The catalog is the application's primary administrative structure, a nested hierarchy that enables you and your learners to browse all available learning, or to drill down to detailed class descriptions. From here you create and maintain all your catalog objects: categories, courses, offerings, classes, and sessions. From the catalog, you can also create and maintain other objects that are not a part of the nested hierarchy such as forums, chats, web conferences, learning paths, and learning certifications.
To hide catalog items that are no longer relevant, select the Show only catalog items with future or empty end date check box. The setting of this check box applies to all login sessions of the user, which can be changed by the OTA:Hide End Dated Catalog Objects profile option. You can use this profile option to determine the default setting of this check box. See Profile Options for more information.
You can view the course enrollment summary on a pop-up window that appears over the Details icon for a course in the Catalog page. The general information about the course shows: course name, an icon if e-signature is enabled for the course, and an icon if an evaluation is attached to the course. The aggregate information for each type of class shows: number of courses, number of learners enrolled, number of learners who finished the class, and number of free seats (only for synchronous classes). The individual information for each class shows: class name and type, start date, number of learners enrolled, and number of learners who finished the class, maximum and minimum number of learners in the class, and number of waitlisted learners.
The Attendance and Signature Sheet Report enables instructors to take and report class attendance.
The catalog depends upon several key concepts:
Catalog Objects--categories, courses, learning paths, learning certifications, offerings, classes, and sessions--are the building blocks of the catalog.
Categories are purely structural objects, like folders, that contain other catalog objects.
Courses define what a class teaches a learner.
Offerings determine how the learning is delivered.
Classes set where and when the learning takes place.
Learning Paths and Learning Certifications are virtual collections of courses that help learners achieve learning goals that a single course cannot address.
Class Statuses--Planned, Normal, Full, Closed, and Cancelled--reflect typical stages in the class life cycle.
Sessions are subdivisions of classes, facilitating resourcing and scheduling.
Web Conferences facilitate delivery of online synchronous classes.
Forums are online bulletin boards that learners and instructors use to post general learning topics for discussion.
Chats are scheduled live discussions that enable learners and instructors to exchange messages online.
Learner Access determines who can enroll in a given class.
Delivery Modes set whether a class is delivered online or offline, and scheduled or unscheduled.
Restricted Classes, in tandem with learner access, determine enrollment availability for both customers and internal learners.
You can fit the OLM catalog to your existing catalog or build a new catalog from scratch, to better represent your plans for future courses. Categories enable you to maintain a relatively flat structure, only one or two levels deep, or to nest courses several levels deep, which you may wish to do to accommodate a large and varied catalog.
Learning activities enable workers to acquire or enhance competencies, qualifications, and experience. Learners can then better fulfill job requirements and achieve career objectives.
Your enterprise benefits directly as workforce skills and competencies improve and workers meet job requirements more fully. By keeping a detailed, up-to-date record of competencies you can utilize the potential of your employees more completely and effectively.
The application allows you wide flexibility in scheduling and grouping courses and classes.
You can use offerings and classes to run multiple versions of courses.
You can group courses together into versatile learning paths.
You can run classes for any period of time you require.
To help you create a detailed agenda for a class, you can break it down into shorter sessions, specifying the location and start and end times of each session. You can book resources, such as venues and trainers, for the whole class or for individual sessions.
You can use the integration with Oracle Web Conferencing (OWC) to deliver web conferences, learning delivered by a live instructor to learners over the web. The built-in integration simplifies the administrative process of linking your application to a virtual learning tool to deliver online synchronous classes. The integration with OWC also enables you to deliver online asynchronous class as recorded web conferences, providing an alternative method to host online asynchronous classes.
Forums and chats are communication tools that bring learners and instructors together in a learning environment. Learners can use class chats to exchange queries on the class subject area with instructors and other learners enrolled in the class. Both learners and instructors benefit by the knowledge and information sharing that happens through class forums. Learners and instructors can also utilize the private forum messages capability to share information that should not be available to all learners, such as homework assignment. Category forums and chats encourage participation in general subject areas beyond a specific class. They are not associated with a specific class and are accessible to all learners who meet the learner access conditions defined for the forum or chat.
