Course sites can hold a lot of items, so it's important to organize you course site in a way that is easy to for students to navigate. Being considerate of consistency and usability as you build your course site will reduce the amount of confusion and number of questions you will receive from students.

Consistency

Whether you divide your course by week, unit, topic, or content type, it is important that each segment of your course site is consistent. For example, if you divide week 1 by resources, due Wednesday, and due Friday, you should maintain that structure throughout all of the weeks. You will also want to be consistent with the other elements of your course, such as assignment due dates and grading criteria.

Usability

Along with consistency, you should consider the usability of your course site. If elements of your course site are broken or missing, it will be difficult for students to complete their tasks successfully and will be more work for you. Here are a few items to review to ensure your course site is usable:

• Is your course site open?
• Is your gradebook set up accurately?
• Do all of your links work?
• Are your due dates accurate?
• Are your activity restrictions set up correctly?