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Organize your course schedule and create task lists in myCourses

You can use the Calendar tool to create and manage events and due dates in your course. Students can view these events on the main Calendar page, the Upcoming Events page in Content, or in the Calendar widget on the Course Home page. All students can also subscribe to a calendar to view myCourses events using an external calendar. On the main Calendar page, all students can create a personal checklist of Tasks that is not visible to other students. To add the task list on your Course Home page, you can customize your course home page and add the Tasks widget to it.

Access the Calendar tool

  1. On the Course Home page, click the arrow at the top of the Calendar widget and select Go to Calendar. OR click Course Admin and then select Calendar under the Site Resources heading.  

To show all events from all your courses, click the arrow beside the name of the course and click Show All Calendars. Events from each course will appear in a different colour. Select another course to go to the Calendar tool within that course.

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Change your calendar view

There are five different views you can access by clicking the buttons along the top of the page:

  • Agenda: Shows a list of events for Today and tomorrow, the Next 7 Days, or the Next 14 days. Click the arrows at the top of the page to switch between the three views.

  • Day: Shows the events for a selected day.

  • Week: Shows the events for a selected week.

  • Month: Shows the events for a selected month.

  • List: Shows the list of Upcoming eventsPast events, or All events. Click the arrows at the top of the page to switch between the three views. Click More Actions to manage selected events.

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Create an event

Only instructors can create course events.

  1. On the main Calendar page, click Create Event.

  2. Enter a Title for the event.

  3. Under When:

    • Select a specific time when the event will take place, OR

    • Select the checkbox beside All day and select the day(s) when the event will take place.

  4. Click Create.

You can also access the following options:

  • Add Content: Add a link to a content item or module that students can see when they click on the event.

  • Description: Enter a description that students can see when they click on the event.

  • Attendees: Select a group or section to restrict the event to.

  • Add Groups/Sections: Create a duplicate of this event for another group or section.

  • Add Recurrence: Make this a recurring event, select how often it repeats and when it ends.

  • Add Restriction: Select visibility dates for the event.

  • Location: Enter a location for the event.

Create an event using the day, week or month view 

You can quickly create an event from the Day, Week or Month view of the Calendar by clicking the day or time when you would like to create the event. This eliminates the step of selecting a date or time.

  1. On the main Calendar page, using the Day, Week or Month view, click the cell when the event will take place.

  2. Enter a Title.

  3. (Optional) Under Attendees, select a group or section to restrict the event to.

  4. Click Create.

Set a due date

Instructors can Set Due Dates on Content to inform students when specific content is expected to be completed. Due dates will appear in the Calendar and below the name of the module or item in Content.

  1. Click Set Due Dates.

  2. In the pop-up window that appears, select a content module or item. You cannot add due dates to an item or module that already has a start date or end date.

  3. Select a Due Date.

  4. Click Save.

Due dates can also be added when uploading a file in myCourses.

Edit an event

Editing a recurring event will edit every event in the series.

  1. On the main Calendar page, click the event.

  2. Use one of the following views:

    • In the Day, Week or Month view, click Edit.

    • In the Agenda or List view, click the arrow beside the title and select Edit.

  3. Make any desired changes.

  4. Click Save.

Edit multiple events

  1. On the main Calendar page, click List at the top of the page.

  2. Click the arrows near the top of the page to view Upcoming events, Past events, or All events.

  3. Select the checkbox beside each event you want to edit.

  4. Click More Actions and select one of the following:

    • Change Event Visibility: Select new visibility dates for the event(s).

    • Offset Dates: Enter a number of days, hours, or minutes to move the selected event(s) forward. For example, enter 7 to postpone the event(s) for one week.

  5. Click Save.

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Delete an event

  1. On the main Calendar page, click the event.

  2. Use one of the following views:

    • In the Day, Week or Month view, click Delete.

    • In the Agenda or List view, click the arrow beside the title and select Delete Event.

  3. In the pop-up window that appears, click Yes.

If you are deleting a Recurring event, select what events in the series you want to delete and click Delete. You can select one of the following:

  • All events in the series

  • Selected occurrence

  • Selected occurrence and all future occurrences

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Create and manage tasks

On the main Calendar page, all users can create a personal checklist of Tasks that is not visible to any other user. To make this task list appear on your Course Home page, you can customize your course home page and add the Tasks widget to it.

