Paatya

Build the curriculum

Add sections and topics, and put them in order.

The curriculum is the outline of your course: its sections, and the topics inside each one. This page shows you how to add, reorder, publish and remove them.

Before you start

  • Create the course first.
  • Plan your outline on paper: a few sections, each with a few short topics.

Open the curriculum

  1. Click Courses, then click the course's card.
  2. Click the Curriculum tab at the top of the course.

If you have just clicked Save & Continue on a new course, you are already there.

Add a section

  1. Click Add Section. A new section appears with its title ready to type. The other sections fold away so the new one is in view.
  2. Type the section's name, such as "Week 1: Introductions", and press Enter.
  3. To add more sections, click Add Section again, or Add another section at the bottom of the page.

To rename a section later, click its title, or click the pencil icon next to it. You can also choose Rename from the section's ⋮ menu.

Add topics

You can name all of a section's topics first, and fill them in later.

  1. On the section's row, click + Topic. A box opens at the bottom of the section.
  2. Type the topic's name and press Enter, or click Add. Paatya adds it as a Draft topic.
  3. The box stays open, so you can type the next topic's name straight away.
  4. When you have added them all, click Done, or press Escape.

The Curriculum page with sections and topics

Fill in a topic

  1. Click the topic's name. The topic's page opens. You can also choose Edit content from the topic's ⋮ menu.
  2. Add the topic's content using the tabs: Video, Quiz, Documents and Settings. Everything saves automatically. You'll see "Saved" at the top of the page.
  3. When the topic is ready, click Publish topic.

For each kind of content, see:

Video: building a curriculum with sections and topics

Rename a topic

On the Curriculum page, click the pencil icon next to the topic's name, or choose Rename from its ⋮ menu. Type the new name and press Enter.

Note: Clicking a topic's name opens the topic. To rename it, use the pencil icon.

Topic settings

In the topic editor, the Settings tab has four options:

  • Lesson description: what the topic covers. Students see it on the topic's overview.
  • Required for completion: when on, a student must finish this topic before the course counts as complete. Turn it off for optional extras.
  • Estimated completion time: minutes, for a topic without a video. For a topic with a video, the video's own length is used.
  • Free lesson: any student can open this topic, with its quiz and documents, from Free courses, without being enrolled. See Free courses and free lessons.

Publish or unpublish a section

Each section has its own status, as well as each topic.

  • To hide a section from students, click Unpublish on the section's row. The section shows an Unpublished label. Students see none of its topics, even the published ones.
  • To show it again, click Publish on the section's row. Its published topics come back. Its draft topics stay hidden.

Unpublishing a section doesn't change its topics' own status, and students keep their progress on them.

Publish or unpublish a topic

  • In the topic's page, click Publish topic or Unpublish.
  • Or, on the Curriculum page, choose Publish or Unpublish from the topic's ⋮ menu.

Show or hide topics

  • Click the arrow next to a section's title to fold it away or open it again.
  • Click Expand all or Collapse all above the sections.

Paatya remembers which sections you folded away, in this browser, the next time you open the course.

Put things in order

  • Drag a section or a topic by its grip (the dotted handle on the left). You can drag a topic into a different section.
  • Or use Move up and Move down in the section's or the topic's ⋮ menu.
  • To move a topic to another section, open its ⋮ menu and choose Move to section.

Copy a section

Open the section's ⋮ menu and choose Duplicate. Paatya adds a copy straight after it, named "(copy)". The copy includes every topic, with its video, quiz, documents and links.

Delete a section or topic

  • A section: open its ⋮ menu, choose Delete, then Delete section. Its topics go with it, along with their videos, quizzes and documents.
  • A topic: open its ⋮ menu, choose Delete, then Delete topic.

Warning: Deleting can't be undone. If students have already started a topic, deleting it removes their progress on it. Choose Unpublish instead to hide the topic and keep their work.

What you'll see

  • Each section row shows its number of topics and total length, and an Unpublished label if it's hidden from students.
  • Each topic row shows its number (such as 1.2), its length, its content (Video, Quiz, documents) and its status badge. A topic with nothing in it yet shows No content yet.
  • The Curriculum metrics panel adds up the total length, videos, quizzes, documents and sections.
  • To check what students will see, click Preview at the top of the course. See Preview a course as a student.

If something goes wrong

  • "Order not saved". Your change to the order didn't reach Paatya. Check your connection and drag again.
  • Students can't see a new topic. Make sure the topic is Published, not Draft, and that its section isn't marked Unpublished.

Next step

Add a video to your first topic.