Add Course Updates and Handouts

Add Course Updates and Handouts#

Tags: educator how-to

Course updates are communications, especially a welcome message, that learners see at the top of the Course page when they enter the course.

Handouts are links to files that you upload in Studio, for example, a PDF version of the course syllabus, or an article that you want learners to read.

Add a Course Update#

On the Updates page in Studio, you see the list of updates sorted in the order that they were created (most recent at the top of the list). You can edit or delete a previous update using the pencil and trash icons. If you create a new update, learners do not see the update on the Course page unless it has the latest chronological date of all existing updates.

an image of the Updates page. From this page you can add a new update by clicking on the button located at the top right hand corner of the page. Additionally, you can edit a previous update by selecting the pencil icon or delete an update by clicking on the trash icon. You can also add a course handout by clicking on the pencil icon on the right side of the page.

To add a course update, follow these steps.

  1. In Studio, select Updates from the Content menu.

  2. Create your update in the text editor that opens.

    Note

    To make sure that your announcements are accessible, if you use headings inside an announcement, make sure that you use only level 6 headings. The structure of the course Course page uses heading levels 1-5.

    • Specify a date for this update. By default, today’s date is already entered. You can change the date using the calendar tool, or by entering some other valid date.

  3. Select Post.

    Your new update becomes available to learners immediately. If the update has the latest chronological date, it is shown to learners on the Course page, otherwise the update appears on the Updates page.

If you select “+ New update”, you see an editor that has many options for styling in the toolbar.
  1. Optionally, choose whether to send a notification about your update to

    the Open edX mobile app.

    • Learners can choose to turn off notifications for individual courses or for all courses. The Course page continues to show updates.

    • Updates appear on the Course page, even if you do not send notifications.

Add a Course Handout#

To add a course handout, you upload a file in Studio, then add an entry to a list of handouts, specifying Course>`, then add an entry to a list of handouts, specifying the URL to your uploaded file and providing a handout title.

You can open the Studio Files page in another browser window to make this process easier.

To add a course handout, follow these steps.

  1. In Studio, select Updates from the Content menu.

    On the Updates page, you see a Course Updates panel and a Course Handouts panel.

    The **Course Updates** page in Studio, showing the Course Handouts panel.

  2. In the Course Handouts panel, select Edit.

  3. In the editor that opens, add the link to your new course handout.

  4. Select Save.

See also

About Course Updates and Handouts (concept)

Maintenance chart

Review Date

Working Group Reviewer

Release

Test situation

03/17/2025

Leira (Curricu.me)

Sumac

Fail (openedx/docs.openedx.org#939)
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