This guide will help you create the lessons and assignments that will make up your course curriculum. To get started, make sure you've already created your course.
In this guide
Create, edit, and preview lessons
Courses in Heartbeat are organized by modules, which contain lessons, assignments, and live events. To create your first lesson, you first need to create a module.
1. Creating a lesson
Create your first lesson by clicking + Add Content within your module and select Lesson. Then, give your lesson a name and click Create.
Once your lesson is created, you can hover over it and select the pencil icon to edit it and add your lesson content.
2. Get to know the lesson editor
The lesson editor helps you curate clean looking and engaging lesson content. The interface is divided into 3 parts:
Lesson content
Lesson status
Community embeds
At the top of your screen, the navigation bar offers the following options:
Save Changes: Save content you edited and return to the all lessons page.
Save & Preview: Save your content and experience the lesson as an enrolled member.
Cancel: Leave the editor without saving any changes you've made.
Add lesson content
Include a combination of text, images, embedded content, video, and downloads to give your members a rich experience.
1. Add a hero section
Each lesson has the option to add a hero section. You can upload or embed video content from our supported providers or use a thumbnail image.
To add video content, select Video in the Hero Section.
To upload a video from your computer, select Choose a File. We support MP4 and MOV video formats.
To reuse a video you've already uploaded to your video library, click Grab it here and select the video.
To embed media from an external platform, select Click here to embed an external video instead and enter your share URL. If you are using custom HTML, be aware we are only able to offer limited support for issues with how it displays in Heartbeat.
Note: Uploading video content to your community is available with our Native Video subscription add-on. Videos uploaded to lessons will count toward your video storage limit.
2. Add content to the lesson body
Use the text editor to add content to your lesson body. Customize your lesson with headers, text styling, images, embeds and more.
You may want to click Expand Editor to give yourself more space as you're editing your lesson content.
Within the editor, type the forward-slash (/) command to open a menu of various formatting options, including:
H1, H2, and H3 headings
Numbered and bulleted lists
Tables
Block quotes
Code blocks
Dividers
Embedded media
Warning, Tip, and info callouts
To format your content in-line, highlight the text and select from the following options:
Bold (Cmd/Ctrl+B)
Strikethrough
Italics (Cmd/Ctrl+I)
Highlight
Code Block
H1 and H2 headings
Block quotes
Numbered and bulleted lists
Hyperlink
3. Upload lesson files
Including downloadable content into your lesson deepens the learning of the enrolled member. Add download files to your lesson in the Downloads section by clicking Add File. These files will available for download above the lesson body.
Link community content
Connect pieces of your community to your lesson to grow engagement. With community embeds, you can connect the following to your course:
Channels and individual posts to your lesson for further discussion on the topic
Recurring and one-time events to direct students to office hours
Member profiles and DMs for 1:1 questions and support
Automated matchups to connect members with others enrolled in the course
Create, edit, and preview assignments
Assignments help you create learning checkpoints to reinforce learning outcomes throughout your course. Heartbeat assignments are also used to make courses more social and increase community engagement.
1. Creating an assignment
Create your first assignment by clicking + Add Content within your module and select Assignment. Then, give your assignment a name and click Create.
Once your assignment is created, you can hover over it and select the pencil icon to edit it and add your assignment content.
Add assignment content
1. Add a hero section
The process of adding a hero section for assignments is the same as it is for lessons. Learn more about adding a hero section here.
2. Choose an assignment type
There are 3 types of assignments in Heartbeat:
Public: Create more conversations and a culture of constructive feedback. The assignment submission will be published as a thread post in a channel in your community.
Private: Easily collect feedback and gather useful member insights. Assignment submissions are only viewable by admins on the course overview page. We currently don't have the ability to grade submissions within Heartbeat.
External: Offer quizzes and more customized tasks. Connect your members to external tools used for assignments.
3. Add content to the assignment body
The process of adding content to the body of your assignment is the same as it is for lessons. Learn more about adding content here.
4. Upload assignment files
Adding assignment files is great for more involved tasks that require filling out templates, reviewing materials, or completing additional reading.
The process for uploading files on assignments is the same as it is for lessons. Learn more about uploading files here.
5. Configure assignment settings
Before saving your changes, configure the following settings for your assignment:
Choose whether you'd like to require completion. If you toggle this setting ON, members will have to complete the assignment before unlocking the next lesson in the course.
Set a due date for the assignment. If this is toggled ON, you will need to set a due date for the assignment. Members will be shown the due date and will receive notifications prior to the due date.
Next Step: Set up a publish schedule for lessons
Move to the next step in building your course on Heartbeat:
Want to see more in courses?
Check out our courses feedback page to share your requests or upvote others. We prioritize updates to courses based on demand. So the more upvotes a request gets, the faster we build it