Courses, sections and lessons from YouTube, Vimeo, PDF, slides, articles and files
Build 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.
PLANSEvery plan
Built and checked in code; not yet installed on a test system or used by a customer.
The problem it solves
- Course material sits in shared drives, email and WhatsApp groups, and nobody knows which copy is the current one.
- Teachers upload large video files that fill your storage and stall on a weak phone connection.
- Anyone can change a course while people are taking it, and nobody checks it before learners see it.
How it works
- A Learn Author opens Learn > Manage Courses > Courses > Courses and presses New: title, cover, category, tags, level and language. You are the Author; add Editors for co-teachers or trainers.
- Add sections such as Week 1 or Unit 2, then the lessons, and drag both into order. Each lesson has a kind, a length in minutes and what it covers.
- For a video, paste a YouTube (unlisted) or Vimeo address. For a PDF, slides or a file, press Upload. Articles are written on the lesson itself.
- On the Rules tab choose Training (in order) or Library (any order). Set the share of a video to watch before it counts.
- Press Send for Review. A Learn Manager presses Publish or Refuse, or your Course publishing approval chain decides.
- Learners find the published course in My Learning on the web, on the portal, or in the SmartMy Learn app.
Everything it does
Lesson kinds
- Video: a YouTube or Vimeo link; YouTube watch, youtu.be, shorts, embed and live addresses are accepted
- Document (PDF), Slides and File to Download: uploaded, one file per lesson; uploading again replaces it
- Article: written on the lesson; Link: an outside page
- Quiz, Assignment, Live Class, Package (SCORM / xAPI), H5P, Outside Tool and Company Policy where those parts are installed
- Videos are links only: an uploaded video file is refused with a note to put it on YouTube (unlisted) or Vimeo
- YouTube plays from its no-cookie address; Vimeo with Do Not Track
The course
- Title, Reference (numbered by itself), Cover, Summary for the course card, About the Course
- Category (one entity or shared), Tags, Level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced or All Levels), Language
- Author and Editors: the people who may change it
- Length and number of lessons add up from the lessons
- Each lesson: Needed to Finish (on), Free Preview (off), Learners May Download (off), Length in minutes
Order and finishing
- Training: a lesson opens when the needed lesson before it is done
- Library: any lesson, any order
- The course is finished when every lesson needed to finish is done
- Release by date, by days after joining or after chosen lessons: see Lessons released by date
Publishing
- Status: Draft, In Review, Published, Archived
- Send for Review needs at least one lesson; only the author, an editor or a Learn Manager can send it
- Only a Learn Manager (or the approval chain) publishes or refuses; a refused course goes back to draft
- Learn Managers take a course back to draft, archive it or reopen it
- Copy Course: a new draft with sections, lessons and the about text; editors only if ticked; never the join code
Who sees what
- Authors read every course of their entity and change their own; Learn Managers change all
- Learners see a published course when it is open to join, on request, or they are enrolled
Who uses it
Learn AuthorTeachers and trainers: build their own courses and those they are editors of, and send them for review.
Learn ManagerPublishes or refuses courses, keeps categories and tags, and can change every course of the entity.
LearnerStaff, students or outside learners: follow published courses in the player or the app.
Where you use it
- Web: Learn > Manage Courses > Courses (Courses, Lessons) and Configuration (Categories, Tags)
- Web: the player at /learn for staff (My Learning > My Courses); the Learn card on the portal for students and outside learners
- The SmartMy Learn app: courses for learners, Teaching for authors (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not in the app: building or changing a course; authors do that on the web
What you control
Settings
- Followed As: Training (in order) to start with, or Library
- Video Watched to Count: 90 % to start with
- Needed to Finish: on for each new lesson; Free Preview and Learners May Download: off
- Categories: for one entity, or empty for every entity
Approvals
- Course publishing: Learn Managers to start with; add levels in your approval chain. Whoever sent the course may also decide at a level they approve
Notifications
- Approvers get a to-do for each course waiting, such as Publish Safety Basics by the author
- The messages learners get when they are put on a course are on the page Messages when a course is assigned
Works with
SmartMy CampusA course for a class or subject group in one step, with a simple look for young classes.
SmartMy HRMSCompany policy lessons that record the employee's acknowledgement in HRMS.
Questions
Can we upload our own video files?
No. Put the video on YouTube as unlisted, or on Vimeo, and paste its address in the lesson. An uploaded video file is refused. PDFs, slides and other files are uploaded and use your storage.Can two teachers build one course?
Yes. The Author adds the other teacher under Editors. Both can change the sections and lessons; a Learn Manager can change any course.Can learners skip ahead?
In Training mode a lesson opens only when the needed lesson before it is done. In Library mode they choose any lesson. You can also open lessons by date or some days after joining.Does anyone check a course before learners see it?
Yes. The author sends it for review and a Learn Manager publishes it, or the levels of your Course publishing approval chain decide.Related features
COURSES AND ENROLMENTLessons released by date, days after joining or after other lessonsOpen each lesson on a date, some days after the learner joined, after chosen lessons, or strictly in order. Locked lessons show the learner exactly when and why they open.COURSES AND ENROLMENTThe course player with a moving watermark, no downloads, progress and resumeOne player for staff, students and outside learners. Videos resume where they stopped and documents show without a download button. A watermark with the learner's name moves over the lesson, so a recording shows who made it.QUIZZES AND CERTIFICATESQuestion bank and quizzes with a timer, attempts and negative marksKeep your questions in one bank, in ten kinds. Build quizzes from chosen or random questions with a timer, attempts, negative marks and a pass mark. Seven kinds are marked at once; written and file answers wait for a teacher.QUIZZES AND CERTIFICATESCourse versions: people mid-way finish on their versionChange a published course without breaking it for the people half-way through. New Version makes a draft copy. Once it is published, new people get it and everyone already learning finishes the one they started.COURSES AND ENROLMENTEnrolment by hand or by rules, kept current every nightPut people on a course by hand, or write a rule once: a role, a department, new joiners or a class. Every night the course enrols whoever the rule matches and drops people who no longer match.APP, MESSAGES AND POLICIESThe SmartMy Learn app, with lessons saved for offline and screenshots blockedLearners take their courses, lessons and live classes and keep their certificates on the phone; teachers see their learners and mark from it. PDFs and slides can be saved for offline, and screenshots are blocked during a lesson.
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.