Blocks – add a Clock block

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The Clock block displays the time in both Adelaide and the student's location elsewhere in the world. It helps students determine how times referred to in FLO relate to their local time.


The Clock block is a handy resource for enrolled students from different time zones (overseas or interstate). This feature is particularly relevant if the topic is fully online, if students will be interstate or overseas, and can be helpful for time-dependent activities such as Collaborate, quizzes and assignments.

How it works: when a student accesses your FLO site from a computer or device in another time zone, in the Clock block they will see the time according to the FLO server in Adelaide and their local time, according to the device/computer used to access FLO. 
The clock block.

Whilst the Clock block provides a useful visual help for students to understand time zone differences in their topics, it is important to provide clear guidance to students on why you have added the Clock block to your topic site and how you expect students to use it.

Important Clock block tips

  • The Clock block is a visual guide and like many online tools, accuracy may depend on the functionality of the user's browser and security settings.
  • The Clock block will show the current time for the student, based on their local computer time settings.
  • If a student changes their computer time zone, or the computer time is incorrect on the computer they use to access FLO, this could make the Clock block inaccurate.
  • If a student changes their time zone settings in their FLO profile settings, the Clock block time will not reflect this change.

The Clock block displays the time as 12-hour by default. We do not recommend changing this setting to 24-hour because students see the time displayed in 12-hour format in FLO. If you are using the Clock block for international students, you may want to edit the Clock block setting Show day name to Yes.

To add the Clock block in your FLO site:

  1. In your topic Turn editing on

  2. Open the Block menu in the top-right of the topic's home page.

  3. Locate the Add a block menu (usually on the right-hand side) and select Clock

    Select 'Clock' from the drop-down menu

  4. The newly created Clock block will display two clocks; Server time and your time

    Clock block

  5. To reposition the block, hover over the move icon The move icon is a cross with four arrowheads.then click and drag. We recommend positioning it under the 'Topic links' block (the top block), so it is readily visible each time students go to your topic.

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