Add Material to Learning Modules

Nickels provides several forms of structural elements [read section 'Nickels Content Structure'] for adding learning content to your learning module, called 'Materials'.

The main materials are the Editor Material, allowing for text writing and the inclusion of multimedia files, and the Upload Material for providing pure download lists for students, e.g. lecture slides in pdf-format. Additionally, several different material types for creating assignments are available as well as some interactive elements. Figure 2 below shows the available material list in the pulldown menu.

The following description introduces steps for how to create such materials, which is the same procedure for each type of material or structural element, respectively:

1. Switch to author mode  ->  on the upper left corner of your window.
2. Select your learning module (within or outside a given course) via the pulldown menu below the 'Author Mode' button.
3. After having chosen a learning module, the associated tree structure is visible in the left frame. Select the module title or a material within the tree.
4. Above the tree structure, a symbol panel (see Figure 1) for adding, removing, and moving a material within the tree is available, to create a content structure within your learning module:
   
   
   Fig 1: Panel for structuring your content in the content tree. From left to right: add, remove, move up, move down, move left, move right, copy, and paste a respective structural element.
5. Press at the left, to add a structural element, i.e. a material type.
6. In the content area (right frame), a form appears (see Figure 2)
   
   Fig 2: Screenshot showing the 'add structural element' form, allowing for creating a structural element based on a specific material type.
7. Choose the material type you need from the pulldown menu (Figure 2), choose a language (english preferred), insert a title for the material as well as a short description (to be seen by 'mouse over' in the tree structure), and press 'create element'.
8. Select the created element in the tree structure, choose the tab 'Content' (or 'Inhalt') in the content area, and start filling the material with content. How to create specific material content is desrcibe in the sections
   • Text Editing,
   • Upload Files,
   • Types of Assignments, and
   • Interactive Content.