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How to Use Carmen Commons

The Carmen Commons is a portal containing templates and resources for Carmen courses across the university. Faculty and staff who use Carmen can create course elements to share and import course elements into their own courses. If you are unfamiliar with Commons and would like to know how to use it, keep reading. 

How to Share Course Content to Commons

Sharing elements to Commons is a great way to collaborate with other instructors and share your knowledge. If you have created a course template that works well for your course or you have written articles or quizzes that can help other instructors with their courses, you can share it to commons for everyone at the university to use.

  1. Go to the course containing the element you would like to share.
  2. Find the element you want to share. To the right of the element’s title, click on the 3 vertical dots icon to access the item’s menu. Select “Share to Commons” from the menu. This will take you to the Sharing Settings.
  3. Choose who can use the resource: There are multiple options, but for this example we will allow access to “All of The Ohio University.” 
  4. Select your Content Type: This is optional. If your content type does not match the options, you can move on to the next step. Choose “Template” if you are sharing an element that other instructors can edit or “Open Textbook” if you are sharing readings.
  5. Choose the license type: Instructure has a resource to help you choose which license type fits your content. For example, we will choose “Public Domain” because anyone can use and edit this resource. 
  6. Give your element a title. Use a generic and descriptive title.
  7. Provide a description for your element. This gives other users information about the content. Describe what the resource is and how to use it. 
  8. Add tags: List all the words people would most likely type into the search bar to find your content. 
  9. Add an image: This can be the official image for your department or a screenshot of the content you are sharing. You can also create an image all your own. 
  10. Choose the grade level: For OSU, the most common setting will be “Undergraduate – Graduate” unless you are creating an element for Pre-K-12. 
  11. There is a preview for your Commons listing on the right side of the screen. Make sure it looks the way you want it before clicking on the ‘Share’ button. 

Once you share the element to Commons, you’ll see the element’s page on Commons. You can click through the tabs to see the details you provided in the settings and the preview of the element. It is now live on Commons. 

How to Import Content from Commons

Importing elements from Commons is a great way to add new and interesting things to your course without having to build it from scratch. Browse through the offerings currently in Commons and if you find something you like, add it to your course. 

  1. Log into CarmenCanvas using your OSU credentials.
  2. Click on the “CarmenCanvas Dashboard” button. 
  3. In the gray global navigation bar on the left hand side, scroll down to the Commons icon. It will be the one with the arrow pointing out of a letter ‘C.’ This will take you to the Commons home page. You will see featured elements you can use in your own course. For this example, we will add a mid-course survey to our course.
  4. In the search bar at the top, type in “EHE DELD.” This will bring up all of our resources on Commons. Type in, “EHE DELD mid-course survey” to find our surveys. 
  5. Choose the survey to evaluate course design. 
  6. Then click on the blue “Import to Course” button. This will bring up a list of your courses. You can type in the name of the course or find it on the list and check the box.
  7. Scroll down to the bottom of that menu and click on the blue “Import to Course” button. 
  8. Navigate you to your course and find the element. For this example, the survey will be in quizzes in your course. 

There is a whole library of resources and templates available in Commons. Take some time to browse through the options and contribute to the library with your own brilliant resources. If you need help accessing Commons or need assistance editing a Commons resource to fit your course, please contact your instructional design team at EHE-DistanceEd@osu.edu.