Create a task

  1. On the main Calendar page, click Add a Task... in the Tasks sidebar.

  2. Enter the name for the task.

  3. Press Enter or click outside of the box to create the task.

Add a due date to a task

  1. On the main Calendar page, click on a task.

  2. Click No due date.

  3. Select a date.

  4. Click the Save icon.

Remove a due date from a task

  1. On the main Calendar page, click on a task.

  2. Click the due date, then click the grey X to remove it.

  3. Tasks without a due date will appear under Someday in the list.

Add a note to a task

  1. On the main Calendar page, click on a task.

  2. Click Add a note…, then enter your desired note.

  3. Click outside of the text box to create it.

You can view the note by clicking on the task again.

Complete a task

Select the checkbox beside a task to set it as complete.

Alternatively, click the arrow beside Tasks and select Set all Completed to set all tasks as completed.

Click View Completed Tasks at the bottom of the page to view and manage all tasks set as completed.

Delete a task 

Click on a task and click the Trash can icon beside the name to delete it.

Delete multiple tasks

  1. Click the arrow beside Tasks and select Delete.

  2. In the pop-up window that appears, select one of the following:

    • In progress tasks only

    • Completed tasks only

    • All tasks

  3. Click Delete.

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Change Calendar settings

  1. On the main Calendar page, click Settings.

  2. In the pop-up window that appears, you can change the following:
    Calendar Options:

    • Core Hours: Select what times to show on the Week view of the calendar. Deselect the checkbox beside Show weekends to hide Saturday and Sunday.

    • Default Event Duration: Select the default length of all new events (e.g. 1 hour).

    • Calendar Feeds: Select the checkbox beside Enable Calendar Feeds. This allows you to subscribe to your calendar.

    Tasks Options:

    • Completed Tasks: Select whether to Hide completed tasks or Show completed tasks for a selected number of days.

    • Upcoming Tasks Default Duration: Select the default length of all new tasks.

    • Confirm Delete: Select whether you want to confirm after deleting a task.

  3. Click Save.

Change Calendar display settings

You can add or remove a calendar from your list or change the colour for events from each course.

  1. On the main Calendar page, click the arrow beside the name of the course or All Calendars.

  2. In the dropdown list that appears, you can do the following:

    • Change Calendar Colour: Click the blue screen icon to change the colour of the events for the selected course.

    • Remove Calendar: Click the grey X beside a course to remove it from the list and hide its events in the All Calendars view.

    • Add Calendar: Click the green plus icon  to re-add a calendar you removed.

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Subscribe to a calendar

You can subscribe to a course calendar in myCourses to update an external calendar every time an event is added in the course. In order to subscribe to a calendar in myCourses, you must Enable Calendar Feeds in your Calendar Settings.

  1. If you do not see the Subscribe link in the top right corner of the main Calendar page, you must Enable Calendar Feeds for myCourses:

    • On the main Calendar page, click Settings.

    • Under Calendar Feeds, select the checkbox beside Enable Calendar Feeds.

    • Click Save. The Subscribe link will now appear in the top right corner of all your calendars in myCourses.

  2. Click Subscribe. The Calendar Subscriptions pop-up window appears.

  3. From the drop-down list at the top of the window, select one of the following:

    • All Calendars and Tasks: Subscribes to events and tasks from all of your courses.

    • Tasks Only: Subscribes to tasks from all of your courses.

    • Events and tasks from a specific course

  4. Copy the link from the field in the middle of the window.

  5. Open your external calendar and paste the link in the appropriate location:

    • Outlook: Click Open Calendar and select From Internet…

    • Google: Click the arrow beside Other Calendars in the sidebar and select Add by URL.

    • iPhone: Click Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account... > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar.

  6. Click Save.

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Export events to an external calendar

You can save your calendar in myCourses as an .ICS (iCalendar) file to import the events into an external calendar without synchronizing the calendars.

  1. Repeat the steps in the previous section to Enable Calendar Feeds.

  2. Click Subscribe.

  3. Select the events you want to export.

  4. In the pop-up window that appears, click Download.

  5. Save the .ICS file to your computer.

  6. Open the .ICS file using your external calendar.

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Import events from an external calendar

You can save events from an external calendar as an .ICS (iCalendar) file to import the events into a myCourses calendar without synchronizing the calendars.

  1. Save your external calendar as an .ICS (iCalendar) file.

  2. 2.On the main Calendar page, click Import Events.
    OR
    Using the List view, click More Actions > Import Events.

  3. (Optional) Under Attendees, select a group or section to restrict the imported event(s) to.

  4. Click Browse... and select the .ICS file on your computer.

  5. Click Import.

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While this resource is accessible worldwide, McGill University is on land which has served and continues to serve as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. Teaching and Learning Services acknowledges and thanks the diverse Indigenous peoples whose footsteps mark this territory on which peoples of the world now gather. This land acknowledgment is shared as a starting point to provide context for further learning and action.

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