You can set options for certain course tools. Tool options are personal and apply only to you. The options you set here are default, which means they apply to all of the courses you are enrolled in and are always in effect when you first enter a course. You can modify an option while working in a particular course, but the next time you enter that course, the default setting specified here is in effect.

You may not have access to some or all of the course tools these settings apply to. For example, if none of your courses include the Discussions tool, then the Discussions settings do not apply, although you still see the settings.

You can also specify the language, font, and your time zone.

To change personal tool options:

Step 1: From your My page, click the My Settings link.

Step 2: Click My Tool Options.

Step 3: Make the desired changes.

• Under Calendar:
  • Specify whether you want the month, week, or day view to display when you enter Calendar by selecting an option from the Preferred viewdrop-down list.
  • Specify the day that determines the start of the week by selecting an option from the Week begins on drop-down list.
     
• Under Discussions:
  • Specify whether you want to display your posted messages as read by selecting Mark my own posts as read. If you do not select this check box, messages you post will be marked as unread. Unread messages appear bold and are tagged as New. Note: This option does not apply to blogs or journal entries.
  • Specify whether you want discussions to appear threaded by selecting a View option. A threaded discussion is a series of messages on the same subject with the originating message listed first followed by replies to that message. An unthreaded discussion consists of messages that are listed in chronological order. Note: This option does not apply to blogs or journal entries.
  • Specify whether to show new messages or threads at the top or bottom of the list by selecting a Show new messages or threads atoption.
  • Specify whether to show all messages or only unread messages when you first enter the Discussions tool by selecting a Show messages option. This option is disabled if the View option is set to Threaded.
     
• Under Fonts:
  • Select the font size to display your courses in by selecting an option from the Font size drop-down list. You can also select to use theSystem default font size.
  • Specify the font type to display your courses in by selecting an option from the Font type drop-down list. You can also select to use theSystem default font type. Note: If you select Courier, formatting may not always be applied correctly.
     
• Under HTML Creator, specify whether the HTML Creator starts by default. The HTML Creator is an HTML editing tool that allows you to create content in HTML without having to enter HTML tags. You can use the HTML Creator in areas of a course where you enter text, such as messages in Discussions and Mail, and descriptions in Calendar entries.
   
• Under Language, specify the language by selecting an option from the My Language drop-down list. The languages you can select from depend on administrator settings. You can also select to use the System default, which displays each course in the language the Section Instructor specified to use. Note: Your selection may not take effect in certain courses, such as language courses where the Section Instructor wants Students to use the language that is being taught.
   
• Under Mail:
  • Specify whether to forward copies of all incoming course messages to the external e-mail address in your profile by selecting Forward all mail messages to the e-mail address in my profile. Messages will appear in both the Mail tool and the external e-mail account. However, if you want to respond to the message, you must open it from within the Mail tool.
    • Depending on administrator settings, mail forwarding may not be available in some courses.
    • A valid e-mail address must be specified in your profile for this setting to take effect.
  • Specify whether to show all messages or only unread messages when you first enter Mail by selecting a Show messages option.
  • Specify whether to show new messages at the top or bottom of the list by selecting a Show new messages at option.
     
• Under Paging, select the default number of items to be displayed on each page by specifying a value in the Number of records per page text box.
   
• Under Time Zone, select your time zone. Dates and times will display according to the time zone that you select. If you live in a different time zone than the institution that is hosting your course, select your local time zone.
  • For example, if you live in Seattle and the institution that is hosting your course is in New York, select US/Pacific. Assignment due dates and times will display in your local time, not in New York time.
  • If you select a time zone that uses daylight saving time, the time will automatically adjust for daylight saving time changes.
     
• Under Who's Online, specify your default online status:

Note: Specifying this option does not change your current status, just your default status, which will be in effect the next time you log in.Depending on administrator settings, an Invisible online status may not be available in certain courses.

• If you want your name to appear on the list of online users and appear available to chat, select Visible/Available.
• If you want your name to appear on the list of online users but do not want users to send chat invitations, selectVisible/Unavailable.
• If you do not want your name to appear on the list of online users, select Invisible.

Step 4: Click Save.