LMS Student Users Guide September 2013
Contents Introducing the LMS... 3 Accessing the LMS Home Page... 3 Exploring the LMS... 3 My Learning Center - LMS User Home Page... 4 Home Tab... 5 My Details Tab... 9 History Tab... 9 Using the Left Navigation Menu... 11 Courses... 11 My Location... 14 Resources... 15 Quick Links... 16 Taking a Course... 17 Enroll in a Course... 17 Launching a Course... 18 Completing the Course and Printing a Certificate... 18 Manager Tabs and Functionality... 19 Approvals Tab... 20 How to Approve or Reject a request... 22 How to Approve or Reject an Interest... 22 Enrolling Others... 23 FAQs... 27 Why would I want to use Interest List?... 27 Why does a course need approval?... 28 How do I pay for a course that has a cost associated to it?... 28 Why can t I generate a Certificate of Completion?... 28 LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 2 of 28
Introducing the LMS The LatitudeLearning Learning Management System (LMS) is a web based system that enables you to deliver a wide variety of existing on-line courses, create or incorporate new courses, develop custom certification programs and curricula, and track all learning activities. This LMS is designed for ease of use, flexibility and configurability. In terms of functionality, the LMS enables the organization to: Deliver existing online materials, including courses, PDFs and PowerPoint presentations, etc. Have both students and managers involved and accountable. Create online training material quickly and efficiently. Record attendance at classroom sessions and other learning events. Measure learning comprehension; Most courses have pre- and post assessments to validate the students understanding of the course content. Report on learning activity and training history. Monitor complete activity on the system. Accessing the LMS Home Page The LatitudeLearning LMS is accessed by using a Web Browser. The recommended browsers are Internet Explorer 8.0, 9.0 or 10.0, Chrome 29 or 28, or Firefox 23 or 24. Users may also need to install the latest Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which can be accessed from the Oracle/Java website. You should also be sure to have the most recent versions of Adobe Shockwave and Flash player plug-ins for your browser. You can check those at the Adobe Site. Exploring the LMS The LMS can be accessed via LatitudeLearning.com or via external links that can directly take you to particular area of the LMS.. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 3 of 28
Each user is required to enter his or her user name and password. The username and password information will be conveyed to you in a separate email or other correspondence depending on your situation. Users are encouraged to change their password the first time they enter the LMS. The process for updating your password is described later in this guide. My Learning Center - LMS User Home Page When a login is successful, the student will be directed to their Home page in the LMS. The options available to a user are based on the position and role the user is assigned. This document focuses on the role of the student and provides some basic information. At the end of this document we ll touch on the differences a manager will see. A number of functions can be found on the top of every page: Sitemap Clicking on Sitemap at the top right of the screen will take you to the site's map. This page lists links to the Learning Center according to your designated security role. To visit any page listed in the sitemap simply click the page title. Username/Location Hovering over the username will display the current user s login name, role and location Logout - Click on Logout to exit the system. Home At the top of the left navigation area you can find your current location on the site. Whenever you click on HOME it will return you to your Learning Center home page. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 4 of 28
The Learning Center home page serves as a gateway to the LMS Learning Center. It is your main home page for the site. By default the Home tab will display when the page is loaded, with the My Details and History tabs also available. Home Tab On the site, clicking on will expand each section and clicking on.will collapse each section. Welcome This is welcome information specifically designed for your environment by your portal administrator. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 5 of 28
Featured Courses - Your portal administrator can set up courses which are featured for your organization or location which will display in this area of your HOME tab. You can view details and see your current status for these courses. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 6 of 28
Live Courses Future Traini ng Recent Traini ng This section shows classroom courses on your approved or pending approval list. The course dates are also shown. Clicking the course name link will display additional course information. The links in the table's Action column will allow the user to view additional information on the offering or cancel their enrollment in an offering. Self Studies Expanding this area shows the web-based online courses and other Self- Study courses that a student has been enrolled in or launched, but has not completed. It includes the Course Name and the current Status (e.g. Launched, Incomplete). Clicking on the course name will display course details. The Status Date the student enrolled or received approval will also be displayed. The Delivery Method denotes if it is an on-line course, or other defined method, and if it requires pre-approval. The links in the Action column will allow a user to launch an approved web based training course or cancel their enrollment in the course. Interest List This area lists courses that the student has flagged for interest but has not yet enrolled. It will show the STATUS, the date it was flagged for interest, LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 7 of 28
