Feature Overview and Requirements

Virtual Classroom courses are a delivery method available to customers who purchase a Virtual Classroom License from LatitudeLearning®. A license provides the customer with an integrated meeting room and the ability to automatically create meetings at the time offerings are scheduled for a Virtual Classroom-type course. While some steps in setting up these virtual courses and offerings are the same as their standard Classroom counterparts, this document explains the differences and provides guidance on the LMS portion of the Virtual Classroom process. We currently offer Virtual Classroom integration with Adobe Connect.

A single LMS-based Adobe Connect license:

• Allows one active, in-progress offering at a time. There can be no overlap in meeting times and there is a default 15 minute preparation window for each offering that must also be considered in scheduling. For instance, a one hour session starting at 10:00 am would prevent a one hour session at 11:00 because of the 15 minute preparation window needed by the later meeting.
• Allows up to 95 attendees per offering by default.
• The 15 minute window can be extended on request, but that will also impact the ability to schedule additional offerings in the same time frame.

Additional considerations of the LMS-Adobe Connect integration:

• There are limitations in Adobe Connect functionality when going through the LMS Virtual Classroom. This includes an inability to establish a variety of virtual room layouts as templates and apply them to each offering based on how the instructor would like to present. There is one room layout template and because the Adobe Connect meeting is created at the same time the Virtual Classroom Offering (VCO) is set up, the layout is locked in immediately. Adobe does not allow templates to be changed once the meeting is established. All virtual room layout adjustments must be made during the 15 minute preparation period.
• Students must be enrolled in the VCO in order to create a transcript and activate a button in the LMS that allows them to join the session at the designated time, and to have their attendance tracked in the LMS to support automatic roster management. Non-enrollees who have accounts in the LMS could join the session if they receive the meeting link, but their attendance is not tracked in the LMS. A portal administrator would need to manually add a transcript or use Transcript Import, to track their attendance.

 

Step by Step Procedure and Field Description

Facilities

If you’ve purchased the Virtual Classroom Add-on and our ClientCare team has indicated that it has been installed and configured, one of the first things you should create is a new facility to use for Virtual Classroom Offerings (VCO).  For Virtual Classrooms, here are the key points you need to consider:

• Organization: You must select all the Organizations (Business Units) which have courses that need access to this facility.
• Facility Type: Select Virtual Classroom.
• Time Zone: Select the base time zone for this facility. This is what will be used for scheduling offerings. Users in other time zones will be able to download a calendar file that contains the meeting time translated into their local time.

COURSES

To take advantage of Adobe Connect Integration, you must create courses with the Virtual Classroom Delivery Method.  To create a Virtual Classroom Course, here are the key points as they differ from other new course delivery methods. 

• Delivery Method: Select Virtual Classroom.
• Online Course section (add)/Online tab (edit): 
  • Percent Complete Required: Select the percentage of the virtual classroom offering the student must attend in order for the system to assign an auto-generated completion. The LMS offers the ability to let roster processing happen automatically based on this setting. A job runs 24 hours after the end of the offering which reviews VCO logged-in attendance times and processes roster attendance before automatically closing the offering. You can also manually process the roster. This is a default setting. It can be changed at the offering level.
  • Record Event: This must be enabled if you plan to record the event in Adobe Connect and have the LMS generate a Playback link to the recording for all attendees who pass the course. This is just half of the recording setting requirements. The others must be set up in the Adobe Connect meeting room after the instructor launches the meeting from the LMS. If this is not checked, a recording can still be made in Adobe Connect. It will just not show up for playback in the LMS. This is a default setting and can be changed at the offering level.

OFFERINGS

To schedule instances of a Virtual Classroom course, you create offerings based on the course using the same Add Offering function used for Classroom courses.  To create a Virtual Classroom Offering, here are the key steps that vary from a standard offering. 

• Facility: Select your Virtual Classroom-related facility.
• Online Settings section (add)/Online tab (edit):
  • Percent Complete Required: Defaults from the Course setting. Can be changed for a particular offering.
  • Record Event: Defaults from the Course setting. This must be enabled if you plan to record the event and have the LMS generate a Playback link to the recording for all attendees who pass the course. This is just one half of setting the recording requirements. Recording must also be enabled inside the Adobe Connect or Saba meeting room after the instructor launches the meeting from the LMS. If this is not enabled, a recording can still be made in the meeting application. It will just not show up for playback in the LMS.
  • Playback Retention Days: Enter the number of days, up to 90, that users who successfully complete the course will have to view a Playback option from their History. This will not work if you do not record the event by setting it up both in the LMS and in the meeting room.
• Meeting Times:  Works like a standard classroom offering. Note that for Virtual Classroom Offerings, there is a built-in 15 minute pre-meeting time launch window for meeting hosts to allow room setup and configuration.

THE INSTRUCTOR EXPERIENCE

After you schedule your offering, Adobe Connect creates and reserves your meeting room. You will be restricted from creating additional VCOs at the same date and time, depending on the number of VCO Licenses you purchased. The system verification of the available time slot for other VCO sessions will also consider the 15 minute setup time allotted to an existing VCO. For instance, by default, your scheduled 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm VCO will tie up a VCO license from 12:45 pm – 2:00 pm.

You can manage your roster as you would with a standard offering, but when it is time to begin your meeting, the primary difference for VCO is found on the Actions tab of the offering.