Overview
Student Learning and Licensure's (SL&L) Activity Scheduler is a feature that allows SL&L to automatically create activities in future course sections, based on a schedule set by SL&L administrators.
Activities can also be thought of as assignments. In SL&L, an activity template is created, which defines the content of an activity, such as what a student submits and the rubric that will be used to assess. Once a template is created, it can be “pushed out” to course sections as an activity. SL&L’s activity templates are useful because the actual content of an activity only needs to be created one time, and then can be used to create an activity any time necessary.
While activities can be created manually anytime, it can be cumbersome and time consuming, especially when creating a lot of activities. For example, it’s very common for the same activity to be conducted in the same courses term over term. In fact, key assessments are often designed this way so that similar data is gathered at the same time each term, and then that data can be analyzed and compared over time. Using manual creation, an admin would need to create those activities at the beginning of every term.
So rather than using a template to manually create an activity each term, SL&L administrators can use the Activity Scheduler to designate a template, choose course sections, and select a time to have SL&L automatically create the activities.
For example, if a Written Communication activity is conducted in ED-101 every time the course is offered, the Written Communication template is created. Then, a Written Communication activity can be scheduled to be automatically created in every future instance of ED-101. Next semester, next year, in 5 years… every time ED-101 is offered in SL&L, the activity will be added to it.
Prerequisites for the Activity Scheduler
The Activity Scheduler uses the same basic structure as manual activities. However, there are a few key differences.
Templates and Template Workflows
The Activity Scheduler follows the same “tier down” hierarchy rules as a manual activity. only templates created with the following workflows can be used with the Activity Scheduler:
- Standard workflow
- Observational workflow
- Form workflow
- Internship workflow
- Internship Observational workflow
- Internship Form workflow
Creating a Schedule
Schedules are created at the Course level. This means that any schedule will apply to all future course sections in the course. To get started, navigate to the Course in which you would like to create an activity schedule.
To create an Activity Schedule:
1. From the Course screen, click the Activity Scheduler tab.
2. Click Create Schedule.
3. In the New Activity Schedule popup, give the activity a title.
4. Select a template from the dropdown menu.
5. After selecting the template, the activity settings options will appear.
6. Select the activity options.
7. Set the Visible date, the Open for Submission date, and the Due date.
8. When you’re finished making settings, click the Schedule button.
Schedule Settings Details
Creating an activity schedule requires many of the same settings as a manually created activity. However, since the schedule can automatically create activities for sequential course sections, the date fields work differently from manually creating activities.
When creating activities manually, you select specific dates for the activity to become Visible, Open for Submission, and to be labeled as Due.
- Visible Date: This defines the date that an activity will be viewable to students, mentors, and/or supervisors on their In Progress tab. Note: Administrators and Instructors will see all activities, regardless of the Visible Date.
- Open for Submission Date: This defines the date that an activity will be submittable by students, mentors, and/or supervisors. By default, Open for Submission is the same date as the Visible Date. To select a different date, move the radio box selection from 'Same as visible date' to the day selection option.
- Due Date: This defines the date that appears to activity participants as the date the activity is due. It’s important to note that the Due Date is just an on screen indicator, to remind participants of the expectation of completion. While this indicator will display “Overdue” once the date passes, all participants will still be able to submit or assess.
NOTE: An activity schedule will create the scheduled activity in course sections as soon as the section is created/imported. However, the activity will be in Draft status until the section’s Start Date.
Editing / Deleting a Schedule
To edit an existing Schedule:
1. Access the Course and Click on the Activity Scheduler tab
2. Click the three vertical dots and select 'Edit Schedule'
3. You may edit any fields other than the template field
a. Any changes made will only apply to activities that have not yet been created (i.e., for sections that have not yet been imported/created in the system)
To delete an existing Schedule:
To delete a Schedule, click the three vertical dots and select 'Delete Schedule.'
a. You will receive an “Are you sure” popup
b. Note: Deleting a Schedule does not delete existing activities. iIf existing activities that were created by the scheduler need to be deleted, you will need to go to each activity to do so.
How Can I Apply Changes to a Section that has Already Launched?
Activities being made through the Activity Scheduler must be created before the section start date. For example, if a term starts on January 8, an activity scheduler created January 9 will not launch for the current section being the start date has passed. However, there is a work around that can be implemented.
The admin for the institution can change the section start date to a future date (a day in the future will be good enough). This will tell the system that the newly created Activity Schedules can launch. Once the admin confirms those activities have launched, another import can be run to return the section to its original start date. The launched activities will remain once they are launched.
Note: This can be done via import in SL&L or System Admin, depending on which system your institution is using.