Approval chains
Publishing a course and accepting a join request go through approval chains. With no set-up, Learn Managers publish and the course's authors decide join requests. You add levels, such as a head of department or the principal, without code.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- A trainer publishes a half-made course to 2,000 staff by mistake.
- A course on a sensitive subject should be seen by the principal before students get it.
- Join requests to a popular course pile up with one teacher who is on leave.
How it works
- Each Entity gets two chains the first time they are needed: Course publishing and Course join request.
- An author presses Send for Review on a draft course. It waits on Course publishing: Learn Managers, or the levels you add.
- The approvers get a to-do and see the course under Approvals > Requests > To Approve. A Learn Manager presses Publish or Refuse on the course; a refused course goes back to draft.
- A learner asks to join a course that takes requests. It waits on Course join request: first the course's author and editors, then the Learn Managers.
- The author accepts or refuses on the enrolment, in the Join Requests list, or in the app's Teaching page. Accepted, the learner is enrolled and told; refused, they are told.
- An Approvals Administrator changes the levels under Approvals > Configuration > Approval Chains, for example adding a head of department before publishing.
Everything it does
What goes through a chain in SmartMy Learn
- Course publishing: one level, Learn Managers (the usual approvers)
- Course join request: two levels to start with, Course author and editors (skipped when the course has none), then Learn Managers
- The Approval Levels tab on the course and on the enrolment shows each step
Who approves a level you add
- Named users, a group, a field of the request, or the usual approvers
- Any one approver of a level decides; for two signatures, add two levels
- If a level finds nobody: the request cannot be sent (to start with), the level is skipped, or its usual approvers decide
- A chain can be Approved at Once, for example join requests accepted without anyone deciding
Rules
- Requester May Approve: on for both chains the system makes, so a Learn Manager who sends their own course may publish it
- Someone who is an approver of the next level too decides both in one go
- Chains are per Entity; a new Entity gets its own
Who uses it
Learn AuthorSends courses for review and decides join requests to their courses.
Learn ManagerPublishes or refuses courses and decides join requests at their level.
Approvals AdministratorSets the levels of the chains.
Where you use it
- Web: Approvals > Configuration > Approval Chains (Approvals Administrators); Approvals > Requests > To Approve and My Requests
- Web: the course form (Publish, Refuse), Learn > Manage Courses > Learning > Learners > Join Requests and the enrolment (Accept, Refuse)
- The SmartMy Learn app: Teaching > a course > join requests with Accept and Refuse (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not in Learn's own menu: Learn has no Approval Chains entry of its own; the chains are in the Approvals menu
- Not in the app: there is no My approvals entry in the SmartMy Learn app
What you control
Settings
- Levels and approvers per chain and Entity
- If Nobody: The request cannot be submitted, to start with
- Requester May Approve: on
Notifications
- Join Request: to the course's author and editors when a learner asks, in the app inbox and by email
- Join Request Refused: to the learner, in the app inbox and by email
- Course Assigned: to the learner once accepted
- Course publishing: approvers get a to-do; no message is sent to the author when a course is published or refused
Questions
Do courses need approval with no set-up?
Yes. A course sent for review waits for a Learn Manager. A Learn Manager can also publish their own course, because Requester May Approve is on.Can the principal see every course before students do?
Yes. Add a level with the principal to the Course publishing chain of the school's Entity.Can join requests be accepted without anyone deciding?
Yes. Set the Course join request chain to Approved at Once, or make the course open to join instead of on request.Why does a join request still wait after the teacher accepted it?
The chain made by the system has a second level, Learn Managers. Remove that level if the course's author should decide alone.Related features
BOUGHT CONTENT AND COMMUNITYCourses made by learners, reviewed before publishingGive the people who know a topic the Learn Contributor role. They build courses of their own, and every one goes through review before anyone else sees it.COURSES AND ENROLMENTSelf-join, join codes and join requestsLet people join a course themselves, with a code you share in class, or by asking and waiting for the author's yes. Requests can go through your approval chain.COURSES AND ENROLMENTCourses, sections and lessons from YouTube, Vimeo, PDF, slides, articles and filesBuild a course from sections and lessons: YouTube or Vimeo videos, PDFs, slides, articles, links and files to download. Authors build it, a Learn Manager publishes it, and learners follow it in order or in any order.ACROSS SMARTMY LEARNNotificationsLearners hear when a course is assigned, due soon, overdue or finished, when work is marked and when a certificate is issued. Teachers hear about work to mark, questions and join requests. Every Learn message goes by email and to the in-app inbox.
See your first course on it.
Tell us who learns (students, staff or both), how many people and what you teach today. We will set up one course with you and enrol a class or a department.