Ultra Course Copy – Copy a Specific Object to Another Course

This handout will show an instructor how to copy specific objects to another course. The most common use case for this scenario is updating content in a section if an item needs to be corrected, reusing test questions in another course, or copying rubrics to another course.

Understanding How Copy Works in Ultra

Copying items in Ultra courses is much more fluid, this handout will focus on copying objects between courses. Other handouts will walk through how to copy an entire complete course into an empty shell. The main difference to focus on for this process is that you start in the destination course and “pull” content in from a source course and that graded content can now be copied at the object level.

It is also important to note that copying individual objects does not preserve release conditions and visibility states of those objects. Content is automatically set to Hidden from students if you copy individual items into your course. Make sure that you review all copied items to be sure students can see only the content that you want to show and that due dates are correct. You can use the Batch Edit feature to update visibility and due dates all at once.

Other restrictions on object copy include course links inside forced sequence modules as well as LTI items. Course links inside of learning modules with forced sequencing can’t be copied. This prevents users from navigating outside of the forced sequencing option. When a course link is copied, all associated content is also copied. LTI items also can’t be copied through individual course item copy.[1]

BEST PRACTICE

To maintain up to date master courses it is recommended that updates be made in the master course, then the updates can be “pulled into” other masters (or CRN sections if your college allows) to update other sections of the course.

Quick Reference

The following sections will walk through copying various objects to a course and reviewing the results of the copy process:

1. How to Get to the Copy Objects Screen (First Step for Any Object Type)
2. Copying a Specific Content Object Between Courses – Graded or Non-Graded
3. Copying a Folder or Module Between Courses
4. Copying Question Banks Between Courses
5. Copying Rubrics Between Courses
6. Copying Grade Schemes Between Courses
7. How to Verify a Copy Action is Complete and Check for Errors
8. Advanced Tip: How to Start a Copy Directly at the Exact Location You Want It
9. Advanced Tip: Can I copy more than one object type at a time?

How to Get to the Copy Objects Screen (First Step for Any Object Type)

1. Access the destination course from the courses list (you will be pulling content INTO this course).

2. In the upper right-hand corner, there are three dots (…) that can be selected to see more options for course content. Select these three dots. Then select Copy Items.

3. After selecting copy items, a list of courses you can copy objects from will be displayed.

4. Locate the course ID/course name of the course that contains the objects you want to copy. DO NOT select the checkbox next to the course ID/course name as we are NOT copying the entire course. Select the course name itself to drill down/expand into the objects inside the course.

Depending on what you want to copy, pick up from the following choices below:

1. Copying a Specific Content Object Between Courses – Graded or Non-Graded
2. Copying a Folder or Module Between Courses
3. Copying Question Banks Between Courses
4. Copying Rubrics Between Courses
5. Copying Grade Schemes Between Courses

Copying a Specific Content Object Between Courses – Graded or Non-Graded

1. Once you have located the course containing the objects you wish to copy, drill down/expand the course to see all available options.  [See How to Get to the Copy Objects Screen at the start of this document if you need a refresher on how to get to this point.]

2. For this section we will be copying an individual content item from inside a module. Select the course name to expand to the first level – here there are top level categories inside a course.

3. Since we are looking for items inside a module, select Content – this will display everything under the content tab (top level) in the course.

4. Click the name of the module to open it and expose its contents. (NOTE: If you have nested folders you may need to repeat this step until you can see the desired content inside the folder.)

5. Place a check mark next to the object you wish to copy (or objects, you can copy multiple objects). The right-side panel will update to show the selected objects.

NEW ABILITY REMINDER: The two objects selected above, one is a non-graded document, and one is a graded assignment. In Ultra we can copy individual graded items between sections, not just non-graded content.
 

6. Select the Start Copy button in the bottom right corner.

7. This step is very important – please wait patiently. You will see a copy course spinner that will run for a few minutes as content is copied. By default, when using the three dots > copy items method the new items will load at the bottom of the content area and hidden from students. You will need to move the objects to their desired location once they are successfully copied. [See: How to Verify a Copy Action is Complete and Check for Errors for more details.]

Advanced Tip: You can copy content to a specific location. See the section – how to copy directly to a desired location in a course at the end of this document.

Copying a Folder or Module Between Courses

1. Once you have located the course containing the objects you wish to copy, drill down/expand the course to see all available options.  [See How to Get to the Copy Objects Screen at the start of this document if you need a refresher on how to get to this point.]

2. For this section we will be copying an entire module (or folder if that’s what you use) from the top level of course content. Select the course name to expand to the first level – here there are top level categories inside a course.

3. Since we are looking for content items, select Content – this will display everything under the content tab (top level) in the course.

