You can search the Content Commons for a specific module or a course using the Search button and text box in the upper right of the Connexions web pages. Type in a name, keyword, course title, module title, text string, or object ID in the Search text box and click Search. Connexions will display a list of all modules and courses that match your entry. To view a module or course, click its title.

The Connexions Roadmap helps you find and view content within Connexions. At this time you must use the Mozilla browser to access the Roadmap. A description of the Roadmap features and an explanation of how to use it appears in the Connexions Roadmap.

The Roadmap is not the only means of navigation within Connexions. If you access Connexions with a browser that does not support Roadmap, there are other navigation tools you can use to make your way through the courses.

Opening a Course

Select the "Content" tab (above the You are here Breadcrumb bar) to display the Content Commons screen. This tab allows you to browse courses by title, author name, or institution name. You can also display a listing of all content, courses and modules, by popularity, title, author name, or keyword by selecting appropriate item under the "Browse All Content" heading on the tab.

Figure 1: Connexions Courses

Navigating Within a Course

When you first open a course, the course title page displays. This page contains two panels. One panel displays the Start Course link and course information, such as the institution, instructor, contributing authors, and a brief description of the course. Click Start Course to display the entire course, beginning with the first module. The other panel is labeled "Course Content" and it contains a table of contents for the course that lists the names of the sections and modules within that course. You can click a module name to display that module.

Once you display a module from within a course, you can move to the previous module or to the next module in the course by clicking the ‹‹PREV or NEXT›› links that appear in the upper right corner. Within each module in a course you can display course title page again by clicking the Table of Contents link that also appears in the upper right corner of the module.

Figure 2: Links to the previous and next modules in a course

Note:

The ‹‹PREV, NEXT››, and Table of Content links only display when you access a module from within a course. If you access a module directly from a browser, these links to do not appear.

You can view content related to the module you are displaying using the links in the "Related Material" panel that appears to the left of the module content. This panel includes:

Figure 3: Links to related material

You can change the color scheme and layout of the content pages by selecting one of the style options in the "Personalize" box. The default content page style is Summer Sky. There are several styles to choose from, including Playland, which was designed for the younger Connexions users.

Figure 4: The style selection box

If you have editing privileges on the current module, you can make quick, simple edits with the Edit-In-Place link. See the Connexions page about Edit-In-Place for more information.

To display the metadata for the module, click the More about this content link at the end of the module. Metadata are non-content information about a module, such as the module ID, license type, version number, creation date, revision date, authors, maintainers, copyright holders, module name, keywords, and abstract.

To view the revision history of a module, click the Last edited link at the end of the module and the History page for the module displays. When a new module is published Connexions assigns a revision number to that version of the module. If if becomes necessary to update the module, the author checks it out, edits it, and publishes it again. An incremented revision number is assigned to the updated version. Connexions stores all this revision information and you can view it on the History page for the module.

To generate a PDF file of a module, which you can print, click the Print(PDF) link that appears in the upper right corner of the module. Sometimes you may want or need a printed copy of the material for studying purposes. You can generate a PDF file for any module. These PDF files are formatted for printing with page numbers, headers, footers, and numbered headings. Since the printing process uses a PDF file, you must have a software package that can print PDF files installed on your PC.

If you want a paper copy of an entire course, please contact the Connexions project team. In a future update of the Connexions tools, you will be able to print an entire course without the aid of the Connexions project team.