Set Availability Date Defaults

 

Editing instructors have the option of choosing how assignments and discussions appear to students in a course through the use of availability dates. Enabling start and end availability dates allows instructors to schedule the visibility of the activity while limiting if students can access or submit to an activity. Adding end dates could limit the number of late assignment submissions because students would need approval from the instructor to submit to the assignment through the use of special access. Further, instructors can choose a preferred availability option for all assignments and discussions in one location. This tutorial demonstrates how to set the default assignment and discussion visibility behavior through availability dates in MyFIRE.  

 

Note: If the visibility for an assignment or discussion should be different than the default availability date behavior, then the instructor should change the availability date behavior through the individual assignment or discussion settings. Individual availability date settings will override the default availability date settings. 




1.    Navigate to the specified course in MyFIRE.

2.    Once within the course, select instructor tools at the top of the page in the navigation bar. 

 

3.    Then select course admin. 

 

4.    When the page refreshes, locate and select availability date defaults. 

 

5.    Select the default display option for assignments:

 

a.    Select the Before Start date behavior by selecting either:

 

                                               i.     Visible with access restricted- This option will allow students to view that the assignment exists; however, students will not be able to see the assignment instructions or be able to submit to the assignment until the start date has passed. 


                                              ii.     Visible with submission restricted- This option will allow students to view the assignment and assignment instructions. However, the students will not be able to submit to the assignment until the start date has passed. 


                                            iii.     Hidden- This option will hide the assignment from students’ view before the start date.  

b.    Select the After Start date behavior by selecting either:


                                               i.     Visible with access restricted- This option will allow students to view that the assignment exists; however, students will not be able to see the assignment instructions or be able to submit to the assignment after the end date has passed. 


                                              ii.     Visible with submission restricted- This option will allow students to view the assignment and assignment instructions. However, the students will not be able to submit to the assignment after the end date has passed.


                                            iii.     Hidden- This option will hide the assignment from students’ view after the end date.

6.    Select the default display option for discussions. 

a.    Select the Before Start date behavior by selecting either: 


                                               i.     Visible with access restricted before start - The topic is visible to learners before the start date, but they cannot access it. 


                                              ii.     Visible with submission restricted before start - The topic is visible to learners before the start date, and they can access it, but they cannot post new threads or replies. This effectively makes a discussion read-only.  


                                            iii.     Hidden before start  - The topic is hidden from learners until the start date. The calendar event for when the availability starts is hidden until the start date. Notifications are also not sent until the start date. 

b.    Select the After End date behavior by selecting either:


                                               i.     Visible with access restricted after end - The topic is visible to learners after the end date, but they cannot access it. 


                                              ii.     Visible with submission restricted after end - The topic is visible to learners after the end date, and they can access it; but they cannot post new threads or replies. This effectively makes a discussion read-only.  


                                            iii.     Hidden after end - The topic is hidden from learners until the end date. The calendar events for when the availability ends is hidden after the end date. Notifications are also not sent after the end date.

7.    Select save at the bottom of the page.