You can evaluate courses to collect feedback from learners. Learning administrators can create evaluations using the Test Builder functionality and add these evaluations to courses and classes. Administrators can determine whether an evaluation is mandatory. Learners can complete their evaluation after they complete the class. Administrators can view the evaluation results either at the course or class level using the Evaluation Results page. The OLM Evaluation Report presents feedback on a specific class and the entire feedback on a course.
The core of the Learning Management catalog is a hierarchy of catalog object types:
Categories are containers that hold other learning objects
Courses define subject matter and other generic information
Offerings are specific instances of courses, and hold the delivery mode and language of instruction
Classes are specific instances of offerings, holding enrollment, scheduling, and location information
Sessions are subdivisions of classes, holding scheduling, location, and resource information
Learning Paths and Learning Certifications, unique types of catalog object, contain virtual groups of courses that help learners achieve learning goals that a single course cannot address.
The hierarchical structure of the catalog takes advantage of inheritance in several ways. Each of the five main object types inherits (and can sometimes override) characteristics inherited from its parent object type. Classes, for instance, inherit the delivery modes of their parent offerings, while all offerings under a course deliver the same essential subject matter.
You can use learner access at every level of the hierarchy, each object inheriting (and optionally adding to) the learner access designated for its parent object.
You can specify courses and competencies a learner must or should complete before enrolling in a given class. Mandatory prerequisites prevent learners from enrolling in the class, while advisory prerequisites merely inform the learner of courses they should take or competencies they should acquire prior to enrollment. You can also choose to apply a course prerequisite to internal learners only, external learners only, or both, enabling you to establish different prerequisites for each set of learners. Competency prerequisites, which enable you to specify an expected or required level for each competency, apply only to internal learners.
Categories, the top level of the catalog hierarchy, serve to organize and structure your catalog. With one notable exception, they do not themselves hold information, but serve as named containers to hold other learning objects. They can even hold other categories, enabling you to nest catalog items, much like the directory structure on your computer.
Categories can hold one important piece of information: learner access. Depending on your catalog structure, you can use categories to target courses to particular organizations or any defined subgroup of learners.
Define Access to Learning Objects in a Category
If the Administrator Group field is available, then select an administrator group to restrict access to the learning objects in the category to the members of the administrator group. OLM applies the restriction on the following learning objects in the category hierarchy:
Courses
Offerings
Classes
Learning Paths
Learning Certifications
Forums and Chats
If you leave the field blank, then OLM does not restrict administrators from accessing the category. You can select the administrator group when you create categories. You cannot change the administrator group field after you create a category. The Administrator Group field is read-only when you update the category details.
Remove the Restriction on Access to a Category to make it Available to all Administrators
If access to a category is restricted using an administrator group, then this restriction can be removed by the learning administrator, who can access that particular category.
After restrictions are placed on access to a category, there may be business requirements to make the category and content within the category available to all administrators. In such a scenario, the learning administrator can remove the restriction by selecting the Remove Administrator Group check box in the Update Category page. If the learning administrator selects the Remove Administrator Group check box and clicks Apply, a concurrent program runs in the background that removes the association between category and administrator group. The category and the content within the category then become accessible to all administrators.
Note: The Remove Administrator Group check box is displayed only for the topmost category associated with the administrator group. This check box is not displayed for categories within the topmost category.
See: Administrator Groups
Category Image
You can add a category image while creating or updating a category. You can upload an image either from your local machine's desktop or select an image that exists in the database. OLM resizes the image that an administrator uploads to 180 x 120 (height x width) size, irrespective of the size of the uploaded image. Learners can view the category image. If an image is available for a category, then categories created within the category inherit the image from that category. Administrator can either retain the image for the sub category or a select a different image.
