This article outlines the main aspects of the Custom Pacing page, where admins can create pacing options that can be chosen for each cohort that takes the course via the cohort Configure page.
- What is pacing?
- What types of pacing are available?
- How to create custom pacing for a course that is Not Paced
- How to create custom Module pacing
- How to create custom Asset pacing
To begin, navigate to the course setup Custom Pacing page.
What is pacing?
Pacing refers to how the course unfolds over a length of time. While the default for any paced course is “auto-paced”, which is an Asset Paced option (explained in more detail below) and equates to one lesson per day, you can create other pacing options as well. For example, if in the course you’re building you have certain days where you’d like two lessons instead of the default one lesson, you can create a custom pacing for that layout to accommodate specific course days with two lessons.
The custom pacing options you create, in addition to the auto-paced option, become available as an admin configures each individual cohort. They’ll be able to choose which pacing option they’d like for that particular cohort, or they can create a new custom pacing option as well if necessary.
Custom pacing is also different from creating blackout dates and from choosing a pacing option for a cohort. Learn more about the differences between custom pacing, cohort pacing, and blackout dates.
What types of pacing are available?
There are three types of course pacing available. Each course version can only have one type of pacing. Within that type, you can create as many pacing options as you’d like.
- Not Paced: A course that is not paced is fully self-paced and learners can complete course activities whenever they would like, over an indeterminate length of time. There is no beginning, middle, or end to an unpaced course. As such, these courses will never have analytics in the Completed Courses Dashboard; instead, the data will be in the Current Courses Dashboard.
- Module Pacing: Module Pacing means that you’ve assigned a set number of days for each module but lessons and activities are not connected to specific dates. Learners can complete as much or as little of the activities as they’d like on any given day, as long as they complete each module by the module end date. Learn more about the definitions and hierarchy of modules, lessons, and activities.
- Asset Pacing: Asset Pacing is the most common type of pacing, and the auto-paced option is an example of asset pacing. As an admin, you decide how many days to include per module and connect each activity with a specific course day (e.g. all activities in the first lesson should happen on day one of the course; all activities in lesson two happen on day two, etc). This is recommended because it helps break a course into smaller, more manageable chunks and allows learners to more easily manage their course load by day.
How to create custom pacing for a course that is Not Paced
To make a course unpaced, click the Pacing Mode dropdown at the top of the page, select Not Paced, and click Update. No other action is needed and admins will now be unable to select pacing options in the cohort Configure page. Learners will see a course map that looks like the image below. Note that there are no dates listed for the course.
How to create custom Module Pacing
1. Click Pacing Mode at the top of the page, select Module Pacing, and click Update.
2. Click Create A New Pacing.
3. Next, enter a name for the pacing option. Remember, the pacing options will be displayed in the cohort Configure page for admins to choose from so think carefully about how you’d like to name different pacing options.
4. Choose the default number of days in each module.
5. On the right side of each module’s listing on the custom pacing page, select the number of days you’d like for each specific module. In the example below, the first module is set for 10 days in length and the second is set for 5 days.
6. Click Save at the bottom of the page.
7. To make sure the course displays how you’d like before you move off of the Custom Pacing page, in a second tab, navigate to the cohort Configure page for a cohort nested under this course version and set the pacing for the cohort to the new pacing you just created. Once the cohort is set to the Module Pacing option you created, click View Course on the top right of the cohort Configure page. If the course looks the way you’d like, you are all set and have created your desired Module Pacing option.
8. Repeat this process for additional Module Pacing options you’d like to create.
How to create custom Asset Pacing
1. Click Pacing Mode at the top of the page, select Asset Pacing, and click Update.
2. Click Create A New Pacing.
3. Next, enter a name for the pacing option. Remember, the pacing options will be displayed in the cohort Configure page for admins to choose from so think carefully about how you’d like to name different pacing options.
4. Choose the default number of days in each module.
5. On the right side of each module’s listing on the custom pacing page, select the number of days you’d like for each specific module.
6. Select the appropriate radio button for each activity in the course.
Please note: Under each module on the page are the lessons and associated activities contained in that module alongside a row of radio buttons for each activity. The number of buttons in each row corresponds to the number of days you selected for the respective module, and the buttons represent the course days in the module. For example, if you select five days for a particular module, the left-most radio button represents day one of the module, the button second from the left represents day two of the module, and so on through all five buttons. To have an entire lesson paced for an individual day, which is the default setting in the auto-paced option, you will select the same radio button placement for each activity in that lesson.
Tip: If you can’t find an activity, go to the Build page to make sure it’s properly nested under the corresponding lesson.
7. Click Save at the bottom of the page.
8. To make sure the course displays how you’d like before you move off of the Custom Pacing page, in a second tab, navigate to the cohort Configure page for a cohort nested under this course version and set the pacing for the cohort to the new pacing you just created. Once the cohort is set to the Module Pacing option you created, click View Course on the top right of the cohort Configure page. If the course looks the way you’d like, you are all set and have created your desired Asset Pacing option.
9. Repeat this process for additional Asset Pacing options you’d like to create.