Introduction

Blocks are widgets for your course. They are small, purpose-built tools that do one or two things, similar to a weather or calendar widget on your phone. Blocks are located in the collapsible Blocks Drawer on the right side of your course page, and can be added, removed, hidden, and rearranged by an instructor. A non-exhaustive list of examples is included below. 

Activities

The Activities block auto-generates links to filtered pages for activities and resources as you add them to your course. For example, if you add three Assignments to your course, the Activities block auto-generates a link called "Assignments". Clicking that link will take you to a page that lists every Assignment in your course. This is a simple way for you and your students to rapidly find specific types of course content. 

Calendar

The Calendar block will auto-populate with due dates, cut-off dates, and open-and-close dates for course activities. You can also manually add course events that will appear for both you and your students. 

Quickmail

The Quickmail block helps you easily email every student in your course, from your course (see Email Students in Your Class with the Quickmail Block ). Please note that Quickmail is only for sending emails out to students. It works by taking an email you write and individually sending it to each student in the course on your behalf. If a student replies to an email sent via the Quickmail block, their reply will be sent to your email inbox, not to Quickmail. Messages you send through Quickmail are saved in course backups. 

Syllabus

If you're using the Syllabus resource in your course (see  Syllabus: Add a Syllabus Resource ), the Syllabus block will auto-populate with your profile photo, name, contact information, and office hours. 

Using Blocks

1. Turn editing on in your course.

2. Open the Block drawer, then click + Add a block.

3. Select the block you wish to add from the list that appears. The page will refresh.

Is my block missing?

  • Some blocks, such as Mass Actions, only display when editing is enabled in your course.
  • If a block doesn't appear the in the + Add a block list, that usually means you've already added it to your course.

4. With editing turned on, click the gear icon on any visible block to configure, hide, or delete it.

5. When you are done, turn editing off.


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