Instructor Guide

If you are not already an instructor, please go to the “Become an Instructor” page and register.  Once approved, you will have access the Instructor Dashboard under the “Our Instructors” menu. 

This website is built on a Learning Management System (LMS) that automatically feeds our Apps. LMS software generally uses the language that includes courses and lessons. On the web site, “Sparks” are the equivalent of “Courses” and “Embers” are the equivalent of “Lessons“.  However, in the instructor area, the “course” and “lesson” language is used. 

To create a Spark (Course), you must create both the Course and the Lessons it will contain. A course must contain at least one lesson. 

Follow the steps below to create a Course. 

1. 1. From the Instructors Front End Editor, click “Add Course“. 
   2. Give it a title and a description and then choose or add a category and tags. 
   3. Add a Featured Image. If you don’t have an image at hand, you can visit a web site like Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/) and search for free images. Download the image you like and upload it to this page. 
   4. Next click “Publish“. 
   5. Now, click on “Lessons“. Here you will see all the Lessons you’ve created in the past. Click “Add New” to create a new one. Later we will relate this lesson to the course you created above.
   6. Create the Lesson content by adding a Title.
   7. In the Description box is where all of your lesson content will go. 
   8. To add a video, click on the “Add Media” button in the tool bar above the main content area (camera icon).
   9. You can upload video, or click the “Insert from URL” to add video from YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
   10. Click “Insert into Post”
   11. In addition to the video you just added, you can also add text, links, upload documents and link to them…all in the main content area. Upload a document and embed it in the content area just like you have done with the video.  Effectively, all content for this specific “lesson” can go into this area.
   12. Instead of putting all the content into one “lesson”, you can segment the content into multiple “lessons”. 
   13. When you have completed adding content, add a Duration estimated to view the video and all other added content you’ve added.
   14. Check the box to allow unregistered people to view the content.
   15. Click “Add”.
   16. Now click “Courses” and open the course you just created. 
   17. Click on Curriculum.
   18. Now click “Add New Item” and you can search/find the “lesson” you just created. 
   19. Alternatively, start a new lesson from this location. If you start a new Item it will be added to the list and you can edit it to add your content. 
   20. You will also see a “Settings” tab in the course editor. These settings do not need to be touched. If you have special requirements and believe these settings should be adjusted, please contact the webmaster first. 
   21. When you have finished adding all your lessons/items and you believe you are ready to have the Course published, click “Update“. 
   22. The Webmaster will receive an email and approve the course. 
   23. Please note that any time you make changes to a course or lesson, the webmaster must once again approve it before it will be visible on the public side of the web site and App.