You can use this description to help locate the activity in the library later.
   Grade Weight Category	Select a grade weight category from the following choices: instruction, assignments, short writing, essay, project, lab report, performance task, offline written response, speaking activity, practice assessment, quiz, test, exam, speaking and writing assessment. This action determines the grade weight category of the activity; it does not impact the activity template on the Activity page.
   Counted Toward Course Grade	Keep the toggle set to Yes to have the activity count toward the student's grade.
   Completion Time	Input the estimated time the activity should be completed in.

3. The Activity page opens to the Edit tab. Author your activity.
   

   Field	Action
   Response mode	Select one of the following free response activity types: Write: Student will complete a written activity (in Heritage Imagine Edgenuity courses, this activity is a Writing Prompt). Upload: Student will upload their response (in Heritage courses, this activity is a Project). Record: Student will complete a speaking activity.
   Prompt	Written responses For written responses, input a prompt.  You can upload or link to files Within the prompt box, click the link icon to link to a web page or upload a document for students to view. Click the Upload tab to upload a file. Upload responses For upload responses, the prompt is prefilled, but you can edit it. You'll also need to select from some additional choices: Supported file types: Click the arrow to view supported file types. The most common are preselected, but you can remove or add file types as desired. Maximum number of files: Toggle to increase or decrease the maximum number of allowable files to upload. Student view settings: Allow students to capture photos or upload using Google Drive, or both.
   Minimum word limit	For written responses, input a minimum word limit.
   Customize formatting options (for student player)	For written responses, you can customize formatting options for the student player by selecting or deselecting toolbar options, controls, equation editor, and special characters.
   Scoring guidance	Input scoring guidance.  This is optional, however for AI-generated suggested comments to display during grading, you must input scoring guidance or a scoring resource.
   Scoring resources	Upload scoring resources, such as rubrics. This is optional, however for AI-generated suggested comments to display during grading, you must input a scoring resource or manually input scoring guidance in the previous field.

    Note

   Use the Preview tab to see how students will view your activity. Use the Sample Response tab to input an optional sample response.
   

4. At the top of the page, click Save.
5. A sample of the newly created activity displays. Click Publish, or click Edit to continue working on the activity.
   
6. On the pop-up window that displays, click Confirm.
   
7. The new activity displays in the list of activities for the lesson. 
   You can hover over the button to the left of the custom activity title to view who created it and when. If desired, you can move the activity within the lesson by clicking and dragging it. You can also delete it by clicking the trash icon.
8. You can continue customizing the course, or if you are finished customizing, continue to Completing the customization below.

Adding an activity from your activity library

1. To add an activity that you have already created and saved to your activity library, click Add from Library.
   
2. Your library displays. Search for and select the activity you want to add.
   
3. Select the applicable activity, then click Add.
   
4. The activity displays in the list of activities for the lesson. If desired, you can move the activity within the lesson by clicking and dragging it. You can also delete it by clicking the trash icon.
   
   You can continue customizing the course, or if you are finished customizing, continue to Completing the customization below.

Completing the customization

1. At the top-right of the page, click Publish.
   
2. On the confirmation screen, review the changes; then click Next.
   
3. If you have hidden any content while customizing the course, determine if you want the hidden content included in assessments. Check or uncheck the boxes as applicable; then click Next.

    Note

   The Hidden Content section only populates if you have hidden entire lessons. Otherwise, it remains blank.

   
4. Review the grade weights and make any changes; then click Apply.
   
5. A confirmation page displays; click Done.
   

Editing an activity in your activity library

1. Access the activity library by accessing any lesson in the Course Customizer. Click Add Activity, then click Add from Library.
   
2. Your library displays. Search for the activity you want to edit.
   
3. Click the title of the activity.
   
4. Edit the activity, then click Next.
   
5. When you have finished editing, click Publish.
   
6. On the Publish New Version window, click Confirm.
   
   
   

    Success

   The updated activity displays in the list with a new Last Modified date.