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Digital Teaching Materials

Organize lecture content in GitLab as separate lesson/week repositories or within a structured main repository. Materials (slides, text, examples) are written in Markdown or other formats, automatically built into a website via GitLab CI/CD, and published with GitLab Pages. Provides automated, versioned, and consistent delivery of teaching materials with controlled student access.

Idea
Plan
Prototype
Pilot
Live

Overview

Value: Organize lecture content in GitLab as separate lesson/week repositories or within a structured main repository. Materials (slides, text, examples) are written in Markdown or other formats, automatically built into a website via GitLab CI/CD, and published with GitLab Pages. Provides automated, versioned, and consistent delivery of teaching materials with controlled student access.

Problem: GitLab features used: GitLab Pages for automatic site generation; GitLab CI/CD for build automation; milestones to plan weekly content; issues to track missing slides and feedback; templates for consistent repository structure. Markdown site generators that can be used: MkDocs (lightweight docs), Hugo (fast, many themes), Jekyll (also works with GitLab, e.g., when migrating from GitHub Pages). Additional benefits: automated deployment (no manual uploads), versioning of all materials, easy collaboration between instructors, and an always‑up‑to‑date site for students.

Solution: Implement a GitLab-based system where lecturers write course materials in Markdown format, and GitLab CI/CD automatically builds and publishes them as websites via GitLab Pages. Students access final published content without direct repository access.

Who Benefits

Primary

  • Lecturers
    • Automated content publishing
    • Version control for all materials
    • Reduced manual upload time
    • Consistent content structure
  • Tutors
    • Collaborative content creation
    • Easy material updates
    • Standardized workflows

Secondary

  • Students
    • Always up-to-date materials
    • Consistent access to resources
    • Mobile-friendly content delivery

When to Use

  • Weekly lecture content updates
  • Multiple contributors to course materials
  • Need for version control of teaching materials
  • Desire for automated publishing workflows
  • Structured course content delivery

When Not to Use

  • Infrequent content updates
  • Single static course materials
  • Complex interactive content requirements
  • When direct student collaboration on materials is needed

Process

  1. Create course repository with Markdown structure
  2. Write/update lecture materials in Markdown
  3. Commit changes to repository
  4. GitLab CI/CD automatically builds and deploys to GitLab Pages
  5. Students access published website with updated content

Requirements

People

  • Lecturers
  • Tutors
  • GitLab Administrator
  • Students (as consumers)

Data Inputs

  • Lecture slides
  • Text content
  • Images and media
  • Course structure information

Tools & Systems

  • GitLab with CI/CD
  • GitLab Pages
  • Markdown processors (MkDocs/Hugo/Jekyll)
  • GitLab Runner

Policies & Compliance

  • University content policies
  • Student access regulations
  • Intellectual property guidelines

Risks & Mitigations

  • Build failures preventing content updates

    • Automated testing of Markdown syntax
    • Staging environments for testing
    • Quick rollback procedures

  • Unauthorized access to source materials

    • Private repositories for source content
    • Role-based access control
    • Separation of source and published content

  • Website unavailability during critical periods

    • GitLab Pages high availability
    • Backup hosting options
    • Status monitoring

Getting Started

To implement this use case, you need a GitLab instance with Pages enabled, knowledge of Markdown, and a static site generator like MkDocs or Hugo.

  1. Set up GitLab repository with appropriate access controls
  2. Choose and configure static site generator (MkDocs, Hugo, or Jekyll)
  3. Create GitLab CI/CD pipeline for automated building and deployment
  4. Structure content in Markdown format following chosen framework
  5. Test build process and verify GitLab Pages deployment

Resources

FAQ

Can students contribute to course materials?

Students can access published content but cannot directly edit source materials. However, they can submit feedback through GitLab issues if enabled.

How quickly are changes reflected on the website?

Changes are automatically built and deployed within minutes of committing to the repository, depending on CI/CD pipeline configuration.

What happens if the build process fails?

The previous working version remains live while build errors are reported to maintainers for resolution.

Glossary

GitLab Pages
Static website hosting service integrated with GitLab repositories
MkDocs
Static site generator designed for building project documentation with Markdown
Hugo
Fast static site generator written in Go, suitable for various website types
Jekyll
Static site generator that transforms plain text into static websites
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