Ability LMS - Master Schedule for the Trainer Profile

This document provides directions on how to access, understand, and interact with the Master Schedule segment within Ability LMS for users who have the elevated profile of Trainer.

Use the outline below to navigate to the various sections of this article.

Accessing the Master Schedule

Access to the Master Schedule segment within Ability LMS requires elevated access and is not accessible to general users. You must have either the Trainer or Training Coordinator profile to access this function. If you have questions about elevated access, please contact Learning Systems Support at sharedservices@uillinois.edu.

The Master Schedule provides administrative access to synchronous classes with a specific date and time. All classes are part of a course, much like an academic course has classes. Courses that support the class scheduler are Scheduled Classroom Trainings and Virtual Classrooms.

In addition to scheduling class dates and time, the Master Schedule is used to update learner attendance records, add or remove learners, reschedule class and gain access to a class roster.

To access the Master Schedule segment, Click on Manager Menu in the top navigation bar and then select Master Schedule.

Image showing the Manager Menue option selected from the top navigation row and displaying the Master Scheudle option.

The Master Schedule segment will load with a calendar view of all scheduled classes, as shown in the screenshot below.

Image dhowing the calendar view of the Master Scheudle

To locate a class, find the date and time by searching the calendar using the month/year filters at the top or by using the previous/next arrows to navigate between the months.

 To the top


Navigating within the Master Schedule

There are two view options within the Master Schedule: the calendar view and the list view. The calendar view is the default view for the Master Schedule.

Calendar and List Views

To turn on the list view, click the List view icon list view icon in the ribbon. This will change the view to show all scheduled classes in a list format and sorted in descending order by date.

Most users find the calendar view to be more helpful and easier to use. To switch back to the calendar view, click the Calendar view icon calendar view icon in the ribbon.

To navigate through the calendar view, to can use the Previous and Next arrows in the ribbon to change the view by month. You can also use the Month and Year drop-downs, which are located between the Previous and Next arrows. Simply select the desired month and year and then click the Go button.

Location and Search Functions

You can filter the classes that display on the Master schedule using the location drop-down. By default, the Master Schedule always load All Locations. To filter classes by a specific location, simply click the location drop-down, which is immediately to the right of the Calendar and List view buttons and select the desired location.

Image showing the location dropdown selected and displaying all location options.

You can also filter classes using the search feature, which is located immediate to the right of the location drop-down. Type in a full or partial class name into the search box and then click the Go button that is immediately to the right. This will filter the classes displayed to match the search term used.

Once you have located the desired class, click the name of the class and it will take you into the administrative settings for that particular class.

 To the top


Class Workflow

After selecting a class from the Master Schedule, you are taken to the Workflow tab of the class. This tab offers four options: Class Enrollment, Print Class Roster, Reschedule Class, and Class Update.

Igame showing the Class Workflow tab within a Class

Class Enrollment

The class enrollment feature allows you to manually enroll learners in a class. Clicking Class enrollment will open the enrollment wizard. You can search for learners using either UIN or name.

Image showing the UIN and Learner Name fields within the Class Enrollment feature

Once you’ve entered either the UIN or name, press enter on your keyboard to load the results. You can also scroll down to the bottom of the wizard and click the Next button to load the results. The results will display in the following format: UIN, name, (department).

Image showing the search results field within the Class Enrollment feature

Double-click on the learner(s) that you want to enroll in the class, and then press enter on your keyboard to continue. You can also scroll down to the bottom of the wizard and click the Next button to continue.

On the next screen, you must decide whether to send an enrollment confirmation to the selected learner(s). Make your choice by clicking the appropriate radio button.

Image showing the options to update roster and send notificaitons within the Class Enrollment feature

Once you’ve made your selection, click the Next button to complete the manual class enrollment process.

 To the top


Print Class Roster

The Print Class Roster feature allows you to generate, save, and print an attendance roster. Once you have generated the roster by clicking Print Class Roster, you can use your web browser’s print function to print the roster or save it as a PDF. Press ctrl+p on your keyboard to open the print options in your browser.

Image showing teh class attendance roster


Reschedule Class

There are several options when rescheduling a class. Below is a screen shot of the Reschedule Classroom Event window. To see a description of each option, look below the screen shot below.

Image showing the Reschedule Classroom Event window

The Course ID, Course Title, Start Date, and Start Time fields display the current details of the class.

In the New Start Date, either enter the new class date or click the calendar icon to use the date select wizard. Using the New Start Time drop-downs, select the new start time for the class.

In the Email Template field, select STOCK – Class Reschedule. Please do not use any other email template when rescheduling a class.

In the Email From Address, select your own email address.

Reschedule Reason is an optional field but provides you the opportunity to make a note about the reason the class is being rescheduled.  

Finally, leave the “Reschedule the class and send an e-mail to participants” option selected and then determine whether you want to contact learners who have canceled their enrollment by selecting the appropriate radio button.

Once all settings have been entered, click the Next button to reschedule the class and send the notification email.


Class Update

The Class Update feature within the Workflow tab is perhaps the most important function for any class. Trainers must use this feature to update the history records of enrolled learners after a class has been delivered. This should be done within 24 hours after the end of the class. If you cannot update the class on your own, please contact Learning Systems Support at sharedservices@uillinois.edu for assistance.

To get started, click Class Update, which will open the following window.

Image showing the displaysequence options for the Class Update wizard

Leave the “By last name” option selected and click the Next button. This will open the Update Participant(s) Status window. This window allows to update all status in the class at once using the drop-downs in the Default Values row, or individually in the drop-downs in the rows next to each learner’s name.

Image showing the learner status update options in the class update wizard

For learners that successfully completed the class, please use the Status ID of “Finished” and the Completion Status ID of “Complete”. For learners who did not complete the class, the typical Status ID should be “Not Taken” and the Completion Status ID should be “NA”.  Once you have updated all statuses, click the Next button to continue.

The following window will load. Simply click the Close Window button to return to the class.

Image showing the completion message and close window button in the class update wizard

Please Note: it is very important to ensure that you set all statuses correctly the first time. Once you complete the Class Update process, the class will be turned to inactive, and you cannot run the Class Update process again.


Learners

The Learners tab displays a list of learners who are enrolled in the class. From this screen, you can copy learner email address if you need to contact them prior to a class, and you can also manually update individual learner statuses. Typically, this should only be done after a class using the Class Update feature, but there are times when editing individual learner records is necessary.

Image showing the Learners tab within a class

To edit the status of a learner, click on the green icon button Learner edit button to open the learner record edit window. The new window should look like the image below.

Image showing the learner edit window within a class

To make changes to the status, use the drop-down list for *Status ID and *Completion Status ID. Please note that all fields with a * before the field name are required. The Status IDs that are most typically used are Enrolled, In Progress, and Finished. The Completion Status IDs most used are In Progress and Complete.

After making changes to the required fields, scroll down the window and click on the Save button. The window will not close, but if you made changes, you will get the message “Changes made to database.” Once you see this message, you can scroll to the bottom of the window and click Close Window button.

NOTE: It is very important to make manual changes to learner statuses when absolutely necessary.


Properties

On the Properties tab, you will be able to view all the details and settings that the class inherits from its parent course, which is created by a Training Coordinator or System Administrator. All fields in the Properties tab are set as view-only for Trainers and are for informational purposes only. If you need to edit the properties of class, please contact Learning Systems Support at sharedservices@uillinois.edu.

Igame showing the  properties tab within a class