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Course Builder

Create structured learning courses with lessons, sections, homework, and tests.

Overview

Course Builder is a visual course authoring tool that lets subject-matter experts build structured learning programs without any technical setup. Courses are organised into a hierarchy — a course contains sections, each section contains lessons, and lessons can optionally include homework assignments and quiz tests.

The interface has two panes: the left side shows the course structure (sections and lessons), and the right side shows the content editor for the currently selected item. This makes it easy to navigate large courses without losing context.

Course Hierarchy

Course → Sections (topics) → Lessons (individual units) → Homework / Quiz (assessments). Lessons cannot exist outside a section. A course must have at least one section before lessons can be added.

Creating a Course

Click the Add Course button in the top-right of the Course Builder screen. A form will appear — as a modal or a right-side panel depending on your Add Record Mode setting (see Settings → Appearance).

Fill in the following fields:

  • Title (required) — the course name shown in the catalog and to enrolled employees.
  • Description — a short summary of what the course covers. Shown on the course card in the catalog.
  • Category — organises the course in the catalog. Examples: Technical, Soft Skills, Compliance, Leadership.
  • Cover Image URL — a link to an image that appears as the course thumbnail.
  • Tags — free-form tags for searching and filtering.
  • Estimated Duration — shown on the course card so employees can plan their time.

Save Draft First

You do not need to complete all fields before saving. Save the course with just a title to create a draft, then return to fill in the rest. The Save button is disabled only when the title field is empty.

Lesson Types

Each lesson in a section can be one of four types. The type determines how the content is displayed to learners and which editor is shown to authors.

Text Lesson

A rich-text document with headings, lists, and formatted paragraphs. Best for written explanations, step-by-step guides, and reference material.

Video Lesson

Embed a video URL (YouTube, Vimeo, or direct MP4). The video player is shown inline in the lesson view. Add a text transcript below the video for accessibility.

Quiz Lesson

Link a quiz created in the Quiz Engine directly into a lesson. Learners complete the quiz as part of the course flow. Pass/fail thresholds are set on the linked quiz.

Attachment

A downloadable resource — PDF, spreadsheet, or any file. Useful for worksheets, templates, and reference documents that learners can save locally.

Tab Style Setting

Course Builder uses a horizontal tab bar to switch between course metadata, sections, and the learner preview. The tab style can be toggled between two visual modes:

  • Underline (default) — a minimal underline indicator on the active tab. Matches the rest of TotalApp.
  • Pill — a filled rounded-rectangle indicator on the active tab. A more colourful, playful style.

Toggle the tab style in Settings → Appearance → Course Builder Tab Style. The setting applies immediately across all open courses.

AI Assistant

While authoring a course, an AI Assistant panel is available on the right edge of the screen. Click the AI Assistant tab to open it. The panel has access to the current course context — the title, sections, and lesson names you have already created — so its suggestions are relevant to your specific course.

What You Can Ask

  • "Suggest a 5-section outline for a Python basics course aimed at beginners"
  • "Write an introduction paragraph for the Variables and Data Types lesson"
  • "Create 5 quiz questions for the Functions and Scope section"
  • "What homework exercises would reinforce the concepts in this section?"
  • "Expand this bullet list into full lesson content: [paste your notes]"

Iterate Quickly

Use the AI panel for rapid first drafts. Ask for an outline, paste the outline into the course structure, then ask for content for each section individually. This iterative approach is much faster than writing from a blank page.

Publishing a Course

Courses start as Draft and are only visible to authors. When the course is ready for employees to access, toggle the status to Published using the toggle in the course header.

Published courses:

  • Appear in the course catalog that employees can browse.
  • Can be enrolled in by any employee.
  • Are still fully editable by authors — edits take effect immediately for all enrolled learners.
  • Can be unpublished at any time by toggling back to Draft.

In-Progress Learners

Unpublishing a course does not delete progress data for learners who are already enrolled. Their completion records are preserved, but they will not be able to access new lessons until the course is re-published.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a lesson exist without being inside a section?
No. Lessons always belong to a section — a course must have at least one section created before any lesson can be added. This keeps the course hierarchy (Course → Sections → Lessons → Homework/Quiz) consistent and ensures the learner-facing catalog always has a clear navigation structure.
Do I need to fill in every field before I can save a course?
No. The Save button is only disabled when the Title field is empty. You can save a course as a draft with just a title, then come back later to add the description, category, cover image, tags, and estimated duration.
What happens to learner progress if I unpublish a course?
Unpublishing a course does not delete any progress data. Learners who were already enrolled keep their completion records, but they lose access to new lessons until the course is published again. Unpublishing only removes the course from the catalog and blocks new enrollments — it does not erase history.
Which lesson type should I use for a graded assessment?
Use the Quiz lesson type. It links a quiz created in the Quiz Engine directly into the course flow, and the pass/fail threshold is controlled on the linked quiz itself. Use the Attachment type instead for ungraded resources like worksheets or reference PDFs, and Homework-capable lessons for open-ended assignments that need manual review.