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How to Clone Courses with Minimal Due Date Change

Measure twice, clone once. That’s the secret to Eli Review clones with due dates that make sense in the new term: 

  1. Measure the days between start date and first due date in the original course.
  2. Subtract the days from the first due date in the clone to set the start date.
  3. Clone.
  4. Check your Instructor Dashboard.

Overview

This tutorial focuses on setting the start date of the clone. This is the best way to get due dates in the new term that are pretty close to the desired due dates if the sequence of tasks remains the same. 

Of course, the course schedule (MWF, TuTh) and different holidays can throw off the cloned due dates. All tasks in a cloned course are in “draft” mode, so instructors will be able to edit due dates before students see the tasks. Instructors can also extend deadline by editing the due date after assigning the task too, so dates are never locked.  Still, careful selection of the clone’s start date can reduce the need for changing the due dates.

The Instructor’s Guide has full  instructions on cloning as well as frequently asked questions.

1) Measure the days between start date and first due date in the original course.

  • In the original course, click on Settings, and note the start date as shown in the image below.
In Eli Review, Settings show the start time of the course.
Locate the start time of the original course under Settings.

 

  • Click Home, and, from the course dashboard, locate and note the first due date. If all your tasks are active, you can scroll to the bottom. If you archived tasks, scroll to the bottom of that tab for the first due date.
  • Measure the distance in days between the two dates using date calculator. Note the number of days.
Date Calculator identifies the duration between two dates.
Enter the start date of the course in the start date area. Enter the due date of the first task in the end date area. Calculate.

2) Subtract the days from the desired first due date in the clone to set the Start Date.

For example, if you want students to submit their first writing task in Eli Review on Tuesday, January 14, 2019. Use the date calculator to subtract 5 days. Note the start time of the cloned course.

Date Calculator requires a start date and the total number of days to be subtracted.
Supply the start date and then subtract the number of days that match the gap between the start date and the first due date in the original course. Calculate.

(3) Clone.

In the original course’s Home, choose Clone This Course, and complete the form, and click Create Clone.

  1. Note that you can make up to 10 clones at a time.
  2. Customize the course title and section information.
  3. Supply the start date calculated in step 2 above.
  4. If your students pay for their subscriptions to Eli Review, leave the institution code blank. If your department or institution pays for subscriptions on behalf of students, enter the institution code. If you are unsure of your institution’s code, contact Support ([email protected]). 
  5. Tick the box if you want the co-instructors from the original course to have access to the clone. Untick if you do not want them to have access to the clone. You can always add co-instructors to the clone later under the Settings tab.
  6. Click Create Clone.
Image shows options for customizing number of clones, start date, institutional code for institutional subscriptions, and options for including/excluding co-instructors.
Customize the number of clones and the basic set up.

(4) Check your Instructor Dashboard.

If you’ve created one clone, you will mostly likely be inside the cloned course when the process has finished. 

If you’ve created two or more clones, you will see a table with the list of the master and clones.

Occasionally, there’s a disruption in the forcefield, and instructors see an error message. In fact, the clone is likely created and available on the instructor dashboard. Click on Dashboard in upper right corner to see list of available courses in order to see if the clone(s) were indeed created successfully.

If you don’t see your cloned courses, contact Support ([email protected]), and please include the URL of the course you are trying to clone.

How to Clone Courses with Minimal Due Date Change was published to the Eli Review Blog in the category Hacks.

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