Why do I need to set a timezone for a course offering?
MJ

Written By Mingjie Jiang

Last updated 10 days ago

Recess requires each course offering (or cohort) to be set to a specific timezone. This ensures automatic adjustments for time-related changes, like Daylight Savings Time (DST).

Therefore, cohort timezone should be set to match the timezone of the primary instructor of the offering.

Example:

  • Your cohort is scheduled for 12:00 PM on Wednesdays, in the America/New_York timezone (U.S. Eastern Time).

  • U.S. Eastern Time observes DST from March 10, 2024, to November 3, 2024. Since the cohort is “pinned” to 12:00 PM Eastern Time, it will always occur at 12:00 PM in that timezone, regardless of DST.

Impact on Other Timezones:

  • For a participant in Tokyo (Japan/Tokyo), where DST is not observed, the session time will shift by one hour when U.S. DST is active.

    • March 6, 2024: The cohort occurs at 2:00 AM Tokyo time.

    • ... March 10, 2024: Eastern Time Enters DST

    • March 13, 2024: The cohort occurs at 1:00 AM Tokyo time.

    • October 30, 2024: The cohort occurs at 1:00 AM Tokyo time.

    • ... November 3, 2024: Eastern Time Exits DST

    • November 6, 2024: The cohort occurs at 2:00 AM Tokyo time

Prior to course registration, Recess displays a warning to users who are likely to experience a schedule shift due to timezone difference.

If you have students from different timezones enrolled in your course, you should remind them of a possible timezone change during DST changes.