Courses, the second level of the catalog hierarchy, hold generic information that tends to remain unchanged even when the delivery mode, schedule, or location changes. Courses save you from entering the same, or incorrect, information each time you create an offering or class. Courses hold a variety of information:
Topics and description
Objectives
Competencies delivered
Professional credits delivered
Intended audience
Administrative details
Tip: To increase its availability to learners, you can reference a course in multiple categories, but you must designate exactly one category as primary.
You can add a course image while creating or updating a course. You can upload an image either from your local machine's desktop or select an image that exists in the database. OLM resizes the image that an administrator uploads to 180 x 120 (height x width) size, irrespective of the size of the uploaded image. Learners can view the course image.
OLM uses start and end dates to control when courses appear to learners and managers (administrators can view all catalog objects until deletion). You cannot run classes for the course earlier than the start date or later than the end date.
As with categories and other learning objects, you can establish learner access for each course.
See Learner Access
When you click Generate Hyperlink, the application generates a hyperlink to this course that you can paste into e-mail, external web pages, or announcements.
For each course, you can include several pieces of information that become defaults for any course offerings. You can override those defaults for each offering.
You can specify:
Price Basis: Customer, Learner, or No Charge.
Budgeted and Actual Cost.
Maximum Attendees, Minimum Attendees, Maximum Internal Attendees, and Maximum Waitlisted.
By specifying competencies the course can deliver to learners, you can tie the course into the HRMS competencies functionality.
See Competencies
If you are using Oracle Order Management to manage external classes, you associate your inventory organization with a course.
See Using Oracle Learning Management With Order Management
If you have set up the Personal Analysis key flexfield, and created and enabled Special Information Types from the professional user interface, you can use Course Information Types from the Other Information link on the Course page.
You can add evaluation to your courses to gather feedback.
See: Evaluation for Courses and Classes
If learners have reviewed and rated classes in a course, then you can click the Reviews link to view the review details and ratings. At the course level, the Ratings icon displays the average of all ratings for all classes belonging to the course.
When you click the Reviews link, a Reviews pop-up windows appears. Select the review and the associated ratings that you want to delete and click the Delete Reviews button.
To provide additional information, you can add attachments to courses that are visible to learners and instructors. You can attach a file, or provide the URL of the document, or provide a text description, and specify whether the attachment is for learners or instructors. You can add documents, such as, information about the training facilities, course timetables, or pre-course material. Learners and instructors can view the attachments before and after an enrollment. Instructors can view both learner and instructor attachments.
To incorporate a Microsoft Forms link as an activity to a course:
Attach the Microsoft Forms link as the starting URL for a learning object. When you create a learning object, use the "Open in new window" option so that the content is launched without any problems. See Creating Learning Objects for more information.
Create an offering and a class using the learning object. Learners can then enroll and play or launch this class to complete the activity.
OLM uses the electronic records and electronic signatures (ERES) functionality of Oracle E-Records to enable organizations meet legislative compliance, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 21 Part 11, otherwise known as 21 CFR Part 11.
As an administrator, electronic records and electronic signatures help you to track changes to courses and monitor enrollment updates. You can obtain electronic signatures from learners.
When creating a course, if you select the Enable electronic signature check box, then the electronic signature feature applies to all the offerings and classes created in that course. If you create a course without selecting the Enable electronic signature check box, then you cannot enable electronic signature for the course if any one learner has enrolled into a class. For more information, see: Electronic Records and Electronic Signatures (ERES) in OLM
If the electronic signature is enabled for a course, then when you update the Description, Course name, or Course Code on the Update Course page and click Apply, OLM displays the E-signatures page.
On the E-signature tabbed region, select the signature type, which is the type of signer, for example, reviewer or author. Select Approve or Reject response type. If you select Approve, then OLM saves the course changes after the electronic signature process is completed. If you select Reject, then OLM does not save the updates to the course. Enter any comments, if applicable. Enter your user name and password to sign the document. Click the Sign icon to complete the signature process. The E-Record tabbed region displays a record of the course changes that you make.