any prerequesites and the location of the class. You can click on the CANCEL button to remove yourself from the Interest list. Mail Center The Mail Center provides messages, alerts and announcements. The types of messages a user will see include Course Pending Approval Status, Course Enrollment Verification and Password Change (depending on how the Administrator has set up notifications) as well as the date the message was sent. The TYPE column denotes if it is a message, an announcement or a training alert. Click any of the links in the Info column of the table to view details about a message. Click the checkbox in the SELECT column, and then click on the DELETE Button to delete a message. The Mail Center displays up to five messages; user can click on View More Messages at the bottom to display the entire list of messages. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 8 of 28
My Details Tab The My Details tab shows summary information about the user. On this page, users can edit their personal details such as contact information and address, update their password and activate multiple profiles, if applicable. History Tab The History tab will allow a user to review their Training History, Certification History, and Curriculum History. The training history search form is displayed as the LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 9 of 28
default search option when this tab loads. Training history can be reviewed by using the following Search options: Training Completed After - A date in this field will return all training completed after the selected date. Display (The radio buttons will act as filters on training records) Completions Only - Returns only completed training. Incomplete/Incomplete No Post Test/Ineligible/No Show Only/Fail - Returns courses that the student did not complete or was not eligible to take. Cancelled Only - Returns only training that has been cancelled. Scheduled/Launched Only - Returns only scheduled training. All - Returns all training history regardless of type. After making selections, clicking Search will apply the selected filters to search results. A quick way to locate information is to click on All and then click on Search and the system will return all courses in the History database. The Training History Table contains the following information: Title - Displays the name of the course. Clicking the name of the course will show detailed information on the course. Type - Displays the training type. Course Code - Contains the code that identifies the course. Completion Date - Displays the date the training was finished by the student, and can be sorted chronologically or by reverse chronology. Expiration Date - Contains the date the student's enrollment will expire and need to be renewed. If blank training does not LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 10 of 28
expire. Score Pre/Post Test Displays pre- and post-completion test scores, if applicable Location Displays the student's Location code. A pound sign (#) indicates the primary location. Status - Displays completion status for the selected training. A link in the column will allow the student to print out a certification of completion for the selected course. Organization Code Identifies the company or organization. Using the Left Navigation Menu Courses Clicking the Courses button will display two options; Search Courses and Training Calendar. Using the Search Courses function - Clicking on the Search Courses button opens a window which allows the user to search for any course in the catalog by inputting the course name or course code, or if unknown, key words to identify types or like categories of courses. The Additional Filters function refines the search by course major (majors are pre-defined lists of related courses, usually part of a set curriculum, e.g., Quality or Engineering Major), or delivery method. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 11 of 28
Once you have typed in a search parameter, click on the Search button to pull up the course or list of related courses. For example, searching on the keyword Communication brought up the following list of related courses: The search results are sorted by relevance with the most relevant course at the top. The list can be sorted by course code or name by clicking on the appropriate titles. The Course list contains high level information for each course: the course Code, the name and a brief description of the course; Delivery Method (e.g. e-learning requires approval, CD-ROM, etc.), Cost and Action. The Action column will display, options to ENROLL in the course, VIEW OFFERINGS or ADD INTEREST. When a user clicks on the Enroll button, a separate screen will appear with tabs that show the course Details and either an Enroll button to continue with the enrollment process, or a Launch button if the course is free and does not require approval. Clicking on any of the Course Name links will allow the user to view the course details. Course Details include Name, Code, Cost, Course Description, Target Audience, Prerequisites and other information. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 12 of 28
