Keywords: courses, linking, link, new course with linked sections

Aliases: Schoology

WARNING: Before linking sections for any course, please make sure you understand ALL of the information and results of linking sections. If this is the first time you are using Schoology, you should work alongside a colleague and/or DLI instructional facilitator or digital learning coach or PSD Tech Services to ensure you have worked through all the possible pitfalls and are set up for success. 

Linking Your Sections

If you use Schoology Enterprise, you have the option to link the sections of any course together. Course section linking is a great way to manage all sections of a course more efficiently.

When sections are linked, they all share the same set of materials and grade setup. This means you only need to create materials and set up your gradebook once, even when you teach multiple sections of the same course. Linked sections also have toggles you can use to switch between each section instantly, so you can keep the sections separate while enjoying a more streamlined workflow.

The linked sections feature was designed to improve the instructor's experience. Your students will continue to see and experience Schoology in the same way they always have.

Requirements for linking sections of a course:

1. The sections must be within the same Course.
2. The sections must be associated with the same grading period.
3. Enrollment must be unique across the linked sections. There cannot be any overlap in the students.
4. The sections must have the same Course Admins.

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How to Link Sections

If you are a course admin who has the Link sections permission enabled by your system admin, and your sections meet the prerequisites outlined above, you can link your existing sections together by following these steps.

There are three different ways to create linked sections: 

Linking Existing Sections Together

1. Click your Courses drop-down menu and and select My Courses.
   
   Steps 2-7 demonstrated below

1. In your list of courses, click the gear icon to the right of the section you consider to be the "master section". If you have materials in both courses, the "master section" is the one that holds the materials and grades you would like to continue to use between the two sections. 
2. Select Link Existing Sections from the dropddown.
3. Select the section(s) to link and click Next.
4. As a safeguard against losing grade data for child sections, you must select to download a grade export file for each section being linked. See the "Gradebook File Download when Linking or Unlinking Sections" instructions below for details.
5. Select the file type to download:
   • As a Standard CSV spreadsheet.
   • As a CSV file that you can use to import into other systems, such as an SIS.
6. Click Download and Next.
7. Click Link Sections.
8. A warning message displays: 

   "Materials from (section name) will not be copied into: (section name). Once complete, the sections will share: grade setup, materials, and course profile (of the destination section). Member enrollments will still belong to their respective sections."
   
   This means that the section for which you clicked the gear icon will be the master section–the linked sections will now all have access to and use the materials in that master section. This includes Course Materials and items in your Grade Setup (such as Grading Categories, Rubrics, etc). However, the original rosters of students when the sections were separate will remain the same after you link the sections.

9. Click Link Sections. 

If the requirements for linked sections are not met, the other section(s) will be grayed out. If you hover your mouse over the grayed-out section, you will see a tooltip explaining the cause of the issue.

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Creating a New Course with Linked Sections 

(This would only be used for courses you create yourself NOT PowerSchool courses. It is a highly unusual situation. Please contact DLI instructional staff before proceeding)

Alternately, you can create linked sections while creating a new course. To do this:

1. Click your Courses drop-down menu and and select My Courses. 
2. Click the option to Create Course on the top right of the My Courses area.
   
   Note: If you do not see the Create Course button, it may be because your System Admin has not enabled the permission to create new courses for your role.
3. In the Create Course menu, press +Add  to add a linked section to the new course and section you are creating.
4. When the form is complete, click Create to create the new course with a master section and linked sections.

If you are unsure about how to fill in the Section Code field, check with your System Administrator to ensure your naming convention is consistent with other courses at your school. You can also learn more in this article on section code vs. section school code.

Adding a New Linked Section to an Existing Course

You can also create new sections that are linked to an existing course from the Course Options area of the existing section.

To create a new section that will be linked to an existing section:

1. Click Courses on the top navigation bar.
2. Select the section in the menu that you would like to make the master section.
3. Click Course Options in the left column of the course page and select Edit Info.
4. Click +Add in the top Section Name row to create new sections that are automatically linked to the current section. 

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