Lesson Timers and Retry Controls
Set time limits and decide whether students can reset their answers.
Who this is for
Teachers deciding how much freedom students have while working in a lesson.
What this page answers
- How do time limits work?
- What happens when time runs out?
- When should students be allowed to reset answers?
Prerequisites
- a lesson with settings access
Time limits
Use a time limit when the lesson should stop accepting student interaction after a fixed amount of work time.
When the limit is reached, the lesson becomes read-only for the student and their current answers stay in place.
Reset answers
The Allow Reset Answers setting controls whether students can clear their work and try again. This is usually more permissive for class and exercise lessons than for homework.
Teachers also have a separate Clear answers tool in the editor. Use it when preparing or reviewing a lesson:
- click Clear answers in the main toolbar to reset answers and activity state across the document after confirmation
- select part of the lesson as text, then click Clear answers in the floating toolbar to reset only the selected widgets or answer fields
This is useful after testing generated exercises, recording demos, or cleaning a lesson before it is assigned. It does not change the configured correct answers.
Clear teacher test answers before assigning the lesson. If answers remain in the lesson document, the assigned student copy can include those visible answers.
Defer answer reveal
The Defer answer reveal setting hides correctness feedback while the student is still working. Their answers still save, but they do not see green/red states or correct-answer hints until they submit the lesson or the timer expires.
Use it when you want a test-like first attempt without creating a full exam module.
When to use which setup
| Goal | Recommended setup |
|---|---|
| open practice | no time limit, reset allowed |
| structured exercise | optional time limit, reset allowed |
| assessment-style homework | time limit if needed, reset usually off, defer answer reveal on |
| full exam simulation | exam mode, time limit, reset off, defer answer reveal on |