Off-campus students are often juggling study with full-time work or caring duties. Knowing key dates (e.g. tutorial dates, collaborative activities, assessment dates, holidays) in advance is important for them to plan their studies. Student not being clear on instructions, or misinterpreting instructions, can easily lead to a sense of alienation, the antithesis to Sense of Belonging. When providing a list of key dates at the beginning, encourage the students to put these in their diary and to plan their own work schedule. Remember to be clear on times, e.g. UK time.

Example: Rachel wanted to set the submission time at 12 noon UK time on the Friday of the 12^th week of every module. This gave consistency across modules, ensuring students knew what to expect, and ensured staff were available if students had any problems or queries. However, for 12 O’clock the software only allowed specification of 12am or 12pm. There was confusion amongst students about whether the time was noon or midnight, so the time was changed to 11:55am UK time (again she decided to avoid terminology such as GMT / BST which are very UK-centric). Also included was a link to a time converter for students working outside the UK time zone.