Last updated on: Feb 02, 2011

Questions

1. How much does thisCourse cost?
2. Do my students need to sign up for accounts to view my course website?
3. Why doesn't thisCourse do _________?
4. Does thisCourse allow student grades to be displayed?
5. How can I make my course site private?
6. Why do you ask that I use an academic email address when registering for thisCourse?
7. What will my syllabus look like?

Answers

1. How much does thisCourse cost?

   Your use of thisCourse is completely free. We have no plans to charge for use, or place banner or text advertisements on any of the course sites you create. Enjoy!

2. Do my students need to sign up for accounts to view my course website?

   No. Only instructors who want to create or modify course sites need to sign up for an account. You can, if you want, protect your site with a password so that only your students can view class material.

3. Why doesn't thisCourse do _________?

   We're just getting started, and would love to hear about new features that would be useful to you. Please send us feedback and let us know what you would like to see.

4. Does thisCourse allow student grades to be displayed?

   Yes--you can post grades quickly and securely for students to view. Simply enable the gradebook on the options tab. You can then upload an excel file with your student's grades. Only instructors can view the entire gradebook. One of the columns in your spreadsheet must be titled "Email" and contain student email addresses. Students can view their own grades by creating an account with their email address and a password they choose.

5. How can I make my course site private?

   It's simple: Go to your my courses page, and choose "options" for the course you would like to password protect. Then, simply enter a password in the password box. You must give the password to your students so they can access the site (everyone uses the same password).

6. Why do you ask that I use an academic email address when registering for thisCourse?

   The address for your course website will be based in part on the institution at which it is being taught. For example, if you teach at the University of California, Santa Barbara, then your email address will end in ucsb.edu, and the courses you teach will be under http://thiscourse.com/ucsb/ (for example, http://thiscourse.com/ucsb/eng213/).

7. What will my syllabus look like?

   Take a peek at our sample courses to get a sense of what your syllabus/website will look like:
   Example History Syllabus, Example Calculus Syllabus, Example Literature Syllabus