This semester I am devoting Mondays to getting the most out of MyLab for math instructors – MyLab Monday!
If you have topics related to MyLab that you’d like me to address, or if you have questions about MyLab, please reach out to me by leaving a comment or by visiting the contact page on my website: georgewoodbury.com.

Starting from Scratch

If you are a first time user you will need your Pearson rep to create an account for you. The first time you use MyLab to supplement a Pearson text, log in and click on Create a Course. You can then search for the author and title. Be sure that you select the correct edition – that can create a problem for students repeating the class or use it in the future. When you create the course, Pearson generates a first-day flyer for your students that provides the Course ID as well as registration instructions. At the very least, copy the Course ID so you can include it in your syllabus.

You can create your own assignments and quizzes (more on that in a future blog) or you can import assignments that the publisher created. For a first time user, starting with the pre-built assignments is a good idea. (For my algebra textbook, I hand selected each problem that ended up in my pre-build homework, flip assignments, and reflect quizzes.) You can edit the assignments, adding or deleting problems as you see fit. As you become more familiar with MyLab or with the particular textbook, you can start creating your own assignments from scratch.

Copying a Course

If you have a colleague that is willing to share, copying their course is a great alternative to creating your own. Again, you can use that as a starting point and then customize it to meet your needs. The instructor will have to provide you with a Course ID, as well as make the course available for copying.

You can also copy your own course from a previous semester. All assignments and quizzes are copied over with the same settings. You can then change the dates inside the Assignment Manager.The grading weights, uploaded documents, discussion boards, and class announcements are also copied over. If you use announcements in your class, you will have to edit the dates so you can reuse them. This can be done in the Announcements Manager. You can also delete the announcements, and simply copy them from your old course when you are ready to send them out.

This would be a good time to mention that you should keep track of changes you want to make as a semester progresses, such as problems you want to delete or add the next time you teach the class. I use Evernote to keep track of these changes, but Microsoft OneNote or a Google Doc/spreadsheet would work just as well. Once I copy the course I immediately go in and make the changes I documented the previous semester.

Setting up Course Dates

When creating your course you will need to set up start/end dates for the course, as well as for enrollment.

I start the course and enrollment on the day I create the MyLab course. I set the course end date to be about one week prior to the start of the next semester because I want my students to be able to access the material between semesters in order to prepare for the next course. As far as the enrollment end date, I typically set that to be about 7-10 days after the course actually begins. Students often begin the semester by using Pearson’s temporary 2-week access, and if you set the enrollment end date after the 2-week period some students will create a new account when making their access permanent. That creates gradebook headaches for the instructor, and ending the enrollment period earlier avoids that problem. (I speak from personal experience!)

Speaking of the temporary access, I always show my students how to find that option on the computer projected screen. It can be hard to find for some students. I also show students where to click in order to make their access permanent, and I have found that a great way to avoid problems before they happen.

Summary

I hope this is helpful for you as you get started.

• Start by using a colleague’s course or the built-in Pearson assignments the first time you use a course, and customize it to meet your needs as you go. Each time you make an improvement to the course, you can simply copy over your edited course the next time you teach the course.
• When you create a course it is a perfect time to make any edits to assignments and reset the assignment/due dates.
  I use Evernote to keep track of problems I want to add or delete as the semester progresses, so I have all of the changes listed in one place.
  Also set up the dates for any announcements you plan to recycle. I typically set all of them to a future date (so they cannot be seen by students) until I want to send them out.
• Think about the start/end dates you want to apply to your course.
  For the course end date, I set that up to be about one week prior to the beginning of the NEXT semester, so students can review material over break.
  For the enrollment end date, I choose a date that is 7-10 days after the first day of class. This avoids the problem of students creating a second account by mistake.
• If possible, walk through students how to register in MyLab in front of the class. Having a volunteer walk through the process is valuable for students to see, just be sure the projector is off when sensitive information is on the screen. Also, be sure to show students where they can click to sign up for temporary access as well as where to click to make their access permanent.

Again, if you have any questions or if you have topics you want me to address in the future, please leave a comment on this blog, reach out to me through the contact page on my website, or track me down on Twitter: @georgewoodbury.