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Set date restrictions on discussions
When do you want the students to post and reply to the discussion topic? Instructors can restrict students’ access to discussions with any of these date options:
- No date restrictions
- Manually hiding and making visible
- Hiding and making visible with dates
- Setting ‘access restricted’ dates
- Setting ‘submission restricted’ dates
Use the settings to provide discussions in the way that makes best sense for your course. Ideally, choose the settings that will facilitate conversation among students, but keep the discussion area as uncluttered as possible.
Possibilities (a few):
- Consider hiding before and after start and end dates
- Consider allowing viewing after submission end date to provide for reflection on past discussions
- Consider restricting submission before start date to allow students to review upcoming discussions ahead of time
No date restrictions
An unlocked discussion topic allows students to view, post and reply to threads in the topic. The unlocked discussion topic does not display in the Calendar, because there are no date restrictions.
Manually hiding and making visible
Hidden topics and forums of topics do not display students. On the discussion’s edit screen, the ‘hidden’ and 'visible' toggle provide controls to release manually when students can access the discussion.
Hiding and making visible with dates
Hidden topics and forums of topics do not display students before the start date or after the end date. When it's hidden, students will not be able to post to the discussion, nor access the description or rubrics.
On the discussion’s edit screen, click the link next to Before Start or After End to access the Hide restrictions.
Setting ‘access restricted’ dates
Access restricted discussion topics display to students on the start date, and are hidden from students before the start date and after the end date.
- Prior to the start date, the discussion topic title will be visible to students, but not the topic description or rubrics. Students will not be able to submit any new posts or replies.
- After the end date, the discussion topic title will be visible to students, but not the topic description or rubrics. Students will not be able to review any past posts or replies, nor submit any new posts or replies.
On the discussion’s edit screen, click the link next to Before Start or After End to access the Visible with Access Restricted restrictions.
Setting ‘submission restricted’ dates
Submission restricted topics display to students prior to the start date and after the end date. They are never hidden from students.
- Prior to the start date, the discussion topic title will be clickable to students, so students can review the description and rubrics. Students will not be able to submit a new post or reply until after the start date.
- After the end date, the discussion topic title will be clickable to students, so students can review the description and rubrics. Students will be able to access the topic to review any past posts or replies. However, students will not be able to submit any new posts or replies.
On the discussion’s edit screen, click the link next to Before Start or After End to access the Visible with Submission Restricted restrictions.