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.