Course: Tips for Online Instructors

Page Elements, Editors, and Timings

Timings and Sorting
Timings and Sorting

Timing in NTER

Control when students see units, tests, or any activity in a unit, by selecting Edit Timings to set a day and time for the items to display. This section will show you how to set up these timings.

Unit Folder Timing

Suppose you want the course to begin with only Unit 1 available to students. You might decide that each unit will become available to students in sequence, beginning on Saturdays at midnight. From your Course Home page, click Actions for Unit 2 to open the drop menu. Select Edit Timings. The default is to have Timings Disabled, meaning the item is available to students.

To set the time when you would like the item to become accessible to students, click Temporarily Available. You will then see a place to enter the Starting Time date and time. A convenient popup calendar is available on the right. The Ending Time can be until the end of the term or whenever you want to close access to the unit or activity.

Timings for each unit must be set individually in order to open them to students in sequence. When you set the timing for a folder, it is available for you but not to students. Check the Visibility box if you want students to see that the item is part of the course or unit, but you don’t yet want them to have access to it. Student will then be able to see when the item will become available.

Once timings are set, click Save.
Item Timing

The availability of all the items in a unit is affected when timings are set for the unit folder. You can also set the timing of individual activities. Timings may be especially important for opening and closing access to quizzes and tests. Using our previous example, Unit 2 may start on Saturday at midnight, but the unit quiz shouldn’t be available until Wednesday at midnight and should remain open for only 48 hours. When Unit 2 appears to students, the quiz won’t be available until Wednesday midnight and it will close at the end of the day on Friday.

From the unit page for an item, click Actions for that item to open the drop menu. Select Edit Timings. Click Temporarily Available. Enter the Starting Time and the Ending Time dates and times. Check the Visibility box if you want students to see that the item is part of the unit, but you don’t yet want them to have access to it.  Once timings are set, click Save.
Sorting

The Content navigation panel on the course home and the Activities panel on each unit page have been ordered according to a logical sequence that makes it easy for students to find materials. Each Course Home begins with the Dropbox, lists each unit in order, and ends with the Virtual Office and optionally a Course Glossary. The activities in each unit are ordered in sequence of the to-do list. If you need to change the order of the items, especially when you have added an item to one of the panels, you can easily change the item sequence.

Click the Sort tab on the course home or unit page. You will see the numbered list of the items. Type a new sequence for all items to change their order. Be sure to click Save Sorting when the new order is complete.

Click the View tab to return to the normal display.