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Instructor Help: Calendar Tool

The Calendar may be used to keep track of both public and private events. Links may be added in a calendar entry to other web pages. The Calendar tool appears on most class websites by default.

1. How would I use the Calendar tool in teaching?
2. How do I read Calendar postings?
3. How do I post new items to the Calendar?
4. Can my students post to the Calendar?
5. What if I want to change a calendar posting I made earlier?
6. How will my students know there are new calendar postings?
7. I added an entry to the Calendar, but my students tell me they didn't see it. How can I fix it?

• Click here to read WebCT's help for using Calendar tool

1. How would I use the Calendar tool in teaching?

The Calendar tool functions well as an adjunct to the class syllabus. Since it may be changed easily and as often as necessary, it can be used to reflect the changes in lesson plan that may occur during the course of the quarter. All students are notified of the change as soon as they access the course web site, so that no additional announcements need to be made if the class web site is used regularly. Some instructors, in fact, prefer to hand out a syllabus at the beginning of the quarter that charts the general course of the class and explains requirements, and then use the Calendar tool to keep track of weekly (or daily) reading assignments and quizzes.

Occasional events may also be noted on the Calendar that were never part of the syllabus, such as an extracurricular activity or additional reading assignments. The ability to link to an outside web site is especially useful when there is a site which supports what the class is studying at a particular time. For instance, a course on Beethoven might link to the calendar of the Hollywood Bowl for a day when one of his symphonies is performed, or a class discussing the pre-Raphaelite movement might benefit from a link to the William Morris exhibition at the Huntington for the day that his work is discussed.

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2. How do I read Calendar postings?

1. On the Homepage, make sure the View tab is selected at the top.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the Calendar icon.
   
   
   
   
3. The calendar for the current month will appear, showing entries posted for that month. To go to the preceding or following month, click on the buttons Previous month or Next month at the top.
   
   
4. Click on the blue date in each box to see the full text of items posted for that day. Only a short summary of each item will appear in the box.
   
   
   
   
5. If the text appearing in the box is blue and an underline appears when you move your cursor over it, it is a link to a file or an external site. Click on it to follow the link.
   
   

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3. How do I post new items to the Calendar?

1. Click on the blue date for the day you wish to add an entry to.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the Add Entry button. (NOTE: If you have the Designer Options tab selected, you will see another toolbar above Add Entry. Ignore this toolbar, it is not used for adding new entries.)
   
   
   
   
3. Fill in the fields as appropriate. The only field that is required is the Summary field.
   • To add a link to an external website, enter that site's address next to URL. Make sure to include the http:// at the beginning.
   • To add a link to a file or document on your course site, choose the item from the pulldown menu next to Internal link. (Note: you will only be able to select items that are listed in the "Content Organizer" or another Content Module.)
   • You may enter more information in the Detail field if desired. For example, the Summary field might say "Quiz 3 today" and the Detail field, "Bring blue books." The contents of the Detail field will appear only when a student clicks on the date.
   • You may specify the start time and/or end time for the event.
   • You may set the Access level for this entry at public or private.
     
   NOTE: If you are posting something you would like your students to read, make sure you select the PUBLIC option under "Access level" because the default setting is "Private." If you leave the setting as "Private," only you will be able to see what you have posted, students will not be able to see the posting.
   
   
   
   
4. Click Add when finished.
   
   

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4. Can my students post to the Calendar?

Yes. Your students can post items to the calendar using the same method described above, except that they can only post private entries (but this can be changed if you wish).

NOTE: Since your students' entries are private, only the student who made that entry can read it. Neither you nor any other students will be able to see those entries.

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5. What if I want to change a calendar posting I made earlier?

1. Click on the blue date on the monthly calendar.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the small round button next to the item you wish to change, then on the Edit button.
   
   
   
   
3. Make the changes you wish, then click on the Update button at the end.

If you want to delete the entry, at step 3 choose Delete instead of Edit.

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6. How will my students know there are new calendar postings?

When your students log in to Ecampus via the Ecampus Entry Page (ecampusce.humnet.ucla.edu), under the name of the course they will see a little calendar icon telling them that there are new calendar postings.

As soon as your students click on the Calendar tool on the course web site, they will see a window listing all the new calendar postings made since they last looked at the course site.

Lastly, the Calendar icon changes when there are new, unread postings, and draws more attention to itself, as in the image below.

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7. I added an entry to the Calendar, but my students tell me they didn't see it. How can I fix it?

First, remind your students to click on the date to view all the contents of the entry. Second, check the access level of the item. You may have made the entry "private" rather than "public." This means it is only visible to you and other Designers. Private entries appear in italics, and public entries appear in regular type.

To change your entry from private to public, follow the steps described in Question 5 for changing a posting. In the edit screen, next to Access level, click the circle for public:



Then click Update. The entry will now be visible to students.

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