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LXD Style Guide

iPD’s Guide for Course Design & Development

Module Set Up

Standard

The standard with which Michigan Virtual courses need to comply. 

SLS Plus Courses hosted in Brightspace should be created using the MSTR Course Template.

 

Requirements 

What exactly do course developers need to include in order to comply with this standard? 

The Brightspace MSTR course template has been certified through Quality Matters Template Review.

The MSTR course template includes the basic course structure and the newly developed course should not deviate from the approved QM template. 

 

Implementation 

How can course developers implement this standard? What is the process for doing so?

  • Follow Unit/Module and Lesson naming conventions listed in MSTR Template
    • The Unit/Module should be titled: Unit X: Title of the Unit
      • Folder within the unit should be named: X.X: Title of the Lesson
        • Within that folder, the CourseArc LTI should be called: Lesson X.X: Title of the Lesson
      • Any assignments should be called: X.X Assignment: Title of the Assignment
        • If there are directions or additional LTI links related the assignment, they should be called: X.X Assignment Instructions
          • e.g., 1.1 Assignment follows the Lesson 1.1: Lesson Title within Unit or Module 1 folder in terms of the order or sequence in the Brightspace navigation menu
          • even if there are multiple assignments, they should follow the unit.lesson title scheme (there can be multiple 1.1 Assignments/Quizzes/Discussions)
          • Avoid more than once decimal place (e.g., Do NOT adopt numberings such as 1.1.1 or 1.1.2)
      • Quizzes: Quizzes should be titled X.X Quiz: Title of the Lesson
      • Discussions: Discussions should be titled X.X Discussion: Title
      • Midterm & Final Exams should be nested within the unit
    • Note: Do not add a third digit (e.g., 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.) to lesson and activity title prefixes.
  • Each Unit/Module must include the Unit X Checklist
  • Unit/Module Intro pages and Lesson Intro pages should follow the template text in Brightspace
  • Do not copy hard-coded font stylings from other word processors (e.g., Microsoft Word, Google Docs) or from other sources (e.g., webpages) without stripping the fonts via Paste Special (Ctrl+Shift+V) or by first pasting it into a text editor (e.g., NotePad), or by pasting it directly into the full html editor </> in Brightspace and then using the Brightspace HTML editor menu to reformat the text. NOTE: Apply Formats in HTML Editor > H3 for primary headings, H4 for nested sub-headings, Paragraph for normal text. Use only two colors for fonts > Color Dark Blue-Green (093c44) for primary headings; either Black or D2L’s default font color for other text. D2L’s default (recommended) font-family is Lato, font-size 22.8px for H3 and 19px for paragraphs, font-color = hex value: #414042 with 12% lightness (a variation of Gluon Grey) unless otherwise specified via the color picker or html hex code.