Clicking Training Calendar displays live courses that are available (the Training Calendar will be blank until Live Courses are loaded into the system). When you click on a day with training scheduled, a list of the courses will display below the weekly calendar. Select different weeks using the calendar to the right. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 13 of 28
My Location The information on the My Location tab pertains to the organization structure as defined by the Administrator, and can only be modified or changed by the Administrator. If a change in the user s position means a change in the Department or physical location, contact your LMS Administrator. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 14 of 28
Resources Resources can be added to the LMS in a variety of formats and for various purposes. Resources can be Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Adobe documents relative to general training and development, or additional information pertaining to a specific course. A Resource may also be a link to an externally hosted video. Resources can be viewed from the left navigation area. Course specific resourses can also be viewed from the DETAILS tab of the course. Resources can be searched by Keyword, Type (Link or Document and Media) or Category. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 15 of 28
Quick Links At the bottom of the left navigation area there are several quick links which may be of use, especially the LMS FAQs (frequently asked questions). This area may have been edited by your portal administrator, so you may have different links available in this areal. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 16 of 28
Taking a Course Enroll in a Course You may be enrolled in a course by your manager or administrator, or you may enroll yourself. Courses may be free or have a cost associated with them. Also, they may be pre-approved or require a manager s approval for enrollment. Search for a course using the Courses>>Search Courses buttons in the left navigation area. Select the course and view the details. If the course is free and preapproved there will be a Launch Course button. If the course has a cost associated with it, or requires a manager s approval you will see an Enroll button. After clicking on the Enroll button your manager will be notified that their approval is pending, and the course will show up on your Home tab of your Home page under Self- Study. You can monitor the approval status there. You will also get an email notification when the approval has been completed. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 17 of 28
Launching a Course Users can launch their course(s) from the user s Home page. In the Self Studies section are listed all the Self- Study and elearning courses in which the user has enrolled. A Launch Course button will appear under Action. Clicking Launch Course will begin your course. For courses requiring approval the Launch Course button will be unavailable until your manager has approved the course. You also have the option to CANCEL your enrollment here. Completing the Course and Printing a Certificate Once the student/user has completed all of the course requirements, the course information will move from the Self Studies section to the History tab. Under Status, the user will see a Complete, Attend (Pass), or other satisfactory completion message. Under that message will be a link to a course completion certificate which the user can click to view and print the certificate. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 18 of 28
If a user sees an Incomplete status the Certificate link will not appear. The user can click on the Incomplete status to find out what has not been completed. Some courses may have a pass/fail test at the end which requires a minimum score. Students should be able to scroll back through the course materials when taking the final test. Some courses may require the manager to certify completion, rather than the user self-certifying. Manager Tabs and Functionality Employees who have been given the superior position code of manager have direct reports they are responsible for and will need to identify courses as part of their Individual Development Plan and approve those courses. Managers will have two additional tabs on their Home page; My Employees and Approval. Access to these may vary between users according to their role and administrative permissions. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 19 of 28
My Employees Tab The My Employees tab lists all of the employees for which you have been assigned training management. Data can be sorted by clicking on any of the column headers. The table contains the employee s ID, Name, Department, Position (Staff, Training Administrator or Manager). Clicking an employee's name will take the user to the employee's Personal Home page where a manager can see the same view as the individual user. Approvals Tab The Approvals tab allows you to approve or reject pending enrollments, interests and registrations. Pending Enrollments sub-tab This sub-tab will display by default.. The list can be narrowed using one or both of the search fields provided: User - Enter an SID or click Choose a User to launch a popup window that will allow you to search for the needed user. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 20 of 28
