Create and Maintain Lessons

About Creating and Maintaining Lessons

Before creating a lesson, be sure to review our About Lessons Article for an in-depth overview of the fields you will see when creating or maintaining a lesson.

Below are the guidelines for creating Lessons

The minimum permission needed to create or maintain a lesson is LMS Division Admin.
Before an author creates a new WBT course from scratch, remember it is significantly easier to copy an existing library course or upload/import an existing PowerPoint presentation.
If there is an existing course in a library that is similar to the course that needs to be created, you can copy and edit it to meet the new course requirements.

Even if none of the pages match but the layout of the course is acceptable, copy the Lesson then edit the content on each page because it is significantly easier and more time efficient to copy, edit, or delete exiting pages than to create new ones.

Immediately after a Training Item is completed (Lesson + WBT Training Item), it is available in the library selected by the author and can be added to the learner's curriculum.
Lessons can be shared with authors in other Divisions that have been granted Division Author permission.

A WBT course always has both a Training Item and a Lesson. The Author menu is the only location in the LMS module where the content for WBT Training Items can be created or edited.

If you added question cells to the Lesson, you can click Create Test on the Lesson layout action toolbar to automatically extract selected question cells and create a test.
- The test is attached to the same Training Item as the Lesson, and has the same topics as the Lesson.

Questions marked display in test only or display in both course and test are extracted and populated under the same topics as the Lesson.

How to create a Lesson from Scratch

The below instructions will cover creating a lesson without a PowerPoint. To learn more about creating a lesson with a PowerPoint, see our LMS Convert a PowerPoint Presentation to a WBT Course article.

Navigate to Author > Lessons
Select New on the toolbar.
Enter the Title and Lesson Code in the respective fields.
If desired, the Copyright/Footer is an optional free text field that can be used to display any copyright information, version information or date published.
If desired, choose from a list of available styles in the Navigation Style drop-down menu. To preview the different styles, select the ellipses next to the drop-down menu. (Blue Star style by default.)
If desired, change the default selection of Linear Navigation (recommended) to Free Navigation.
1. Free Navigation: will allow learners to progress through the slides in any order they choose through use of both the Forward and Back buttons.
2. Linear Navigation: will only allow users to progress sequentially between slides and will not allow them to view previous slides.
If desired, select an audio feedback from the Correct Answer drop-down menu to play when learners answer a question correctly.
If desired, select an audio feedback from the Incorrect Answer drop-down menu to play when learners answer a question incorrectly.
Ensure the selections in the Company and Division drop-down menus are correct. It may be necessary to select a division from the drop-down menu.
If the Training Item already exists for the Lesson, select the Existing radio button and enter the search criteria. After search criteria has been entered, select Search and select the Training Item from the list.
If the Training Item does NOT already exist for the Lesson, select the New radio button and complete the required fields in the Training Item form.
1. Ensure the Division for the Training Item and Lesson match. The same title and code can be used for both the Lesson and Training Item.
Select Save on the toolbar.

To hear any selected sounds, click the speaker icon to the right each drop-down menu.

How to Create a New Lesson by Copying an Existing Lesson

You can copy any Lesson that you see in your Author > Lessons menu. Browse the company and public libraries. If you see a course in a library that is close enough to the content you are developing, it is easier to copy it rather than creating a new Lesson from scratch.

Select Author > Lessons
Find and click on the title of Lesson you want to copy.
Select Copy.
1. All applicable fields are copied automatically from the original Lesson.
Lesson Title, Lesson Code, Training Item Title and Training Item Code are filled in automatically as "Copy of" the original Lesson and Training Item.
Replace "Copy of" with your Division or site name to make these fields recognizable.
1. If you are copying a Lesson to attach to an existing Training Item, click Existing, enter the search criteria, using % as a wildcard, if necessary.
2. Select Search and select the Training Item from the list.
Enter Subject Area Code by clicking on ".." button and selecting one.
Edit any other fields on the form, explained above when you create a new Lesson.
Select Save.

The Lesson just created contains same cells as the original Lesson. You can now edit the desired cells to match your requirements.

How to Create and Manage Content for the Lesson

Follow the steps provided below to create and manage content for the Lesson through the Lesson Layout Editor.

