Using Base and Derivative courses allows you to create and manage content for multiple courses over multiple years in one, central location.
Create Base and Derivative courses
To use Base/Derivative courses:
- Create a Base course. A Base course acts a central repository for course content and settings.
- Create Derivative courses. Derivative courses are linked copies of the Base course that inherit its content and settings, but have their own student enrollments.
- Manage changes. Derivative courses automatically inherit changes made to the Base course. If changes are made to an activity or folder in a Derivative course, however, that item's inheritance sync is broken, so Buzz provides tools to help you manage changes.
Create the Base course
A Base course acts a central repository for course content and settings.
To create a Base course:
- Create a new course with the settings, content, and activities that you want shared with Derivative courses.
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Add content author enrollments.
- Note: Do not add student enrollments. Courses with student enrollments cannot be Base courses.
Create one or more Derivative courses
Derivative courses are linked copies of the Base course that inherit its content and settings, but have their own student enrollments.
To create a Derivative course:
- Open Manage courses from the Toolbar and select Create course.
- Choose Copy From Your Domain.
- Provide the Original Course name or ID of the Base course you created above and click Next.
- Choose Derivative-child copy.
- Configure the rest of the course as desired.
Manage changes to Base and Derivative courses
Derivative courses automatically inherit changes made to the Base course. If changes are made to an activity or folder in a Derivative course, however, that item's inheritance sync is broken, so Buzz provides tools to help you:
Configure Publisher options in Course settings
Buzz provides Publisher options in each course's Course settings to help maintain and manage content sync between Base and Derivative courses.
These options include:
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Prevent content edits in derivative courses. This is the most dependable way to manage course content from the Base course. It ensures that the inheritance sync is never broken by preventing editors from making changes to content in Derivative courses while still allowing them to make changes to Settings and add or delete activities. When enabled, a (read only) message appears above content section.
- Note: Assessment questions remain editable when this setting is enabled.
- Show indicator for edited content in derivative courses. When enabled, this option displays a message reading (modified from original) above content that has been changed, to help track exactly what has been altered in an activity. You can use the Re-sync tool (described below) to reverse changes and sync back up with the Base course.
- Include course in subscriber search index makes a course discoverable for content sharing with approved users and domains.
Know which course you're editing
Buzz's Home page and Editor are designed to ensure you make edits to the intended course.
Home page
On your Home page, Derivative Course Cards are nested inside the Master Course Card, so you always know which is which:
- Base course. Notice that the Base course only has three tools available (Activities, the Editor, and Course manager). These tools are associated with content creation, review, and management.
- Derivative course. Notice that the Derivative course includes tools associated with creating and managing student enrollments and data.
Editor
When you open the Editor for a Derivative course, Buzz displays this prompt, so you are certain which course you are making edits to. It recommends you make edits to the Master course because those changes are automatically inherited by the Derivative course.
Review changes and re-sync using the Changes screen
For Derivative activities that are synced to a Base course, the Changes screen appears in its activity's editor whenever you make changes to it.
It displays the changes made to the activity in that Derivative course, and allows you to re-sync to the Base course.
- When changes have been made to an activity in a Derivative course, a Changes icon appears in the activity editor toolbar. Click the icon to review the changes.
- The properties that have been changed are listed in this window along with the Derivative course's current value and the Base course's value.
- Check the boxes next to the property changes you want to discard and re-sync with the Base course.
- Click Re-sync selected settings to re-sync with the Base course.
