The Why
Adding a unit form template is a helpful tool for keeping consistency across your school. It centralizes information teachers need to include when creating their units. It can also help with accreditation requirements by making sure you have the necessary information requested.
How To Set Up
To add a unit template:
Log into your Edusfere Admin Portal.
Click Settings.
Click Unit Form Templates.
You can create a new template by clicking Create new template, or you can edit an existing one by clicking on the three dots on the far-right side of the template.
The three options that always appear in the unit, even without a template, are:
Key Ideas
Description
Learning Objectives
In your unit template, you can add any additional boxes you'd like. Some examples include Enduring Understanding, Big Ideas, Essential Questions, and Assessment Evidence.
We recommend looking at what is needed for accreditation and adding any necessary fields here.
You can set the template as the default template so your teachers do not have to select it every time they set up a new course. See the video below for more information.
Options For Your Template
When adding a field in your template, you can choose one of three field types:
Editor: creates a text box for teachers to fill in.
Multi-select: creates a list of options, and teachers can choose more than one.
Single-select: creates a list of options, and teachers can choose only one.
See the video below for additional information and a step-by-step walkthrough.
Where Does It Appear on The Teacher's Side?
While a teacher is creating a course, they have the option to select which unit form template to use. If you have created one as a default, it will automatically attach to the course, but a teacher can always adjust it if you have multiple options for them to choose from. We recommend communicating your expectations to your teachers.
Once they have created their course, their next step will be to set up their unit. Based upon the option they selected at the course level, the fields you created will appear as options for them to fill out in their unit.
Adjusting Your Templates
You can always edit, move, or add information into your existing templates.
There is a delete option, but please note: this WILL remove the data that teachers have put into that field, so we do NOT recommend using this option once your template has been utilized by teachers. Doing so could result in data loss.
You can add as many templates as desired, but since the goal is consistency, we recommend keeping the number low. Please make sure to let your teachers know which template you want them using for which courses.
Switching a Course to a Different Template
Our recommendation is that your templates be set up before your teachers start building in Edusfere. However, if teachers have already started building units, a course can still be switched to a different template. Use caution: data may be lost if it isn't done correctly.
Before you switch, compare the two templates side by side.
Data your teachers have already entered carries over only when the new template has a field with exactly the same name.
Example: “Essential Question” and “Essential Questions” are treated as two different fields.
Anything entered in a field the new template doesn't include will be erased.
Before the change is applied, this confirmation message appears:
This change is made on the teacher's side, at the course level, and applies to every unit in the course. To switch the template:
Open the course and click Edit.
Find Unit Form Template toward the bottom of the right side.
Choose the new template.
Confirm the change when prompted.
Tip: If teachers have already started building, change one course first and check that the information carried over as expected before updating the rest.
Moving units between courses:
The same thing happens when a teacher moves a unit into a course that uses a different unit template.
The unit switches to the destination course's template, and any field that isn't in that template won't be brought over, so that data will be lost.
Let your teachers know to compare the two courses' templates before moving a unit.
Need more help? Reach out to our team using the Help button in the lower right corner, or email us at customersuccess@edusfere.com.