Assign assets to the calendar

Updated 19 Feb 2024

There are several ways to assign assets to students and track their due dates. This topic explains how to assign assets by adding them to the calendar. You can also assign assets when you do not have a calendar open. For details, see Assign course materials using the options menu.

You can click and drag assets from the Course Materials List and drop them on a calendar day. This action assigns the assets to students with the due date on which you dropped them.

After you assign an asset, the assignment due icon appears on the day you selected in the calendar and on the Manage Course Materials page. For students, assigned assets appear when they click the calendar due icon or when they open the Course Materials > View All Course Materials or the Course Materials page.

If you assign a folder, any unassigned assets in the folder get assigned and not the folder itself.

If students do not complete an assignment by the due date and time, the assignment is reported as past due. Past due assignments have a grade of zero, unless you extend the due date to a date in the future or enable grace period options. Appropriate grade deductions are taken when the student submits the late assignment. For details on setting grace periods, see Set preferences for an activity.

You can assign only assets that are visible to your students. If the asset or folder is currently hidden, click Yes at the prompt that asks whether you want to display and assign it.

Video: How to assign due dates

  1. Select Assignment Calendar from the menu bar. If you do not see this page, see Enable calendar for details on displaying it.
  2. On the left, select a View BY option and use the Show menu to filter the list. For details, see Filter the course materials display.

    If you may need to open folders to view assets that meet the criteria you select. See Navigate folders to learn how.

  3. Select the items you want to assign.
  4. If prompted, click Yes at the prompt to make any hidden assets visible to students.
  5. Drag and drop the selected items onto the calendar date you want to assign to them.
  6. When you finish, click Save.
  1. Click Assign Course Materials.
  2. Locate the course materials you assign.
  3. Select a View BY option and use the Show menu to filter the list. For details, see Filter the course materials display.

    If you may need to open folders to view assets that meet the criteria you select. See Navigate folders to learn how.

    1. Select Assignment Properties from the options menu.
    2. You can edit the assignment title in the Title field.
    3. You can add or edit a description in the Description field.
    4. In the Assign section, you must choose an option:

      Use Not Assigned so that the asset does not get assigned.

      Use Assigned to assign the asset with or without a due adate.

    5. In the Restrict Availability section, select whether the asset is always available to students or only available within a specific date range. If you select to limit the date range, select the start and end dates and times for the asset.
    6. In the Make Item Available to section, select whether the asset is available to all students or only certain students. IF you select to limit the availability to certain students select the students who will receive it.
    7. In the Advanced section, either click Open in pop-up window if you want the assignment to appear in its own window or click Recommended (optional) if you want to encourage but not require students to complete the assignment.
    8. When you finish, click Save.
  1. Select Assigned, and then select Assign with a due date.
  2. Click the date in the calendar on which you want to make the asset due, or type the date directly in the Due Date field.
  3. Enter the due time in hours and minutes, in HH:MM format. By default, assets are due at 11:59 PM on the due date. You can specify a different default due time on the course Preferences > General page.

To assign without a due date, making the asset due on the last day of class, select Assigned and then clear the Assign with a due date box.

Assign folders (MyLab Languages only)

When you assign a folder, the assets in the folder are assigned. However, because a folder can contain a variety of assets, there are a few rules to keep in mind.

  • Hidden" assets: Hidden assets are not visible to students. If the folder or one or more assets in the folder are marked as hidden, those hidden assets are changed to shown automatically so that you can continue to assign them to students.
  • "Instructor only" assets: Assets marked as instructor only are never visible to students.
  • If a folder is marked as instructor only, you cannot assign the folder unless you change the folder properties on the Course Materials > Add from Library page.
  • If a folder contains both student assets and assets marked as instructor only, you can assign the student assets in the folder, but the assets marked as instructor only are not assigned or visible to students.
  • If all assets in the folder are marked as instructor only, you can assign the folder, but it appears empty to students, because assets marked as instructor only are never visible to students.