4. Place a check mark next to the module you wish to copy (or modules, you can copy multiple modules). The right-side panel will update to show the selected objects.

5. Select the Start Copy button in the bottom right corner.

6. This step is very important – please wait patiently. You will see a copy course spinner that will run for a few minutes as content is copied. By default, when using the three dots > copy items method the new items will load at the bottom of the content area and hidden from students. You will need to move the objects to their desired location once they are successfully copied. [See: How to Verify a Copy Action is Complete and Check for Errors for more details.]

Advanced Tip: You can copy content to a specific location. See the section – how to copy directly to a desired location in a course at the end of this document.

Copying Question Banks Between Courses

1. Once you have located the course containing the objects you wish to copy, drill down/expand the course to see all available options.  [See How to Get to the Copy Objects Screen at the start of this document if you need a refresher on how to get to this point.]

2. For this section we will be copying question banks. Select the course name to expand to the first level – here there are top level categories inside a course.

3. Since we are looking for question banks, select Question Banks – this will display all the question banks in the course.

4. Place a check mark next to the bank you wish to copy (or banks, you can copy multiple banks). The right-side panel will update to show the selected objects.

5. Select the Start Copy button in the bottom right corner.

6. This step is very important – please wait patiently. You will see a copy course spinner that will run for a few minutes as content is copied. [See: How to Verify a Copy Action is Complete and Check for Errors for more details.]

7. Navigate to Mange Banks and verify that the question bank(s) successfully copied.

Copying Rubrics Between Courses

1. Once you have located the course containing the objects you wish to copy, drill down/expand the course to see all available options.  [See How to Get to the Copy Objects Screen at the start of this document if you need a refresher on how to get to this point.]

2. For this section we will be copying rubrics. Select the course name to expand to the first level – here there are top level categories inside a course.

3. Since we are looking for rubrics, select Rubrics – this will display all the rubrics in the course.

4. Place a check mark next to the rubric you wish to copy (or rubrics, you can copy multiple rubrics). The right-side panel will update to show the selected objects.

5. Select the Start Copy button in the bottom right corner.

6. This step is very important – please wait patiently. You will see a copy course spinner that will run for a few minutes as content is copied. [See: How to Verify a Copy Action is Complete and Check for Errors for more details.]

7. Navigate to rubric manager and verify that the rubric(s) successfully copied.

Copying Grade Schemes Between Courses

1. Once you have located the course containing the objects you wish to copy, drill down/expand the course to see all available options.  [See How to Get to the Copy Objects Screen at the start of this document if you need a refresher on how to get to this point.]

2. For this section we will be copying grade schemes. Select the course name to expand to the first level – here there are top level categories inside a course.

3. Since we are looking at grade schemes, select Grade Schemas – this will display the grading schemes in the course. (NOTE: Most courses only use or have one scheme and the default may not list a name as shown below.)

4. Place a check mark next to the scheme you wish to copy (or schemas, you can copy multiple schemas). The right-side panel will update to show the selected objects.

5. Select the Start Copy button in the bottom right corner.

6. This step is very important – please wait patiently. You will see a copy course spinner that will run for a few minutes as content is copied. [See: How to Verify a Copy Action is Complete and Check for Errors for more details.]

7. Navigate to the Gradebook and verify that grade scheme(s) successfully copied.

How to Verify a Copy Action is Complete and Check for Errors

1. Navigate to the Content tab.

2. In the upper right-hand corner, select the three dots (…) to see more options for course content.

3. Select Course Tasks and Logs.

4. This will list all copy processes by creation date.

5. Locate the copy entry, review the status, and if complete select View Report. This report lists any issues with the copy, if all went well there should be no details listed. Review any that are listed and make any necessary changes or updates.

Advanced Tip: How to Start a Copy Directly at the Exact Location You Want It

Now that you are a pro at starting a copy from the course content level, let’s look at how to start the copy process from a specific location inside the course so you do not have to move the content once the copy is completed. All the copy steps above are still accurate – this is just a different way to get to the copy screen.

This process is started via the purple add content bar that you use throughout the course when building.

1. Just like building ‘new’ content in a course, navigate to where you wish to add to the ‘copied content’.

2. Select the plus at the start or the purple add content bar.

3. Select copy content.

4. You are now at the same window to navigate to your desired location to copy objects from. The only difference with this method is that the object(s), once the copy is completed, will be deployed in the location you chose rather than the bottom of the course content area.

Advanced Tip: Can I copy more than one object type at a time?

This handout is broken into small steps to show you how to copy each type of object, but you can combine steps, for example, you want to copy a question bank and a rubric and a document. Just navigate through the course structure and check the individual objects; the right-side panel will always display what you have selected.

The screenshot below shows that exact scenario, I have selected 1 bank, 1 rubric, and 1 document.