Purpose: This article walks through what your instructors can do in Administrate, from the week before a course to the follow-up afterwards, so you can show them what to expect and decide what to give them access to.
Instructors use the same Administrate interface as your team, with a focused view that shows only the courses they teach. Their classes, learners, materials and paperwork are all in one place.
The screens below follow Sarah Mitchell, an instructor halfway through a three-day First Aid at Work course for 15 learners. Day 1 is done, Day 2 is today and Day 3 is next week.
Contents
- Before you start
- Before the session
- 1. Signing in and seeing the dashboard
- 2. Viewing the schedule and availability
- 3. Booking time off
- 4. Preparation tasks
- 5. Emails that arrive automatically
- 6. Seeing who's coming
- 7. Course details, materials and internal notes
- 8. Printing the class list and sign-in sheet
- During the session
- 9. Taking attendance
- 10. Tasks for the day
- After the session
- 11. Recording results
- 12. Learner and class progress
- 13. Sending a follow-up message
- 14. Wrapping up with post-course tasks
- What instructors can see and do
Before you start
Each instructor needs their own user account, linked to their Contact record, with a Role that limits them to their own courses. Instructor Self-Service with a Restricted Role explains how to set this up.
This walkthrough also uses a few optional permissions on top of that Role:
- Event Delegates - View to see the learners booked on their courses.
- Event - View internal notes to read your team's internal notes.
- Event Administration - View and Document Template - View to print sign-in sheets and other print outs.
- Event - Contact Delegates to email learners.
- Calendar - View to see the availability calendar.
Leave out any of these that your instructors should not have.
Before the session
The week before a course is when good preparation pays off. Instructors have everything they need to arrive ready.
1. Signing in and seeing the dashboard
Instructors sign in with their own account and land on a dashboard that shows the courses they're teaching in the next 30 days and the tasks due next, with today's first. They can see what's coming up and what needs doing without searching through menus.
2. Viewing the schedule and availability
The availability calendar shows every day the instructor is teaching (in green) alongside time they have blocked out (in yellow), by day, week or month. Instructors always know where they need to be, and your schedulers can see at a glance when they're free.
For more on the calendar, see Availability Calendar.
3. Booking time off
When instructors need time away, such as annual leave, a training day or a family event, they add it themselves. They choose the dates and a reason, and the absence appears on their calendar straight away. Your schedulers see it as soon as it's recorded, so instructors aren't booked to teach on days they're away.
For absence reasons and company-wide absences, see Staff Absences.
4. Preparation tasks
Each course can come with its own checklist, such as checking equipment, printing handouts or reviewing learner needs. Instructors see the tasks assigned to them with due dates and progress, both in their own task list and on the course itself. Nothing gets forgotten, and your team can see that preparation is on track without chasing.
For setting up tasks, see Tasks.
5. Emails that arrive automatically
Administrate can send instructors the right information at the right time. For example, a class list a week before each session, a note when materials are ready and a reminder the day before. Your administrators choose which emails go out, what they say and when, using communication triggers with an instructor audience. Instructors arrive informed without anyone on your team having to remember to send anything.
To set up emails like these, see Communication Triggers.
6. Seeing who's coming
Every course has a clear summary of when and where it runs and how many learners are booked. The class list shows each learner, the organisation they're from and their result so far, so instructors can plan their groups and welcome people by name.
7. Course details, materials and internal notes
Instructors can see the details for every session, the materials attached to the course and notes from your team. Internal notes are only for staff; external notes are what learners see. Room bookings, parking and learner needs travel with the course, so instructors don't need a separate briefing.
8. Printing the class list and sign-in sheet
From the learner list, instructors can open print outs for the course, including a sign-in sheet for each day with a signature column and space for their own signature. The same menu also offers an export of the class list. Because the paperwork comes from the latest bookings, late additions are never missed.
For customising print outs, see Sign-in Sheets and Print Outs.
During the session
On the day, recording what happens takes moments, so instructors can focus on teaching.
9. Taking attendance
Instructors open the attendance register and mark each learner present or absent for today's session. Every day of the course is on one screen, so they can also correct an earlier day. Attendance is recorded as the day happens, ready for certificates, reports and your customers.
For more detail, see Recording Attendance for an Event.
10. Tasks for the day
Tasks for the session itself, such as running a practical or collecting signed sheets, appear in the instructor's task list for the day. A simple checklist keeps the important moments from slipping, even on a busy day.
After the session
Wrapping up is just as quick: results, progress and follow-up, all from the same course.
11. Recording results
Instructors record a pass or fail for each learner. They can set the whole class in one click and then change the exceptions, and a confirmation step guards against accidental changes. Results are in the system as soon as the course ends, ready for certificates and reporting.
12. Learner and class progress
The attendance view shows how far each learner has got through the course, with one bar per session: green for attended and red for missed. Anyone who has fallen behind stands out, so instructors can follow up before it affects their result.
13. Sending a follow-up message
Instructors can email the whole class, or chosen learners, from the course page. They can use one of your templates or write their own note, and it comes from their own address. A personal follow-up keeps learners engaged between sessions, with no copying of addresses.
14. Wrapping up with post-course tasks
Follow-up tasks, such as recording final results, sending resources and returning equipment, are waiting in the instructor's list, each with its own due date. The course is properly closed off every time, and your team can see when it's done.
What instructors can see and do
Instructors get a focused, simpler version of Administrate: everything they need to run their classes and nothing they don't. Your administrators decide exactly what's included.
Instructors can:
- See only the courses they're teaching
- View course details, session times, locations and materials
- Read your team's internal notes on their courses
- See who is booked and which organisation they're from
- Print sign-in sheets and other course print outs
- Take attendance and record results for their learners
- Email the learners on their courses (and text them, if you use SMS)
- See their own tasks and due dates
- Add their own holidays and time away
- View their calendar and availability
These stay with your administrators:
- Courses taught by other instructors
- Booking, moving or cancelling learners
- Prices, invoices and payments
- Your full contact and customer records
- Other people's tasks and holidays
- Creating courses and scheduling sessions
- Email templates and automatic emails
- System settings, users and permissions
The screens in this article come from a demonstration account with made-up people and organisations. What your instructors see depends on the permissions in their Role, so menus and options may differ slightly.