How do I customize the set of tools in my course?
Sakai has many different tools and features. However, you might not want to enable all of them in your particular course. It usually best to start with a subset of tools that you are comfortable using. You can always expand on the list of tools available as you build your course.
This lesson will show you how to select the tools you would like to have active in your site.
Go to Site Info.
Select the Site Info tool from the Tool Menu in your site.
Click on Edit Tools.
Click on the Edit Tools button.
Select your set of tools.
You will see a list of all the tools that are currently available for use in the system. This list may vary depending on the features installed at your institution.
Click in the box next to each item to select/deselect it in your course. Items with a check mark next to them are active tools. These tools will appear listed in the Tool Menu on the left side of the screen.
It is a good idea to deselect any tools that you are not planning to use during the course. Students often find it frustrating or confusing to have access to items in the menu where there is no content.
For the Instructor QuickStart, the following tools are recommended:
- Home
- Announcements
- Assignments
- Forums
- Gradebook
- Lessons
- Messages
- Roster
- Schedule
- Syllabus
- Tests and Quizzes
Select the listed tools above and click the Continue button.
Multiple Tool Instances
The Lessons tool is one that can be added multiple times to your course. You may have several different Lessons which appear in the left menu, perhaps one for each week. module, or unit. Because you can have multiple instances of the tool in your site, you will be prompted to enter a name for the tool as it appears in the menu. (You may also select to add up to 3 Lessons tools from the drop-down menu at this time. Additional Lessons may be added later from within the Lessons interface.)
For this example, we will add only one copy of the tool and name it Week 1.
Once you have entered your title, click the Continue button.
Confirm tool selection.
A confirmation screen will appear which displays a summary of the tools selected for addition or removal.
Click Finish to confirm your tool selection.
Note: Sakai does not delete the content associated with a tool when the tool is deactivated in a site. For example, if you were to remove the Assignments tool, it would not delete any assignments that had been created using that tool. Upon re-activating Assignments, the assignment content would still be there.
Tool Menu updated
After saving your selection of tools, you will be returned to the Site Info screen. Notice that your listing of items in the Tool Menu has now been updated with the list of tools you selected.
Tip: New tools are added at the bottom of the list. You may rearrange and customize the menu items in the Site Info > Page Order screen.
