6. Starting a Course

This section describes how to start a course and begin doing course work, and how to change settings that apply to a specific course.

As soon as you enroll in a course, you can access some information about the course and change course-specific settings on your dashboard. If the course start date has not passed, you cannot access course lessons or assignments.

For information about availability of course content, see Accessing Course Content.

6.1. Find a Course’s Start Date

You can usually enroll in a course before the start date, although you cannot access course materials and complete assignments.

You can find a course’s start date on its About page. Not all courses publish the exact start time.

A course's About page with the start date above the Enroll Now button.

If you have enrolled in a course, the course is added to the list of courses on your dashboard. You can find the start date on the course listing on your dashboard.

A course listing on a learner's dashboard with the start date underthe name of the course.
  • You do not need to sign in exactly when the course begins.
  • If the course content is not immediately available, check back later on the start date.

For more information about different course statuses, see When is a Course Available?

6.2. Start a Course

To start work in a course that is in progress, follow these steps.

  1. On your dashboard, locate the course.
  2. Select View Course. The course Home page opens. This page shows important dates and, typically, a welcome message from the course team.
  3. Select Course. The first section of course content opens.

6.3. View an Archived Course

You can enroll or continue to work in some courses even after the course end date. These courses are archived, which means that while you can access the course content, you cannot submit answers for graded problems or participate in course discussions.

To view the content of an archived course, follow these steps.

  1. On your dashboard, locate the course.
  2. Select View Archived Course.

6.4. View a Course Grade

To view your current grade in a course that has not yet ended, see Checking Your Progress in a Course.

To view your final grade in a course that you have completed, follow these steps.

  1. On your dashboard, locate the course. Your final grade appears under the course name.
  2. Optionally, print your dashboard to obtain a record of your achievement in the course.

You can also view the course and open its Progress page to view your final grade, as well as your grades on all course assignments.

6.5. View Certificate Status

If you are enrolled in a certificate track for your course, updates on the status of your certificate, and options for accessing earned certificates, are available in the course card on your dashboard.

For example, if you have earned a certificate and the course team has generated certificates for the course, you can use the View Certificate option to access your web certificate.

Dashboard with course name, grade, and link to the certificate.

For information about how to access certificates, including how to view, print, and share certificates, see Getting a Course Certificate or Badge.