This article outlines the process of activating a D2L course. By default, all D2L courses are set as “inactive” when they are created (about 8 weeks prior to the start of a semester). Inactive courses are NOT available to students and are ONLY accessible by the course instructor(s). This allows students to be enrolled in courses before the semester begins, as well as allows the instructor to begin developing the course without student presence.

The course instructor has complete control over if/when a course is activated for students. If you plan to use D2L in your courses, you will need to activate each course at the start of each semester.


Activating your Course

Locate the course you wish to activate from the My Courses widget.

Move your mouse over the course tile and click on the options menu in the upper-right corner. Select the Course Offering Information option.


Note: If you are already inside the course you wish to active, you can also click the "Course Admin" link in the course navigation menu.. Then choose "Course Offering Information."


On the Course Offering Information page, look for the section called Active about halfway down the page. Check the box next to Course is active to activate the course. Be sure to click Save to commit your changes before closing. 


Note that it may take a few minutes for the Inactive tag to disappear from the course selector on your D2L homepage, but the changes are applied immediately. 




Changing Start and End Dates

Students only have access to courses between the defined Start and End Date. By default, new courses are created with a Start Date two weeks prior to the start of the term and an End Date two weeks after finals. These dates can be managed under Course Offering Information, underneath Registration. 

 

Course start and end dates in D2L can be modified by the instructor.

 

To change either date, click on the existing date to open a calendar picker. To remove either date, uncheck the box next to Course has start/end date. Note that removing a course's end date will ensure it is available for students indefinitely, so long as the course is left Active. Once done, click Save to commit your changes.