Multiple ways to use due dates in Bruin Learn
Getting everything, everywhere, all in one calendar
I try to apply SMART guidelines to help me manage many projects and tasks. The biggest help is to set due dates and deadlines to maintain progress and accountability towards a goal, whether this is a personal or professional goal (including ones that lead to eventual careers).
Many of you may be familiar with adding due dates in Bruin Learn activities (assignments, quizzes, discussions, and pages).
But did you know due dates appear in many places across Bruin Learn? Aside from the Modules page, activity due dates appear in the “To Do” list that appears on the right-hand side of a Bruin Learn site.
And under the “Course Summary” on the Syllabus page.
I wanted to highlight a particularly useful feature of Bruin Learn: the ability to export course due dates directly from the course site calendar. This nifty superpower makes it easy to import deadlines into popular calendaring tools like Google Calendar and Outlook. With this feature, students can add assignments, quizzes, and discussions with due dates to their own calendars!
When reminding students of the activity’s due date, consider mentioning the learning objectives that are aligned with the activity. This helps provide transparency in the choice for the activity and understanding why the due date is necessary.
Further Reading and Additional Resources on Adding Due Dates
Student Guide - How do I view the Calendar iCal feed to subscribe to an external calendar as a student?, by Instructure.
From the company behind Canvas (the tool under the hood of Bruin Learn), this student guide walks you through steps to import, or link, the course site Calendar to an Outlook or Google calendar.
UCLA students have access to Google Calendar (and all Google Suite applications) by logging into g.ucla.edu with their UCLA logon!
The importance of Assigning Due Dates in Canvas (4:30 mins video), by Bruin Learn.
Need a visual guide to add due dates to your activities? The Bruin Learn team created this short video to walk you through the various places (assignments, quizzes, discussions, and pages) to add due dates.
Keep in mind, only the due dates for assignments, quizzes, and discussions show up in the Bruin Learn Calendar (and the exported .ics calendar file).
Supporting Student Learning with a weekly Plan of Action!, by CAT L@L.
We shared a quick tip on how to support your students with their learning by sharing a weekly plan of action on your Bruin Learn site. Like checklists, it can help students plan and prioritize what they need to do to succeed in your course.
How to Meet a Deadline, by MindTools.
MindTools shares great insights on why deadlines matter and how they translate in the real world. They also share practical strategies to meet deadlines and how to support others. After all, “who doesn't love a deadline?”
How Instructors Are Rethinking Late Work, from the Chronicle of Higher Education
I appreciate this Chronicle of Higher Education article that talks about adding deadline flexibility while being mindful of how we handle late work (a by-product of pandemic teaching). They also share some strategies on how to allow for late work that is sustainable for teachers and equitable for students.
Communicate flexibility where it is needed, as “the data actually shows that structure is important for inclusive teaching.”
Due Dates and the Value of Student Ownership, from Edutopia
Another piece that highlights the value of deadlines, while giving students agency in demonstrating their learning. The key word is negotiating due dates “to instill in them a sense of responsibility and commitment to the agreement.”