The duration for which a course runs depends on whether the course is instructor-paced or self-paced. Scheduling comprises the start and end dates of the course which are subject to changes based on each course run.
Guidelines for Start and End Dates
For prospective learners, the start and end dates of the course are important. Current Learners can see your course start and end dates on their dashboard; hence, you should be careful while setting up the course dates.
Course Start Date and Time
Make sure you specify a start time for your course; otherwise, your course will automatically start at 00:00 UTC on the learner’s time zone.
The learners cannot access the course content before the course start date; however, course team members enrolled in the course with staff, admin, or beta tester roles can view the published content before the course start date and time.
Note: You can set up a different start date for your course if the start date is uncertain by advertising the start date differently. For example, you can advertise the start date as “Coming Soon.”
Course End Date and Time
The learners cannot earn credits and certificates after the end date and time; however, they can continue to complete available coursework even after the end date. Learners who have earned certificates can view the certificate after the course end date.
In self-paced courses, course teams can hide some course components after the course end date. For example, course teams can hide the final exam after the deadline in a self-paced course.
Important: The learners cannot access earned certificates if the course end date is not set.
Course Pacing
While creating an Edly Course, you can design an instructor-paced course by scheduling the course deadlines yourself. However, in self-paced courses, you allow the learners to work at their own pace by suggesting due dates for assignments and exams based on their enrollment date. The learners are also given the flexibility to modify the assignment dates in self-paced courses.
Your courses are set as instructor-paced by default. An indicator appears on the course outline page displaying the course pacing.
Note: You cannot change the course pacing once the course has started.
Instructor-Paced and Self-Paced Courses
The course author controls the progress of an instructor-paced course by setting the release dates and due dates for the learner’s content on the LMS. However, the learners cannot access course content before its release date. Additionally, the learners are bound to complete assignments by their due dates.
In a self-paced course, learners can access all course material all at once and there are no due dates for any assessments as the course author cannot set release or due dates for assignments. There are indicators on LMS that display graded assignments, but they do not have any due date. The learners can complete the course material at any time before the course end date.
Instructor-Paced
Self-Paced
Note: When you change an instructor-paced course to a self-paced course, the studio saves the due dates for assignments and exams. Similarly, when you change the course back to instructor-paced, the studio restores the due dates previously set.
Set Pacing for Your Course in Studio
Follow the steps below to set the pacing for your course:
- Select Schedule & Details from the Settings menu
- Scroll down to the Course Pacing section.
- Under Course Pacing, select either Instructor-Paced or Self-Paced.
- Click Save Changes
Note: You cannot change the course pacing after the start date of the course.