Third in the learning object hierarchy, offerings are specific instances of courses. You can enter various kinds of data at this level, but the primary purposes of offerings is to set the delivery mode and the language of delivery of each class under it and, for online offerings, to establish the link to the online content. In other words, offerings largely determine how a course is delivered.
OLM predefines delivery modes based on two concepts.
Learners take online classes using the OLM Player; the application considers other classes to be offline.
Synchronous classes are scheduled; learners can take asynchronous classes at any time within the window of opportunity you define.
Thus, the application offers four combination delivery modes (and typical applications):
Online synchronous (web conference with live instructor over the web)
Online asynchronous (online self-study or recorded web conference)
Offline synchronous (traditional instructor-led class)
Offline asynchronous (reading a book)
Important: The online modes are available only if your enterprise has purchased the OLM Online Learning Option and enabled the Online Learning Option Licensed profile.
Each class you create takes on the delivery mode of its parent offering. Thus you can offer versions of any course in any or all of the four modes.
From the Setup tab, you can create more delivery modes, each based on one of the four options.
You can use the Resource Checklist to specify resource types or resources that are required or useful to run classes for a particular offering. You can then override any of these choices for individual classes.
If you end-date the offering, you must enter an end date for the associated resources. This end date must occur on or before the end date of the offering.
If learners have reviewed and rated classes in an offering, then you can click the Reviews link to view the review details and ratings. At the offering level, the Ratings icon displays the average of all ratings for all classes belonging to the offering.
When you click the Reviews link, a Reviews pop-up windows appears. Select the review and the associated ratings that you want to delete and click the Delete Reviews button.
Player preferences control the display and behavior of the player when a learner plays an online offering. You set the player preferences for online classes from the Offering creation and update pages. The available preferences are:
Show Toolbar displays the Player navigation toolbar.
New Window opens the Player in a separate, new window.
Next includes the Next icon in the Player toolbar. Checking this box enables the learner to navigate to the next content object.
Previous includes the Previous icon in the Player toolbar. Checking this box enables the learner to navigate to the previous content object.
Outline includes the Outline icon in the Player toolbar. Checking this box displays the outline of the offering.
Exit includes the Exit (Home) icon in the Player toolbar. When learners launch an offering from within OLM, Exit returns them to their Home page. If the Player has opened in a new window, Exit simply closes the window, which leaves the Home page or referring URL available to the learner in the previous window.
Always Show Outline: The Player displays the outline when the learner enters the player. The Hide Outline button is not visible to the learner in the player if this option is selected.
Always Show Outline Expanded: The Player always displays the outline in the expanded format, regardless of whether the learner expanded or collapsed the outline when exiting the player.
Select the Instructor Competencies link to specify the competencies required of an instructor of an offering and of the classes based upon it.
See Competencies
For each offering you can include several pieces of information that become defaults for any classes based on the offering, then override those defaults for each class. You can specify:
Price Basis: Customer, Learner, or No Charge.
Budgeted and Actual Cost.
Maximum Attendees, Minimum Attendees, Maximum Internal Attendees, and Maximum Waitlisted.
Number of days before the class start to send reminder notifications to learners.
Number of hours prior to a class, when you want to stop automatic waitlist enrollments for a class. If a value is set at the class level, then this value overrides the value set for the OTA: Automatic Waitlist Enrollments: Hours Prior To Class profile option. Additionally, OLM uses the value set at the offering level only to populate the default value for the field defined at the class level, whenever new classes are created under the offering.
As with categories and courses, you can also set (and add to) learner access at the offering level.
To provide additional information, you can add attachments to offerings that are visible to learners and instructors. You can attach a file, or provide the URL of the document, or provide a text description, and specify whether the attachment is for learners or instructors. You can add documents, such as, information about the training facilities, course timetables, or pre-course material. Learners and instructors can view the attachments before and after an enrollment. Instructors can view both learner and instructor attachments.
Fourth in the learning object hierarchy, classes are specific instances of offerings. Classes are the learning objects that learners enroll in and attend or take online. For any class, you can:
Schedule dates, times, and locations.
