Answers to frequently asked questions about course visibility to students before and after a course starts and ends.
How long do students have access to their past courses after the course close date?
- By default, students can access past courses in a read-only mode unless the lecturer has restricted this.
- Students can continuously access their closed or finished Canvas courses as long as their MIT accounts are active.
- The Courses icons (tiles) will disappear from their Canvas dashboard, but students are still able to access closed courses from the Canvas main menu as shown below.
- Select the Courses icon from the Menu [1], then select the desired courses from those that are available [2].
When can students first access their course after it’s published?
Students can see the course once:
- They are enrolled and the student has accepted the invitation to join the course.
- The course is published and
- The start date has been reached., for example; If the course opens on 25 January, they will see it on 25 January at 12:00 AM unless otherwise specified.
If you want to restrict access to your course until the start date:
- In the course you want to restrict access to navigate to your course settings in the side bar.
- Make sure you are in the course details tab.
- Scroll down to Participation
- Check the “Restrict students from viewing course before course start date” box.
- When selected, the course is inaccessible before the course start date.
- Click Update Course Details to save your settings.
Please note: By default, student access checkboxes are not selected, meaning in all courses students can view a link to any enrolled future course (after they accept their course invitation) or a concluded course.
Can students see content, but not open or participate yet?
Yes. Lecturers can publish a course but restrict access to certain content. Students may see course details like the syllabus or module titles but cannot open files, view content, or participate in activities until the lecturer allows access.
Can you send an Announcement out from a course before the course start date?
Yes. Announcements can be sent before the course start date if the course is published. Students will receive notifications if they are enrolled and their notification settings allow it. If the course is unpublished, announcements cannot be sent.