Blueprint Courses

Blueprint courses allow institutions to set up a master course (the blueprint course) customized with locked and unlocked content and synced to one or more associated courses. The blueprint course is generally created and maintained by an account admin or an instructional designer, or an instructor with appropriate permissions. Blueprint courses are most appropriate for courses in which there are multiple sections running simultaneously, being taught by different instructors, where there is a desire for some degree of consistencies.

Initial Setup 

The following steps must be completed by ETO. Email eto@framingham.edu to request service.

1. Assign sub-account Admin role (Blueprint Manager) - allows user to associate courses. Does not allow user to create new courses

2. Create Blueprint Course(s) - Regular courses cannot be used a Blueprint courses. A special course, with no students, must be created for the purpose. Course should be assigned to the appropriate sub-account and assigned to the "Always Available" term, so that the blueprint can be used semester after semester.

3.  Add Designers to BP Course(s) - this is how the user builds the content and perform the syncs. However if the user does not *also* have a sub-account admin role, they will not be able to associate courses.

Course Setup 

The following steps can be completed by the instructor assigned (as Teacher or Designer) to the Blueprint course. Some of the steps also require that the user be assigned a sub-account admin role.

1. Course Settings - Enable as Blueprint Course. If this checkbox is not already checked, check it.
2. Course Settings - Define Lock Settings (Define what “locked” means for this course). For more information see: How do I enable a course as a blueprint course?
3. Build Course: Add content (pages, assignments, etc)
4. [Optional] - Lock items. To prevent teachers in associated courses from changing or deleting course content, items can be locked. Locking is done by clicking on the "3 square" icon to the right of the course item (next to the publish icon). This can be done from the Modules page or from Index pages for Quizzes, Assignments, etc. For more information see: How do I lock course objects in a blueprint course as an instructor?
5. Associate Courses - Only those with the Admin Role can do this step. Click on the blue Blueprint sidebar tab in the blueprint course. You should see the word "Associations". If you do not see that, you do not have the appropriate Admin role. Contact eto@framingham.edu. Instructions for associating courses: How do I associate a course with a blueprint course?
6. Sync (initial sync) - Once the associated course has been saved, an initial sync will begin immediately. This may take several minutes or hours to process.
7. [Optional] Re-sync if changes are made. Syncs do not happen automatically and cannot be scheduled. See: How do I sync course content in a blueprint course as an instructor?
8. At the end of the semester, break associations. If you do not do this, changes made to the blueprint course will continue to be synced to concluded courses, leading to possible confusion. It is recommended to break the association in order to preserve a historical record of the course as it was taught, while continuing to make changes to the blueprint.

Additional Resources

Course Content Distribution Comparison resource document.