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Episode 2

Tools for Open Course Design

By the end of this section you will be able to

  • Compare Grav and Docsify-based approaches for open course content
  • Explain how Git Sync enables version-controlled course content
  • Embed a Grav or Docsify page into an LMS using a URL parameter

Building open course content doesn't require learning a new authoring system from scratch. The tools covered here are designed to layer on top of workflows you likely already use.

Grav CMS

Grav is a flat-file CMS – all content is stored as Markdown files, with no database required. Pair it with the Git Sync plugin and every save is automatically committed to a GitHub or Codeberg repository.

Best for: Educators who want a full-featured course or reader site with an Admin Panel, multi-contributor support, and rich theming.

Docsify-This

Docsify-This takes a different approach – paste the URL of any public Markdown file and get back a styled, shareable web page instantly. No account, no configuration, nothing to install.

Best for: Sharing a single page or section instantly, or publishing a reading without setting up a full site.

LMS Embedding

Both Grav and Docsify support clean content-only views via a URL parameter:

TXT
https://yoursite.com/reader/section-one?chromeless=true

Adding ?chromeless=true removes the header, sidebar, and footer – leaving only the content for embedding in an iFrame inside Canvas, Moodle, or Brightspace.

Tip for Canvas Users

Use the External Tool option (not iFrame embed) for the best accessibility and mobile experience when embedding open content in Canvas.