Should I Create New Content in Ultra or Copy From an Original Course?

Modified on Tue, Sep 10 at 12:52 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Copying Content Into an Ultra Course
When Should I Create New Content in Ultra?
What Types of Content Can I Copy From an Original Course?
Review Your Copied Content

Copying Content Into an Ultra Course

Ultra makes it easy to copy materials from one course into another. You may choose to make an exact copy of a course or copy individual items from one course into another.

As a best practice, we do not recommend copying an entire Original course into your Ultra course, as this tends to create errors, formatting issues, broken content, and will require quite a bit of reworking. However, you may certainly copy individual items from your Original course into your Ultra course.

Go to the Copy Individual Course Items support article for detailed instructions.

Should I Create New Content in Ultra or Copy From an Original Course?

This is one of the most common questions faculty ask. When converting an Original course to Ultra, most faculty choose to do a combination of creating new content in their Ultra course and copying in content from their Original course.

While most Original content will copy into an Ultra course, there are some exceptions.

When Should I Create New Content in Ultra?

We recommend that you create content directly in your Ultra course when setting up your course structure (ex Learning Modules and Folders), reworking your content (ex creating new assignments), or when copying isn't possible.

The following table specifies which types of content we recommend creating directly in your Ultra course.

Original Content Type	Converts to	Comments
Blog	Not Supported	Blogs are not available in Ultra Course View. You will need to recreate your activity using a different tool, such as a Discussion.
Discussion Board	Discussions	In most cases, Discussions will not copy or will copy with errors. As a best practice, we recommend recreating your Discussion in Ultra.
Folder	Folder	As a best practice, we recommend that you create your course structure, including Learning Modules and Folders, directly in your Ultra course.
Journals	Journal	In most cases, Journals will not copy or will copy with errors. As a best practice, we recommend recreating your Journal in Ultra.
Learning Module	Learning Module	As a best practice, we recommend that you create your course structure, including Learning Modules and Folders, directly in your Ultra course.
Wikis	Not Supported	Wikis are not available in Ultra Course View. You will need to recreate your activity using a different tool, such as a Collaborative Document.

What Types of Content Can I Copy From an Original Course?

We recommend copying content from an Original course if it is a supported content type and won't require significant reformatting or redesigning.

The following table specifies which types of content may easily be copied from your Original course into your Ultra course.

Original Content Type	Converts to	Comments
Announcement	Announcement	Announcements may be copied and will be saved as a draft.
Assignment	Assignment	After copying, check your Assignment instructions for formatting issues, broken links, attachments, and more. Pay special attention to embedded content (such as videos). In some cases you may want to re-create or re-embed the content. Update due dates after copying.
File	File	After copying, update your file settings to allow students to view only, download, or view & download your file.
Item	Ultra Document	After copying, check your Ultra Document for formatting issues, broken links, attachments, and more. Pay special attention to embedded content (such as videos). In some cases you may want to re-create or re-embed the content.
Question Pool	Question Bank	Most question types are supported in Ultra. The following question types are not supported and will not copy over: file response, jumbled sentence, likert, ordering, quiz bowl.
Rubrics	Rubrics	After copying, Rubrics may be accessed in the Gradebook Settings area.
Survey	Form	Most question types are supported in Ultra. The following question types are not supported and will not copy over: file response, jumbled sentence, ordering, quiz bowl. Update due dates after copying.
Test	Test	Most question types are supported in Ultra. The following question types are not supported and will not copy over: file response, jumbled sentence, likert, ordering, quiz bowl. Update due dates after copying.
Web Link	Link	Check your link to be sure it opens in a new window.

Review Your Copied Content

If the system encounters problems when copying content, you will see an error message at the top of the Course Content page. Click on View Exceptions to view the report.

The Exceptions Report will provide you with a list of items that weren't copied or experienced an error, along with a brief explanation of the issue. In some cases you won't need to do anything at all. In others, you may need to edit or reformat the content. And in some cases you may need to re-create the content in your Ultra course.

In addition to Copy Exceptions, you will want to review all of your copied content to ensure that it looks and functions as intended. Pay special attention to the following:

Visibility: When copying individual content into your Ultra course, all content will default to Hidden from Students. You may adjust the visibility for these items one at a time or use the Batch Edit tool to update them all at once.
Due Dates: If your Original content had due dates, these will come over in the copy. You may adjust the due dates for each item one at a time or use the Batch Edit tool to update them all at once.
Formatting: Check all of your content for formatting issues, including text and spacing issues, broken links, attachments, and more. Pay special attention to embedded content, such as videos. If your formatting or content is wonky, you may edit or recreate it using the Content/Text Editor.
Folder and Link Descriptions: Item descriptions in Ultra are limited to 750 characters and do not support formatting. If your Original course contained long or formatted descriptions (especially for folders, tool links, files, and links) only the first 750 characters will copy into Ultra.