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Work to Do Widget in D2L
Overview
The Work To Do widget provides learners with a consolidated view of overdue and upcoming learning activities across their courses. Activities appear based on assigned due dates and end dates.
- When added to the organization homepage, the widget displays work from all enrolled courses.
- When added to a course homepage, it shows only due and overdue activities for that specific course.
Frequently Asked Questions
The widget appears out of sync with course content. What’s wrong?
Examples may include:
- A completed activity still appearing in the widget
- A newly created activity not showing up
- A date change not reflected for students
Answer:
Allow up to 2 minutes for updates to sync and appear in the widget. If immediate updates are needed, learners can clear their browser cache and refresh the page.
There is an overdue item, but learners don’t see it in the Overdue section. Why?
An overdue item may not appear in the widget for one of the following reasons:
- The item falls outside the configured display range
- (Default: 12 weeks in the past)
- The activity has already been completed by the learner
- The activity’s End Date has passed
If an activity is overdue and its End Date has passed—either for the activity itself or the entire course—it will no longer display in the Work To Do widget.
Does the Work To Do widget support Special Access?
Yes.
If a learner has Special Access with modified due or end dates, the widget will display the student’s individualized dates instead of the default ones.
What if an activity is due soon, but its start date hasn’t arrived?
- If the course is active, but the activity start date is in the future:
- The activity appears in the Upcoming section
- It is not clickable
- A label indicates the future start date
- If the course itself has not started, the activity does not appear in the widget.
How do course due dates and end dates affect the widget?
- Course end dates do not appear in the Work To Do widget.
- Courses with due dates assigned through Learning Groups do appear.
How is the Work To Do widget different from Pulse?
- Pulse displays work in a visual, week-by-week layout
- Pulse does not explicitly label overdue items
- Calendar events appear in a separate tab in Pulse
- Pulse allows users to add personal tasks
On homepages, similar functionality requires separate Calendar and Tasks widgets.
How does this widget differ from Updates, Calendar, and Tasks widgets?
Each widget serves a different purpose:
- Work To Do
- Focused on learners
- Displays instructor‑assigned activities with due dates
- Updates
- More instructor-focused
- Includes items like ungraded assignments and quizzes
- Calendar
- Does not show course activity due dates on the organization homepage
- Does display them on course homepages
- May overlap with Work To Do when both are used in a course
- Tasks
- Displays user-created tasks only
- Tasks are not instructor‑assigned
These widgets can complement one another but may show overlapping information depending on placement.