Adding Events to the Calendar and Setting Due Dates

Relevant to: faculty and staff

This article contains information considered accurate at the time of publishing. Technology updates, changes in University security practices, policies and procedures may effect the information in this article - updates to articles are scheduled on a periodic basis and will address any required changes.

Introduction

Using the Calendar tool allows instructors and students to arrange and visualize course events in multiple views. It will also enable integration of course content and your Calendar within Brightspace.

Navigating to the Calendar Tool

The calendar can be accessed by navigating within the Brightspace Navbar by selecting Tools and then select Calendar.

About the Calendar Tool

1. Use the calendar views area to toggle between different event display layouts.
   • Use the Agenda view to group your course events by Date, Course, or Category.
   • Use the Day, Week, and Month views to group your events in daily, weekly, or monthly increments.
   • Use the List view to filter your events by Assignments, Checklists, Discussions, Grades, Materials, Modules, Quizzes, and Surveys.
2. Use the calendar content area to navigate through your content. Navigation will vary depending on the view you select. You can also click "Create Event" to create a new event.
3. Use the calendar menu to select multiple calendars to display, change the color scheme associated with individual calendars, and add new calendars.
4. Use the mini calendar to navigate quickly to a specific day, week, or month.
5. Use the task pane to create, track, and maintain personal tasks.

Adding Ungraded Activities to the Calendar

There are many times instructors may add milestone activities to the calendar to help students track their progress and ensure they stay on track to complete their assignments on time. Some examples include adding dates when research should begin for an assignment, when office hours may be held, etc. To add these ungraded activities to the calendar, follow these steps:

1. Select Tools from the blue navbar and select Calendar.
2. Select the Create Event button.
3. In the Title field, the instructor can opt to connect the calendar event to a content item in the course and/or enter a unique Event Title.
4. In the Description field, enter information the students need to know about the nap.
5. In the Attendees field, select the drop-down box to select who should see this event. These events can be directed to specific groups or the entire course.
6. In the When fields, you will add the dates and times the event is going to occur. 
   • In this field, you are able to enter any recurrence options as well as event visibility restrictions.
7. When the details of the meeting are set, select the Create button to save.

Using the Bulk Edit Feature to Set Due Dates

Before the start of each term, Instructors need to set the due dates for all graded activities students will complete. Using the Bulk Edit feature within each Module allows Instructors to do that in the most efficient manner.

1. Navigate to a Module page by selecting Course Menu in the navbar followed by Content.
   
2. Select the Bulk Edit button. After selecting this button, the screen will reload allowing dates to be set for all activities within the module.
   
3. Locate the first graded activity that needs a due date assigned. Select the words, Add dates and restrictions... to open the edit dates fields.
   
4. In the Due Date field, select the Add due date... option.
   
5. Select the Date and Time the activity is due.
   
6. Select the Update button.
   
7. Repeat steps 3-6 for all graded activities within the module
8. When all of the activities have the Due Dates fields completed, scroll back to the top of the module, and select the Done Editing button.