Set course time zone and localization preferences

You can set the course time zone, time and date format, and course language options from the Preferences > Time Zone and Localization page.

The time zone you select determines how your course calculates whether a student submitted an assignment on time or late. By default, the Eastern (U.S.) time zone is set in your course. If you select a different time zone on this page, it overrides any time zone set by students on their individual My Profile pages. In other words, if you select the Pacific time zone, your students’ time zone is also set to Pacific regardless of whether they changed the time zone on their My Profile page.

Note: You can adjust course time zone settings at any time. After you adjust the time zone settings, assignment status icons and due times update to reflect the new time zone for your students.

Caution: If you are not in the Eastern time zone, you need to change your time zone on both the My Profile and on the Preferences > Time Zone and Localization pages. If you are in the Eastern time zone, no change is necessary. If you are not in the Eastern time zone, you must set your time zone in each course you teach.

To set time zone, time and date format, and localization options for your course:

  1. From the Course Home page, click Instructor or Student to open the instructor profile page or the student profile page, respectively.
  1. Click Preferences in the top-right corner of the page.
  2. Click Time Zone and Localization in the Instructor column.

Select from among these options:

To allow students to change the locale for the course using their profile settings, click Enable multiple locales to users and User profile overrides course preferences.

To prevent students from changing the locale for the course using their profile settings, clear the Enable multiple locales to users box.

For an example of how these settings can change assignment due times, see Adjust due dates for different time zones.

Save preferences

To save your choices, click Save Preferences. When you finish setting preferences, click Save and Close.

Caution: If you go to another page before you save your changes, your changes are discarded and the previous settings are maintained.