Course - Enter a course code in this field or click Choose a Course to launch a popup window that will allow you to search for the needed course. After making the needed selections, click Search. The Results are displayed in a tabular format: Name - This column contains the name of the student with a pending approval. Clicking the '+' button will expand the field and display additional information on the student. Course Code and Facility- This column contains the code of the course and the facility if applicable. Course Name - This column contains the Name of the course with a pending approval. Clicking the '+' button will expand the field and display general information on the course. Clicking the linked course name will display detailed information on the course. Delivery Type and Course Start- This column indicates the course's delivery type, and start date if this is a LIVE course Cost ($) Indicates the associated cost for the course. Action this section includes Approve, Reject and a text box to enter a reason for rejection. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 21 of 28
How to Approve or Reject a request Approve check the box and click on SUBMIT to approve the course. If the course has a cost associated to it, the manager will need to acknowledge the Billing Agreement and click on Complete Purchase Reject Click this check box to reject the course, and add a reason in the text box to the right. How to Approve or Reject an Interest Approving Interests works much the same way as Approving Enrollments. Click on the Pending Interests sub-tab and review the list. You can either approve or reject (with comment) each pending request by selecting the appropriate check box and LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 22 of 28
then hitting SUBMIT. Pending Interests sub-tab Clicking on this sub-tab wil display the list of Pending Interests. This screen works very similarly to the Pending Approvals sub-tab,with the same search features. Click on Approve and Submit, or click on Reject and enter a reason before clicking on Submit Pending Registrations sub-tab Self-Registration is a feature that can be turned on by LatitudeLearning Support staff at the request of the portal administrator, so most users will not see any pending registrations in this area. Enrolling Others Managers and Training Administrators may enroll students in courses. -Click on Courses on the left navigation bar, click on Search Courses and enter criteria to find LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 23 of 28
the desired course. If you searched for Delivery Methods of elearning or Self-Study, you can click on the Enroll Others button directly from the search results. If you searced for Classroom courses you will need to click on the View Offerings button. Alternatively, you can Search Offerings (rather than Search Courses). Once you can see the list of offerings you can hit the Enroll Others button. Click on the specific course. Either way, the next screen displayed will allow you to add LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 24 of 28
students either by Student ID or by Interest List; Student ID is the default option. You can enter usernames separated by a comma if you have that information. Otherwise, click on Choose Students. This brings up a new window with a picker enter the appropriate search criteria and hit Search. From the list of students meeting your criteria select the desired enrollees by hitting the ADD button. This will add them to the User Basket on the left. When you have your list completed, review it and click Check Out. The list will then be imported into your enrollment form. Click on Submit. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 25 of 28
Review the list of student which you have selected to enroll. You can review their eligibility for this course on this screen. Click on the Add selection box before hitting Submit to finalize the enrollment. You can either click selection box at the top (in the gray bar) to select all students listed, or select the individual selection boxes for each student. When you click on Submit you will have the opportunity to provide payment information if the course has a cost associated with it. Otherwise, your enrollment is LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 26 of 28
complete. The option to cancel the enrollments is provided via the Return to Add Students button. Clicking this button will return the LMS to the previous screen. If the course(s) you enrolled students in require approval, that will still be required enrollment in a course does NOT equate with approval. FAQs Why would I want to use Interest List? A student may add themselves to a course Interest List from the Course Details. You would want to do this for various reasons such as; it s a classroom course which does not currently have any Course Offerings that meet your needs; content may not be directly related to your position but you d like to explore, you may need approval to devote time in your schedule LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 27 of 28
Why does a course need approval? When an administrator sets up a course they can determine if the course will require approval. This may be due to an associated cost, or whether the content is appropriate to that student s role/position/job function. How do I pay for a course that has a cost associated to it? Courses which require payment will be configured in one of two ways: Requires manager approval Can be self-approved by student at enrollment time. Either way, the system can be set up to automatically direct pay, or to use a credit card. LMS User Guide September 2013 Page 28 of 28