Task 5: Publish Your Course to the World Wide Web
Getting to Work

1. Develop your course material including resources your students might need to access to successfully complete the tasks.
2. Determine which CMS you will use (usually decided by the technology staff at your college).
3. Learn your college’s regulations for publishing course material online. What support does the college provide faculty developing online course sites?
4. Check with your institution’s faculty support or distance learning staff to discover the approved process for acquiring a course shell account or instructional website.
5. Obtain a course shell for your course.
6. Decide on the tools you will need to use in the CMS/website (discussions, gradebooks, surveys, chat, etc.) for your scenario to work and your class to communicate effectively and efficiently.
7. If no CMS is available, determine how you will provide communication tools for your students (i.e. yahoo groups…)
8. Create your class site
   • Use the tools in the page development tools in your CMS or create your own html pages.
   • If you are comfortable with creating web pages and your CMS allows you to link to or upload html files, create the html files for your course.
   • One option is to use the model site we’ve provided. This workshop site was created using these models. A Dreamweaver template and library items are also included.
   • Remember that students may not have the latest technology and the fastest access. Keep your site simple; your pages designed for 800x600 screens; provide alternate access to information for students needing low-tech solutions—text versions of video or audio material, text-based links for image maps—only use file types supported by common plug-ins.
9. Publish your site online
   • Add your pages to your CMS course site
   • - or -publish your pages to an instructional website you obtained from your college
   • – or - use your own website to host your course material.
10. Test your site
    • Visit every page and check for content errors and typos
    • Check every link
    • Use different browsers and different platforms to access your site.
11. Confirm your site meets accessibility guidelines for your college.The High Tech Training Center at De Anza College provides free training in accessible technologies and website creation for California Community College faculty and staff. Their website offers numerous links to useful resources.
12. Ask colleagues unfamiliar with your course to walk through your course with a student’s eyes
13. Ask former students to review your course.
14. Revise and repeat as needed.

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Updated: July 3, 2005