Select Layout on the toolbar from the Lesson Details tab.
Select Objectives.
To rename the topic, select Topic > Rename on the Action toolbar and enter a new name, then click Change.
Select Cell > Add on the Action toolbar to add cells to the topic and complete the configuration for the cell.
1. There are three types of cells you may add to a lesson: Display, Question and Remediation. Explained below.
To add cells to another topic that already exists, select the desired topic and return to Step 4.
To add a new topic, select the topic above which you want to add the new topic and select Topic > Add.
1. Enter a name in the Topic Name field and select Add Topic.
Once all topics and cells have been added to the Lesson, close the Lesson Layout Editor.
Select Preview on the toolbar to view and test the Lesson layout.

The Layout will automatically save any changes when adding or removing cells and topics. There will be an update button pertaining to any changes to the content of the cells.

How to Create Display Cells

A display cell is used to present learning content such as text, graphics, audio, video, or any combination thereof.

Select Cell > Add on the Action toolbar to add cells to the topic.
1. Cells can be added below either the highlighted topic (creating a new first cell) or the highlighted cell within the topic (adding cells below existing cells).
Select Display Cell from the Cell Type drop-down menu.
To add an audio file for the cell content, select Choose File and navigate to the file location on the local network.
Select Next when finished to add the content for the display cell.
To add any text that needs to be displayed, start typing where it says Enter cell content. Once the text is added, highlight the text and use the toolbar to edit the text style, color, and size.
Enter the text or media into the page to be display as the cell content. Use the various toolbars to format text and insert images.
To add HTML content, select the HTML button at the bottom of the cell editor.
After reviewing the cell content in the Add Cell window, select Finish to complete adding the cell to the topic.
Select the Preview tab to preview the cell.

Hovering over a toolbar button with the mouse will display the button's function.

How to Create Question Cells

Questions cells can be used to confirm the learner's understanding after topic has been presented. Authors can choose from a variety of different question types and can use some or all of the question cells as part of a final test for the Lesson.

Select Cell > Add on the Action toolbar to add cells to the topic.
Select Question Cell from the Cell Type drop-down menu.
Select the Question Type from the drop-down menu. To learn more about the various question types, see our About Tests Article.
To add an audio file for the cell content, select Choose File and navigate to the file location on the local network.
Select Next when finished selecting the cell type and uploading any necessary files.
1. To enter an image or add formatting to the question, such as special font or font color, use the Toolbar once the content is added in the free text section.
Select Next when finished to add answer choices.
Enter the answer choices and Indicate the Correct Answers(s) then select Next.
If desired, enter the points for the question and choose where to display the question (Lesson Only, Test Only, or Both Lesson and Test (default).
1. It is optional to enter a Message Shown After Correct Answer and a Message Shown After Incorrect Answer for learners to receive when answering the question.
2. Question points apply only if author creates a test by extracting questions from the Lesson and the test will use grade on points grading system (not common).
3. Right cell message and wrong cell message will not apply if the question cell is attached to a remediation cell.
Select Finish to complete adding the cell to the topic.
Select Preview to preview how the cell will appear to the learner.

Essay questions do not appear in lessons; they only appear in tests. Consequently, essay question(s) will only be used if you create a test from this lesson's questions with the Create Test link in the Lesson Layout. After you create the test, you will need to designate a grader for its essay question(s) in Author > Tests.

How Create a Remediation Cell

A question cell must be created before a remediation cell can be created. Each question cell can only have one remediation cell.

The easiest and most common way to create a remediation cell is to copy the display cell that contains the answer to the question and change the formatting to highlight the answer.

Placing the remediation cell below the question cell for which the remediation cell is created.

Select the display cell to copy for the remediation cell.
Select Cell > Copy from the Action toolbar.
Select the cell above where the remediation cell should go and select Cell > Paste.
Select Remediation Cell from the Cell Type drop-down menu.
Select the Question Cell for the remediation cell from the "Current Cell is a Remediation Cell for:" drop-down menu.
Select Update to save the configuration.
Select the Content tab.
Edit or reformat the cell content.
Select Update to save the changes.
Select Preview to preview how the cell will appear to the learner.

How to Attach Exhibits to a Lesson

Follow these steps to attach exhibits to a Lesson. Exhibits are used to attach any reference documents you would like to provide to learners when taking the course.

Select the Exhibits tab on the Lesson details.
Select New.
Enter the Title of the exhibit.
Select Choose File and browse to your exhibit.
Select Save.

The title is displayed at the bottom of each Lesson cell.