When Creating a Course:

Use a colorful, eye-catching thumbnail.
If you include text in the thumbnail image, it should match (or be very similar to) the title of your course. Avoid text that is unrelated to the course content.
Be mindful of text placement in the thumbnail. If you are creating the thumbnail yourself, place the text in the upper 60% of the image. This is the only portion that shows on the user’s class card.

Your summary should be descriptive but concise. Include the most important information, like what type of content the course includes, what framework it is aligned to (if relevant), and who the intended audience is.
Tag the course to a framework before you start adding content.
Avoid leaving fields blank whenever possible.

Fill in the Big Ideas and Essential Questions fields for each unit. Big Ideas should cover the major learning objectives covered throughout the unit. Essential Questions are usually how and why questions that a learner will be able to answer at the end of the unit.

Unless your units have a predetermined length of time, enter the Estimated Time to Learn values for each unit after you complete content creation.

When Creating a Collection:

Use titular capitalization for collection titles.
Give the collection a title before you add content to it.
Follow a consistent naming convention for all collections.
Whenever possible, do not leave any fields blank.
Use a colorful, relevant thumbnail image. Make sure that you have rights to the image and/or that the image has a license that permits its use.
The learning objective should clearly explain what a learner will be able to do after completing the collection.

Fill in the Expected Time to Learn field after you have completed the collection. Make sure this value matches the Suggested ETL.
When possible, include a variety of resource types in a single collection.
When working with K12 learners, keep collections concise but robust - usually between 2 and 5 resources.
If there are several resources in the collection, add questions in between resources to keep learners engaged. Note that all questions in a collection are practice questions that do not contribute to mastery.
Preview a collection before deciding it is complete and ready for learners to view.

Fill in all metadata for each resource.
Ensure that each resource is tagged to the same competency or competencies to which the collection is tagged.
For video resources, it is best to use videos that are fewer than five minutes long.
For video resources, try to use those that have closed captioning and subtitles. This way, the resource is accessible to more of your learners.
For K12 learners, be mindful of reading level when using text resources. Make sure the resource’s text is appropriate for your target audience.
Verify that the resource embeds properly by previewing it. If the resource doesn’t embed, replace it.
For K12 learners, avoid resources that require a link-out. If a resource cannot be embedded, in some cases the user will be directed to go to another webpage and then return to Gooru (see below). For K12 learners, unless the resource is exceptional, replace it with one that embeds properly.

Ensure that you have the appropriate permissions and/or license required to post each resource.
If the resource’s owner/creator requires a link to the resource’s license, put this link in the description field of the metadata.

Use titular capitalization for assessment titles.
Give the assessment a title before you add content to it.
Follow a consistent naming convention for all assessments.
Often, it is helpful to have an assessment come after a collection. This gives the learner a chance to interact with the content before they are assessed. In this case, consider giving the collection and assessment similar titles.
Whenever possible, do not leave any fields blank.
If you have multiple assessments tagged to the same competency, only the first assessment (in order of learner’s interaction) will be used to assess mastery of that competency.
Use a colorful, relevant thumbnail image. Make sure that you have rights to the image and/or that the image has a license that permits its use.
The learning objective should clearly explain what a learner will be able to do after completing the assessment.
Fill in the Expected Time to Learn field after you have completed the assessment. Make sure this value matches the Suggested ETL.
When possible, include a variety of question types in a single assessment.
If your aim is for an assessment to be machine-gradable, avoid free response and scientific argument questions.
Preview an assessment before deciding it is complete and ready for learners to view. In the preview, answer the questions as if you were a student to make sure you have accurately marked the correct answers as such.

Use titular capitalization for question titles. Make sure to give each question a title.
Follow a consistent naming convention for all questions. Here is one example:

Ensure that each question is tagged to the same competency or competencies to which the assessment is tagged.
When appropriate, include images in your questions to keep them engaging. Make sure the images are relevant and not distracting.
Be mindful that some learners will access the course on their phones while others will use tablets or computers. Because of this, avoid directing learners to “select from the answer choices below”, as the orientation and placement of question components can vary by device.
Avoid asking questions that require a learner to differentiate among colors.
Write culturally-appropriate questions and/or questions that will be culturally-relevant for a wide range of learners.
Minimize the use of true and false questions.
For Multiple Answer type questions, keep the list of responses to four or fewer. Too many responses in this question type can result in frustration.

For K12 learners, scaffold the questions so the simpler questions come earlier in the assessment. Note that the order of questions in an assessment is fixed and non-random.
For fill-in-the-blank questions, be sure to provide a word-bank as an attached image, parentheses after question text to indicate possible responses, or otherwise narrow down the possible responses a learner can type in.
For fill-in-the-blank questions, be upfront about the format of the correct response, since only one correct answer is possible. For example, if you want the response 7, indicate in your question text that the learner should type their answer in as a numeral. Typing in “seven” will result in the question being marked wrong.
If there are multiple correct answers, make sure learners know this. Since most learners are accustomed to questions in which only one response is correct, make note of multiple correct answers in your question text. For example, “Select all correct responses”.
Avoid using double-negatives in questions or responses. They are unnecessarily confusing and do not provide useful data about mastery of content or skill.