Introduction
Your platform allows you to view all of your scheduled activities in a personal calendar that can then integrate with other software applications.
Activating the Calendar for Learners
To activate the My Calendar module, log into the platform as a Superadmin, then select the gear icon at the top of the page to access the Admin Menu. In the Settings section, select the Manage Menus option.
On the main Manage Menu page, enter the menu in which you are interested in by selecting the corresponding table row, then choose the Desktop Main Menu tab. In the left panel, select the My Calendar built-in page to add it to the menu, and then click on the Add Pages button. When finished, press Save Changes.
Now, the Calendar is visible to yourself and your users as a page of the user menu.
Accessing the Calendar as a Learner
In order to access your calendar as a learner, reach your Main Menu, then select the My Calendar item. On the main My Calendar page, you will find two different types of events:
- E-learning. All of the e-learning courses in which you are enrolled and that will expire in the selected period (weekly or monthly). All e-learning courses are displayed on the deadline date for the course.
- ILT (Instructor-Led Training). All of the ILT and VILT courses in which you are enrolled.
The types of events are color-coded for differentiation. You can choose to view all of the course types or select just the ones in which you are interested using the Filters in the top left corner of the calendar. You can also use the search bar to look for a specific course or session.
On the top right part of the page, use the Display View dropdown menu to select whether you want to view a weekly or monthly calendar, or an agenda view. At the top of the calendar for the monthly view, press the months’ names to switch between the months.
The dot on top of a month’s name signifies that events are scheduled for that month. If you select to view the agenda view, you will see your monthly events and their details displayed in a list. The list will be empty if there are no scheduled events for the month. Please note that the colored dot next to the event title signifies the course type.
Change the year using the corresponding dropdown menu at the top of the calendar, or export your calendar using the Export button. See more about this option in the next chapter.
Embedding your Calendar into your Calendar Software or App as a Learner
You can add your learning platform’s calendar to your calendar software or app (e.g. Outlook or Google Calendar) by clicking the Export button at the top of the calendar on the My Calendar page.
Then, in the window that opens, press the Add to Calendar button. You’ll be asked to open the default application that you use for your calendar. Upon confirmation, if the calendar’s app is installed on your computer, the learning events are automatically added to your calendar application.
In your calendar app, a new dedicated calendar will be created, and the events will not be added to your already existing calendars, but to a new one.
The events are then synchronized with your calendar, so, if any changes are made by your Admin to the learning events, you’ll find these changes in your calendar too. In case future events are canceled, they’ll be deleted from your calendar too. You can configure the frequency of the updates directly from the calendar app you have installed on your device.
If you are using a web version of the calendar, or if you need to manually add the URL into your external calendar, from the window that opens after clicking the Export button, select Copy Link. Once you have copied the URL, paste it into your calendar software or app to synchronize your learning events. For the web version of the calendar, the frequency of the updates is set by the provider and you cannot configure it. The synchronization between the calendar updated in the platform and your calendar application usually happens within 24 hours, but remember to double-check with your provider the frequency of updates.
If you are synchronizing your platform’s calendar with Outlook, you will need to double check the times for your courses or sessions for Daylight Savings time, as the Outlook calendar might change the times of the sessions. You can also paste the link into your browser and download the resulting ICS file. This can then be uploaded or directly imported to your calendar software.
For Google Calendar users, please note that in some cases multi-day events may be imported as single day events.
Adding an ILT Session to Your Calendar Software or App as a Learner
You can also add to your calendar software or app (for example Outlook or Google Calendar) a session of the classroom or webinar course you are enrolled in as a learner directly from the course page.
While on the course page, click on the ellipsis icon in the top right corner and select Add to Calendar. In the pop-up that opens, you can choose between copying the link into your calendar software or app to keep your course sessions synchronized using the Copy icon or adding it directly to your calendar by clicking on the Add to Calendar button.