Course web site - Technology Support for Courses at Stanford

	Course web site A course web site can be used to advertise your course, communicate and share materials with students, even to assign and grade students' completed work.
	Available options Compare your options Other services for course web sites About signing up

Available options

If you're interested in creating a web site for your course(s), here are your current options:

Author individual web pages with programs like Dreamweaver and upload your web pages to the Leland Web Server. Register for Leland Services [

About signing up]

Use a course management system such as CourseWork. With these systems you can use a browser to upload files and to enter your course information. These systems also have tools for simplifying the process of creating course syllabi, calendars or schedules, and event sign-up; for making announcements; for keeping grades; and for distributing and collecting on-line problem sets, essays, and quizzes. Register for CourseWork [

About signing up]

If you can't decide which method to chose, try comparing your options.

Compare your options

The table below compares the do-it-yourself option for creating a web site with CourseWork. Depending on your goals, the do-it-yourself option generally requires more technical expertise, but can offer more flexibility than course management systems. If this is your choice, be sure to check the Help and Training pages.

CourseWork is Stanford's course management system that is available for all Stanford courses. Using CourseWork, instructors and TAs can set up a course Web site that displays announcements, on-line readings, a dynamic syllabus and schedule, on-line assignments and quizzes, a discussion forum for students, and a grade book. CourseWork is designed both for faculty with little Web experience, who can use CourseWork to develop their Web site quickly, and for expert Web-users, who can use it to organize complex, Web-based materials and link them to Web communication tools.

Comparison table:

	Do-it-yourself web site	Coursework
how do students access the course?	Each course has its own URL in this form: www.stanford.edu/class/<name of your class>. You can request a "vanity URL" to make the URL shorter and easier to remember.	Student logs in to coursework.stanford.edu, then selects the course name from those s/he is registered for.
does it require a password?	Not by default. You can request a restricted web directory that will allow part of your site to be protected by a SUNet ID and password.	Yes. Guest login & registration can be allowed.
can I make announcements?	Not on the web site, but you can use the class email list for announcements.	Yes. Announcements can be posted in Coursework as well as via the class email list.
can I control the layout of the course home page?	Yes.	No. Coursework creates the page for you, by placing the content you provide into a template.
can I include multimedia files?	Yes, but you may need assistance from your ATS.	Yes. Just upload the file into Coursework.
can I assign work and collect student responses on the web site?	No.	Yes. Coursework provides online quizzing, problem sets, short answer tools, and a new flexible event sign-up tool.
can I have online quizzes?	No.	Yes. Coursework provides online quizzing, problem sets, short answer tools, and a new flexible event sign-up tool.
integrated with the Registrar's class list for secure access?	Yes	Yes
can students self-register for my course web site?	No.	Yes.
can I have a course web site without learning HTML?	No. You'll need to get (and learn) an HTML editing program such as Dreamweaver.	Yes.
how do I upload content?	You can use FTP, or an AFS client. There are other methods, but these are the most common.	Just follow the prompts in CourseWork.

Other services for course web sites

There are a number of other services you can use for do-it-yourself course web sites.

For your eyes only
Sometimes you don't want just anybody seeing parts of your course web site. This is particularly true if you're using copyrighted materials, are working on politically or commercially sensitive subjects, or simply want to ensure that the only people who have access to your course materials are those taking the course. If you select the "restricted web subdirectory" option, access to that directory will be restricted to the Registrar's class list, plus the instructors, TAs, etc. that you enumerate on the signup form. [Register for Leland Course services]

Vanity URL
This lets you replace a long, unwieldy URL with one that's shorter and more descriptive of your web site's content. Instead of having to type http://www.stanford.edu/class/<name of your class>, people can just type http://<name of your class> into their browsers in order to find your course website. [Learn more and sign up].

Streaming Media
Using streaming media services, you can add video to your web site. You or your students can view the video at your convenience, in or out of the classroom, using a computer with an Internet connection. The service may allow you to replace traditional methods of sharing video material (classroom VCR or checkout in Green Library), making the resource easier to share. [Learn more and sign up ].

Web add-ons
Stanford has a variety of ready-made web resources, tools, and toys that can help you build your web site in a hurry. [[More info].

About signing up:
	For Coursework Sign up for CourseWork or, for more about CourseWork, visit http://aboutcoursework/index.html.
	For Leland Services To create your own course web site, you'll need to sign up for some specific Leland Course Services. Register for Leland Course Services Complete the form. In section 1, list the SUNet ID's of all class instructors in the first box; in the second box, list those of any TA's, ATS's, departmental administrators, or other people acting in a staff position for your class. In section 2 you may select additional course services. A class directory with 500 MB of quota, a WWW directory, and a web redirect are automatically provided when the form is submitted.