Question
I have created an Activity using an External Tool (such as Noteflight, Quizlet, Khan Academy, etc.). Can students find and use the Activity after it has closed?
Answer
While students will not be able to access the external tool via the Activity entry or content block within your class, they may be able to view and interact with it another way. We'll explain!
What will students see?
As soon as you have manually Closed an Activity via the manage Activity drop-down menu, or it has passed the set end date you have chosen for it, PowerSchool Learning will limit what they can access. Students will see the name and description of the item via the Activities area of the Assess tab, but not the Activity itself.
If your Activity is posted on a content block within a page, students will be able to see the Nameand Description of the activity, and a message reading "Closed as of [Date]."
So they can't access that activity anymore, right?
Well....not quite. Some tools may allow a Teacher to close an activity externally through the third-party tool itself, but we cannot usually control this setting from within PowerSchool Learning. While students will not be able to access this item via the content block or Activity listing under the Assesstab of the class, they may be able to access the activity in a couple of different ways:
- Via another activity: If students can access an activity created using the same external tool within your class (or another class!) they may be able to view additional activities associated with their account. For example, if I as a student have a Noteflight activity that is still open, I may also be able to navigate through Noteflight to see activities that have previously "closed" within PowerSchool Learning.
- Through the External Tool directly: If a student navigates to the tool outside of PowerSchool Learning, and can log into their account there, they may be able to access and interact with the activity. For example, if I as a student knows my username and password to get into Noteflight, I can log in, see the activity listed, and interact with it.
Looking for more information about Activities and neat external tools? Check out these great articles:
What is an LTI Tool and how do I add one to my domain?
How to I add an LTI Activity to my class?
Can you give me some example LTI Apps to use?
