Create your course content

In this article: How to build your course structure using modules and lessons, add content to each lesson, and organize everything so students can work through your material step by step.

All Plans

Every Ruzuku course is built from two pieces: modules and lessons.

Modules are containers. Think of them like chapters in a book or weeks in a program. They group related lessons together and give your course a clear outline. Modules don't hold content themselves.

Lessons are where your content lives. Text, video, audio, downloadable files, discussion prompts, assignments — all of it goes inside lessons. Each lesson is a single step your students complete and check off as they go.

For example, a 6-week photography course might have six modules (one per week), each containing 3-4 lessons covering that week's topic. A short mini-course on meal planning might have two modules with two lessons each.

There's no limit to the number of modules or lessons you can create. That said, shorter and focused beats long and overwhelming. Your students are fitting your course around everything else in their lives. Make each lesson count.

Open Modules & Lessons

1. Go to your course and open the Manage Course menu (keyboard shortcut: Cmd+K on Mac, Ctrl+K on Windows).
2. Click Modules & Lessons in the Content column.

This opens your full course outline, where you can see all modules and lessons at a glance.

Create a Module

1. Click the Create Module button at the top of the outline.
2. Enter a title for your module.
3. Click Save.

Your new module appears in the outline. You can create as many as you need, and you can add more at any time — even after students are enrolled.

Edit a module title

Click the module title (shown in blue) in the outline. Change the name and click Save.

Reorder modules

Drag and drop modules in the outline to change their order. Students see modules in the order you set here.

Hide a module from students

Click the module title, then toggle the module to Hidden. Hidden modules won't appear in the student view. Use this when you're still building content or want to hold a module back until you're ready.

Copy a module to another course

Click the module title, then click Copy module. Select the destination course from the list. All lessons inside the module are copied along with it.

Delete a module

Click the module title, then click the trash icon next to Delete Module. This removes the module and all its lessons permanently — there's no undo.

Create a Lesson

1. Inside a module, click the Add Lesson button.
2. You'll land in the lesson editor. Enter a title at the top.
3. Add your content (see the next section for all the content types).
4. Changes save automatically. Look for the checkmark and "saved" indicator in the upper right corner.

Each lesson should focus on one thing: watch this video, read this explanation, complete this exercise, answer this question. When students finish a lesson, they click Mark as Complete to move to the next one. This gives them a clear sense of progress.

Reorder lessons

Drag and drop lessons within a module to change their order. You can also drag a lesson from one module to another.

Delete a lesson

Open the lesson in the editor. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the dark gray Actions bar, then click Delete. Deleted lessons can't be recovered.

Add Content to a Lesson

The lesson editor supports several content types. You can combine them in a single lesson — for example, a text explanation followed by a video, then a discussion prompt at the bottom.

Text

Type directly in the lesson editor. You have formatting tools for headings, bold, italic, links, bulleted lists, numbered lists, and images. You can also paste text from a document.

Video

1. Click Add media in the editor.
2. Select Video or audio file.
3. Choose a file from your computer (drag and drop works too), or select Record Video to record directly in your browser.

Ruzuku hosts and converts your video into a format optimized for web and mobile playback. The adaptive player adjusts quality based on your student's connection speed.

File limits: Up to 2 GB per video on Core, 4 GB on Pro. Supported formats: MP4 and MOV. Name your file simply (lowercase, no spaces or special characters) for the smoothest upload.

After uploading, you can set a poster image (the thumbnail students see before playing). Click the video, click the Change Poster Image icon, drag the cursor to the frame you want, and click Set Poster Image.

Audio

1. Click Add media in the editor.
2. Select Video or audio file.
3. Upload an audio file from your computer, or select Record Audio to record in your browser.

Ruzuku hosts and converts audio files the same way it handles video.

Downloadable files

Upload PDFs, worksheets, slides, or any other file through Add media. To let students download files:

1. Scroll to the bottom of the lesson editor.
2. Click the Downloads section on the dark gray bar.
3. Toggle on any files you want to make available for download.

Students will see download links below the lesson content.

Embedded content

To embed a video from YouTube, Vimeo, or another external source:

1. Click Add media in the editor.
2. Select HTML or embed code.
3. Paste the embed code and click Insert HTML.

Discussion prompts

Discussion prompts appear at the bottom of a lesson and invite students to respond with text, images, documents, or video.

1. Scroll to the bottom of the lesson editor.
2. Click Discussions on the dark gray bar.
3. Type your prompt and optional description text.
4. (Optional) Toggle Require a comment if you want students to respond before marking the lesson complete.

Discussion prompts work well for reflection questions, sharing exercises, or peer feedback. For example: "Share one photo you edited using this week's technique."

Assignments (assessments)

Assignments let students submit work for your review. You can create quizzes, polls, and open-ended assignments that appear inside lessons.

To review submitted work, go to Manage Course → Review Assessments.

Preview Your Lesson

Click Student View in the upper right corner of the lesson editor to see exactly what your students will see. This shows the lesson content, discussion prompts, and the layout as it appears to enrolled participants.

To go back to editing, click the editor toggle at the top.

What Your Students See

When students open your course, they see:

• A left sidebar listing all visible modules and lessons. Completed lessons show a checkmark.
• The lesson content in the main area: text, video, audio, files, and any embedded content, displayed in the order you placed them.
• Discussion prompts and assignments at the bottom of the lesson, if you added them.
• A "Mark as Complete" button at the bottom of each lesson. Clicking it marks the lesson done and moves them to the next one.
• A progress indicator showing how far they've gotten through the course.

Students can navigate between lessons using the sidebar or by completing lessons in sequence. They can also revisit any lesson they've already completed.

Organize and Manage Your Content

Here's a quick reference for the actions you can take on modules and lessons:

You can make changes at any time, even with enrolled students. Students see your updates the next time they visit the course.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Articles