How to Use the Scheduler Activity

The Scheduler activity allows students to schedule appointments with the instructor. Students can sign up for one or multiple slots, or the instructor can assign students to a slot.

 

Adding the Scheduler Activity to Your Course

To add the Scheduler to your course, locate the Administration block on the main course page and select Turn editing on.

Next, locate the module you want to add the Scheduler to. At the bottom of the module, select Add an activity or resource. Select Scheduler and then Add.

Editing Scheduler Settings

Once you have added the Scheduler, you can modify the following settings:

1. General
   • Name: A required field
   • Introduction: An optional field where you can enter a description or information for students
2. Options
   • Role name of the teacher: This field should be left blank.
   • Mode: Determines how the Scheduler will be set up. You can choose to have students sign up for a fixed number of appointments or a fixed number of appointments at a time. For example, if you want students to be able to schedule additional appointments later in the term, after the initial meeting they booked has passed, select the at a time option. If you only want students to be able to sign up for a fixed number of appointments, select the in this scheduler option.
   • Booking in groups: Allows students to book an appointment for all members of their group. Please note that you must establish groups in the course for this setting to function correctly.
   • Guard time: If you enable a guard time, a window is set around the appointment time that prevents students from booking the appointment. For example, if you set a guard time of 15 minutes, students cannot book an appointment within 15 minutes of the appointment’s start time.
   • Notifications: If you enable this option, students and instructors will receive notifications when an appointment is scheduled or cancelled.
   • Use notes for appointments: Allows instructors to enter notes about the appointment. You can choose to have the notes visible to students or only visible to instructors.
3. Grade: Allows the Scheduler to be graded.

Once you have selected the desired settings, click Save and return to course to return to the main course page, or select Save and display to view the Scheduler.

Adding Appointment Slots to the Scheduler

Once you have added the Scheduler to the course, you will need to add the appointment slots. In the Scheduler, locate the Slots section and then click Add Slots.

You will be given two options:

• Add repeated slots
• Add single slot

The repeated slot option is recommended if you want to create recurring slot times across multiple days, or if you have a chunk of time on one day you want to divide into multiple slots. For example, if you want to set up appointments for 1–2 PM on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, you can do this quickly if you select repeated slots. If you select single slot, you will need to manually enter a separate slot for each time.

Adding a Repeated Slot

To add a repeated slot, select the option under Add Slots and then enter the following information to complete the setup:

• Date: The date when the first slot will occur on
• Repeat time slots until: If the slots are repeating over multiple days, select the check box next to Enable and then enter the last date when the time slot will occur.
• Add appointments on: Select which days of the week between the first and last date when the slots will occur.
• Time range: Select the time range of the slot.
• Divide into slots: Allows you to divide the slot time range into multiple slots
• Duration: Establishes the length of time of each slot
• Break between slots: Establishes a time period between the slots, which students cannot sign up for. For example, if your time range is 1–3 PM with 15 minute slots, you can establish a 15-minute break between slots so that the slots are at 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, and 2:30. Adding a break between slots is recommended if you want to protect against appointments that run over the allotted time.
• Force when overlap: Determines what should happen if the slot you are adding will overlap with an existing slot. If you set this option to Yes, the previously existing slot will be deleted and a new one created. If you set this option to No, the previously existing slot will remain and a new one will not be created.
• Maximum number of students per slot: Determines how many students can sign up for the same slot
• Location: An optional field where you can inform students where the meeting will be held
• Teacher: Select the name of the instructor in the course with whom students will be signing up.
• Display slots to students: Determines how far in advance students can see the slots and sign up
• Email a reminder: If you enable this option, Moodle will e-mail a reminder about the appointment.

Once you have established the settings for your repeating slot, select Save changes.

Adding a Single Slot

To add a single slot, select the option under Add Slots and then enter the following information to complete the setup:

• Date: The date of the slot
• Duration: The length of the slot
  • Ignore scheduling conflicts: If you check this option, this time slot will be established even if there are scheduling conflicts with other slots.
• Maximum number of students per slot: Determines how many students can sign up for the same slot
• Location: An optional field where you can inform students where the meeting will be held
• Teacher: Select the name of the instructor in the course with whom students will be signing up.
• Display slots to students: Determines how far in advance students can see the slots and sign up
• Email a reminder: If you enable this option, Moodle will e-mail a reminder about the appointment.
• Comments: Students will see any comments entered into this field once they have signed up for the appointment.
• Appointment: This optional setting will allow you to sign a student up for the appointment by selecting the student’s name from the drop-down menu. You can also enter any notes for the student about the appointment as long as the Use notes for appointment setting is enabled in the Scheduler settings.

Once you have established the settings for your slot, select Save changes.

Deleting Slots

To delete a single slot, click the “X” in the Action column to the right of the slot of the Scheduler’s main page.

To delete multiple slots, locate the Slots section and then click Delete Slots.

You will see three options:

• Delete selected slots: First, select the slots you want to delete by clicking the box in the Actions column next to the slots. Then select this option. The slots you selected will be removed.
• Delete my unused slots: This will delete any slots that haven’t been filled.
• Delete all my slots: This will delete all slots, even if they have been filled.

Sending Invitations or Reminders to Sign Up

You can send messages to students to invite them to sign up or remind them to sign up. On the Scheduler’s main page, scroll to the bottom of the list of slot times. You will see a list of students in your course who have not signed up for an appointment. There are two options:

• Send invitation
• Send reminder

Both options function the same, but the default message in Moodle will be different depending on which option you choose. You can also modify the message text and subject line and choose which students to send the message to. (Please note that students who have already signed up for a slot will not receive the message.) When you’re ready, click Send message.