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A course in DeanDesk is a self-contained learning environment. Each course comes with its own overview page, materials drive, assignment board, announcement feed, curriculum editor, student roster, attendance tracker, and gradebook. Instructors and admins manage everything from a single course dashboard; students see a clean, organized view of the same content.

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What’s inside a course

Every course includes the following tabs:
TabWhat it contains
OverviewAnnouncements, schedule, instructor details, and a course summary
MaterialsUploaded files — slides, PDFs, textbooks, and supplementary resources
AssignmentsAll assignments with due dates, instructions, and submission links
AnnouncementsBroadcast messages sent to all enrolled students
CurriculumAn ordered sequence of lessons, modules, and assessments
StudentsEnrolled student roster and enrollment management
AttendanceSession-by-session attendance records
GradebookGrades and feedback for all assignments

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Creating a course

1

Open the Courses section

From the Admin Dashboard or your instructor sidebar, navigate to Courses.
2

Click Create New Course

Select Create New Course from the top of the Courses page.
3

Enter course details

Fill in the following fields:
FieldDescription
TitleThe course name students will see
DescriptionA short summary of what the course covers
InstructorSelect one or more instructors from your user list
Start / End DateThe course’s active date range (leave blank for evergreen courses)
Term(Optional) Tie the course to an academic term — this auto-fills the dates
TagsKeywords used for filtering and search
ScheduleWeekly meeting days, times, and locations
ActiveToggle whether the course is visible to students
4

Save the course

Click Save Course. DeanDesk creates the course and provisions all its tabs immediately.
To create many courses at once, use the Bulk Course Creator in the Admin Dashboard. It gives you a spreadsheet-style interface where you can enter all course details in rows and create them all with a single click. See Initial Setup for the full walkthrough.

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Evergreen vs. term-based courses

DeanDesk supports two course models:
ModelWhen to use
Term-basedThe course runs during a defined period — set a start and end date, or link it to a term. The course automatically becomes inactive after the end date.
EvergreenThe course has no fixed end date. Students can enroll and progress at any time. Leave start/end date blank.
Linking a course to a term keeps your academic calendar synchronized. If you adjust the term dates later, all courses tied to that term update automatically.

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Setting a course to active or inactive

Open the course, go to the Overview tab, and toggle the Active switch. Inactive courses are hidden from the student-facing course list but remain accessible to instructors and admins.
Setting a course to inactive removes it from the student dashboard immediately. Students mid-course will lose access until you reactivate it.

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Course Builder: modules and lessons

The Course Builder lets you structure content into modules, each containing individual lessons.
1

Open the Curriculum tab

Navigate to the course and click the Curriculum tab.
2

Add a module

Click Add Module and give it a name (e.g., “Week 1: Introduction”). Modules act as top-level containers.
3

Add lessons to the module

Inside the module, click Add Lesson. Each lesson can contain text, embedded video, uploaded files, or a link to an assessment.
4

Reorder with drag and drop

Drag modules and lessons into the order you want. Students progress through the curriculum in the sequence you set.

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Adding course materials

The Materials Drive is a cloud-backed file storage area for each course. Students can browse and download everything you upload.
1

Go to the Materials tab

Open the course and select the Materials tab.
2

Upload files

Click Upload and select one or more files from your device. Supported types include PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, images, and video files.
3

Organize into folders

Click New Folder to group materials by topic, week, or type. Drag files into folders to keep things organized.
Label files clearly (e.g., “Week 3 Slides.pdf”) so students can find what they need without opening every file.

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Video hosting

You can upload course videos directly to DeanDesk without relying on a third-party platform.
1

Upload a video

In the Materials tab or within a Curriculum lesson, click Upload Video and select your file.
2

Wait for processing

DeanDesk processes the video for adaptive streaming. You’ll see a progress indicator — processing time depends on file size.
3

Embed in curriculum

Once processed, insert the video into a curriculum lesson so students can watch it inline, with playback controls including speed adjustment and captions if provided.

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Scheduling a live session

Live sessions let you hold real-time classes with integrated video conferencing.
1

Open the course schedule

Navigate to the Overview tab of the course and find the Schedule section.
2

Create a session

Click Add Session and set the date, start time, and duration.
3

Enable video conferencing

Toggle Live Video on. DeanDesk generates a meeting link automatically.
4

Notify students

Post an announcement or let DeanDesk send an automatic reminder before the session starts. Enrolled students see upcoming sessions on their personalized dashboard.

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Curriculum editor

The Curriculum editor lets you arrange all course content — lessons, videos, readings, and assessments — into a guided learning sequence called a Learning Feed.
1

Open the Curriculum tab

Go to Courses → [your course] → Curriculum.
2

Add and arrange items

Add modules and nest lessons beneath them. Drag and drop to set the order.
3

Link assignments

Within a lesson, click Add Assessment to attach a quiz or assignment that students must complete before advancing.
4

Publish the curriculum

Click Save when your sequence is ready. Students see the curriculum immediately upon visiting the course.

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Enrolling students

1

Open the Students tab

Navigate to the course and click the Students tab.
2

Add students

Click Enroll Students, search by name or email, and select the students to add. Click Confirm.