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Create a Guided Project

We all learn differently. Some like to start by laying a solid foundation of concepts and then build on that foundation by getting deeper and deeper into the subject. Others, like to follow the Nike motto of "Just do it!". Skills Network accomodates both learning styles. Skills Network courses are best suited for those who preffer the more traditional structured approach. For the "Just do it" crowd we offer Guided Projects.

Guided Projects help people learn by doing. A good Guided Project is like a tutorial that your users can follow on your their own to learn how to do something. A great Guided Project is like a tutorial that teaches users how to solve a real-life problem. In other words, not just teaches them some technique but how to apply the technique to a real problem. We encourage you to create great Guided Projects not meerly good ones.

Unlike traditional tutorials, Guided Projects bundle tutorial instructions with all of the required tools for a complete in-browser learning experiences that allow learners to gain new skills without the need to download, install, and configure software. This article will walk you through the steps to create and publish a Guided Project.

How to create a great Guided Project​

First, think about what you aim to teach learners in your Guided Project. Better yet, what will the people be able to do after they complete your Guided Project. Maybe you want them to get a their first JavaScript application to print "Hello World". Or maybe you want to walk learners through the process of creating their first NFT or creating a machine learning model for predicting when someone has fallen down and needs help, like is often the case with senior citizens living on their own.

As with any content, the title of your Guided Project is very important. So, don't rush and put some thought into creating a great title. A great title is half of the project's success. The best titles speak to how users find things rather than simply describing the contents of your project. Keep it short so it will peak people's interest and curiosity. Keep the details to the short and long descriptions.

You don't have to create short and long descriptions for your project right away, but you should have an idea and it does help to put these ideas on the form. Resist the temptation to leave these fields blank or to type in "test" or some other meaningless phrase. Great descriptions are not created all at once, they are a result of many iterations of writing and rewriting the text until you are happy people are going to be interested in learning what you are about to teach them.

Project title, short and long descriptions, a picture and your bio (more on that later) is how people will find your project and they determine if they will decide to do it, so, this is very important stuff!

Once you've decided on the goal of your Project, decide which of our tools best suits your needs. Consult our tools page to learn more about each tool.

Some basic tools and their use cases:

  • Try Cloud IDE for general purpose coding and web apps 🚀
  • Try JupyterLite for data science and machine learning with Python 🧠
  • Try Intructional Lab for writing basic tutorials 💡

Create Guided Project Screenshot

Click Create Guided Project to get started on authoring.

Getting Started​

Upon creating a Guided Project in Author Workbench, you will see the following page with three major steps:

  1. Edit Your Instructions
  2. Preview Your Project
  3. Get Published

Guided Project Screenshot

Authoring​

Edit Your Instructions​

Click Edit Instructions to open an editor in a new tab and start authoring your project. Depending on your project type, your editing environment will be different.

When you first open your project instructions, there will be some useful text already in the editor. It will walk you through the editor's features and help you get familiar with the environment.

note

Don't forget to save and publish your Guided Project!

Preview Your Project​

Back on the Guided Project page, click Launch Project to preview the project in a new tab. Here, you can preview exactly how learners will experience your lab. Try out your instructions and see how it feels!

Get Published​

To publish your Guided Project, click Submit for Review on the Guided Project Page. Upon submission, our curation team will review your content and we will reach out if there are any issues. Once published, changes you make to your instructions will update your Project instantly for learners. Congratulations on creating your Guided Project!