This document is divided into the following sections:

• Reviewing the Course Homepage
• Launching an Online Course
• Clicking a Link in an Online Course
• Leaving and Resuming an Online Course
• Completing an Online Course

Reviewing the Course Homepage

The course homepage is a landing page that includes the course description, information about associated workflow steps, instructions on how to interact with the course, and action buttons to launch the course and associated workflow steps. It is important to always pay close attention to all information included on a course homepage.

1. Carefully read the course description and any included directions for completing the course.
   The course description includes information about the content you will encounter in the course, as well as directions for interacting with the course. This includes how to launch the course and how to close out and reenter the course.
   
   
2. Look for information about pre- and post-course workflow steps that are required for completing the course.
   The most common type of pre-course workflow is a prerequisite course, meaning a separate training that must be completed before you are able to launch a course. Post-course workflow includes assessments that test your knowledge of the training completed and surveys that allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of the training.
   
   
3. Review the right column to see your status in the course and look for any related documents.
   The status indicator in the right column will always display your current status in the course. Please keep in mind that post-course workflow steps like assessment are often required. This means you will not achieve a finished status in the training until those steps are completed.

Launching an Online Course

When interacting with an online course in Ability LMS, there are often three separate windows for you to navigate.

1. Start the course by clicking the Launch button at the bottom of the course homepage. This will open the communication window.
   
   
   
   
2. In the communication window, click the Lunch the Course to open the course in a separate window.
   NOTE: The communication window must remain open while you are in the course.
   
   
   
   
3. Begin taking the course in the course window.
   
   

There are now three active windows open in your browser related to the course you are taking:

1. your main browser window contains the course homepage,
2. the communication window sends your progress to Ability LMS, and
3. the course window contains the course you are taking.

Pay close attention to all on-screen directions while navigating through the course. Some courses may be composed of many lessons, each with interactive content. Other courses may be as simple as a PDF or web page that you will have to review. In either case, please make sure to closely read all content and directions within the course.

Clicking a Link in an Online Course

It is important to understand how to open a link from a course and then return to the course once you have finished reviewing the linked content. When you click a link inside a course, that link will open in your main browser window.

Once you have reviewed the linked content and are ready to return to the course, click the browser icon in your task bar to see all the browser windows you have open. Locate the course window and click it to return to the course.

NOTE: When clicking your browser icon in the task bar, the first window will be the main browser window, the second is the communication window, and the third is the course window.

Leaving and Resuming an Online Course

If you do not have time to complete a course in a single sitting, you can exit the course and it will save your progress.

1. To exit a course, you must first close the course window.

2. Next, you need to close the communication window.

3. Your status on the course homepage, which will be in the main browser window, will now show as In Progress.

To resume a course, follow the steps in Launching an Online Course. After clicking the Launch the Course button in the communication window, a dialog box will appear asking if you would like to resume where you left off. Select Yes and you will be taken back to the same spot in the course where you previously exited.

NOTE: do not leave a course open in Ability LMS that you are not actively working in. If you need to leave a course idle for more than 15 minutes, it is best to simply exit from the course and then resume at later time.

Completing an Online Course

Once you have completed the course by reaching the final slide, you may exit the course by closing the course window and the communication window.

Depending on the post-course workflow, your status will now show as Finished or In Progress on the course homepage. If your status is Finished, you are likely done but should still check for optional post-course workflow steps, like a course evaluation, for example. If your status is In Progress, there are likely required post-course workflow steps that you must complete.

For more information about post-course workflow, please see Interacting with Post-Course Workflow.