A knowledge base article about Adding files (instructors) provided by the UC Berkeley IT Service Hub - Knowledge Portal
Instructors can add files to a course site from various places throughout the site — including directly to the Files area, in Modules, as an attachment to an Announcement, and in the HTML Editor. Course files that are uploaded by instructors from other areas in the site are all saved in the Files area, which instructors can access from the left-hand navigation menu.
While instructors can share files with students directly from the Files area, you can also present them in Modules, which allows you greater control over sorting and organizing all of your course materials. In Modules, you can add files, links to websites, links to assignments, discussions, quizzes, and other content. Files that are uploaded from the Modules tool are also saved in Files.
For more information on the Files tool and the Modules tool, and how you can use them in your course site, please use the following resources:
In 2024, the Department of Justice released an update to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Beginning in April 2026, materials shared with students—whether on bCourses or inside other password-protected tools—will be expected to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. You can use the Ally Course Accessibility Report, which is enabled by default in bCourses, to check your the accessibility scores of uploaded course documents and images. Watch the Ally Course Accessibility Report for bCourses video tutorial and visit the Accessibility in Teaching & Learning web page to learn how to ensure your course content is accessible for all UC Berkeley students.
Why can't I put links to websites in the Files area?
The "Files" tool in bCourses is a repository that is meant to collect and save all of the files that you upload to your site. Since you have multiple places to upload files and share them with students (e.g. Announcements, Syllabus, Modules, etc.), the Files section is the one place where they are all stored.
You can put links to files in the Modules tool, which allows for the combination of uploaded files, URLs, and other types of content in a structured manner. It is where you can upload files, as well as add links and other content that are relevant to your course. You also have the ability to organize the content items easily via drag-and-drop functionality.