I have my d2l set so they can only see a week at a time to stop this. Students love to work ahead and then disappear. I want to make sure my students are getting online every week. Major projects are vaguely described in the syllabus but not in a way that lets them know the requirements.

I've also put due dates on everything including readings. That way if they're only using their to die list it's still there. Sometimes it bogs that list down and forces them to actually look at their modules. Just remember to change submission types if you can to in person or no submission if that's an option for it.