Assignments: Availability Dates & Conditions

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  1. From the navbar, click Evaluation and select Dropbox.
  2. After creating a new Assignment, use the drop-down arrow to expand the Availability Dates & Conditions options found on the right side of the screen.

Start & End Dates:

Reminder, the Due Date is set in the main viewing area, under the name of the assignment.  The due date is a strongly recommended field that indicates when students should turn in their assignment.

Start and End dates are both optional. For many assignments, you may choose to leave them blank.

The start date is the date the assignment can be first accessed by students. A blank start date means students can access the assignment at any time (as long as it is set to visible).

The end date is the last day you will accept submissions.

  • If the due date is the last date you will accept the assignment, set the end date to the same day and time as the due date.
  • Some instructors allow late submissions (with or without a point reduction). If you set an end date that is after the due date, students can submit work that is past due until the end date has passed.

Release Conditions

If you want to limit access to the assignment based on some course activity rather than dates, you would create a Release Condition. Students are not able to access or view the assignment unless they meet the release conditions.

Special Access

 Special Access allows you to set unique due dates for individual students. This is most often used to extend a deadline for a student who has missed an assignment due date and has permission to complete the assignment.

  1. Click the Manage Special Access button.
  2. Under the Manage Special Access area, select one of the following options:
    • Allow users with special access to submit files outside the normal availability dates for this folder
    • Allow only users with special access to see this folder
  3. Click Add Users to Special Access.
  4. On the Special Access page, do the following:
    • In the Properties area, set the Due Date and/or Availability for when you want the users to have special access to the folder.
    • In the Users area, select the user(s) you want to have special access.
  5. Click Save.

After making changes to any of these areas, be sure to click Save and Close on the Assignment.

 

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