Enable, disable, or update learner access.
View and change existing enrollments and enrollment parameters.
Set the maximum number of learners for the class waitlist.
View and change resource bookings.
Subdivide the class into sessions.
Provide administrative details.
Restrict enrollments to specific customers.
Marking a class Restricted limits enrollments to external learners from selected customers, or activates learner access for internal learners. Otherwise, the class is open to any learner.
See Learner Access
To enable administrators to receive and take action on workflow notifications, you must designate a class owner and a sponsor. When you click Generate Hyperlink, the application generates a hyperlink to this class that you can paste into e-mail, external web pages, or announcements.
If you are an independent learning vendor using Order Management, your telesales representatives can schedule classes in OM as your customers request them.
Use the following columns to perform tasks related to a class:
Available Seats
View the number of available seats in the class.
Notify
Send notifications to learners in a class to inform them about their enrollment status. When you click the Notify icon on the Classes page, the Notification page appears.
Select the required enrollment status. OLM displays a list of learners based on the selected enrollment status. For example, if you select Placed as the enrollment status, then OLM displays a list of learners with the Placed enrollment status. You cannot select multiple enrollment statuses.
Review the mail address column to identify the recipients and to ensure that the right learners receive the notification.
Select all or specific learners to send the notification.
Enter the subject of the notification.
Enter the notification message. You can format the message, if required. The character limit of the Message box is 4000 bytes.
Click Send.
Mail Addresses text box: In addition to sending notifications, if required, you can also copy the mail IDs of learners to your mail program if you want to contact learners by mail.
Bulk Enroll
Perform bulk enrollments. When you click the Bulk Enroll icon, the Add Selected Learners page for the class appears.
Single Enroll
Click the Single Enroll icon to display the Add Single Enrollment page for the class and enroll a learner.
The Bulk Enroll and Single Enroll icons become inactive when the following conditions are true:
When the class status is Closed or Cancelled. The class status remains inactive if the Enrollment End Date has passed or the Enrollment Start Date is in the future.
When the class is full and the Maximum Waitlisted field is set to zero or the waitlist is full.
Copy
To create a class using an existing class, click the Copy icon. See Copy Classes for more information.
Schedule
To schedule future classes using an existing class, click the Schedule icon. See Schedule Classes for more information.
For each class you can specify dates, times, durations. Class dates must fall within the valid dates of its parent offering. For online classes, learners and instructors view the correct class and enrollment times for their own time zones.
You can also designate the beginning and the end of the enrollment period, enabling you to plan and resource classes without making them available to learners, and to close enrollment for a class about to begin or for a class that might be cancelled (setting the class status to Closed also prevents new enrollments). You can also enroll learners in advance or retrospectively by changing the enrollment dates.
For offline classes you can specify a location hierarchy:
Training Center
Location
Venue
Use the Create Class or Update Class pages to choose a Training Center (a general locale or organization, for example) and a Location (perhaps a building or institution belonging to the training center). Then choose a Primary Venue (such as a classroom or meeting room) from the Resource Bookings or Resource Checklist pages.
Use the Resource Bookings or Resource Checklist pages to select an instructor or other resources. The Resource Checklist enables you to view and book resources defaulted from the offering.
See Resource Booking
To send reminders to learners about the class start, enter the number of days in the Remind Before Class Start field. If a value is set at the offering level, then this value defaults to the class. You can always override the default value. If you do not set a value, then no reminders are sent. Your system administrator must schedule the Class Reminder Notification concurrent program for OLM to send notifications.
To control enrollments for a class and to define the maximum number of learners who can be placed on the class waitlist, enter a value in the Maximum Waitlisted field. You must define the maximum number of attendees before you can define the maximum number of waitlisted learners for a class. You cannot use this field if a class is in the Planned status. Learners cannot enroll in classes once the number of learners that are waitlisted reaches the value defined in this field.
Specify any of the following values:
Blank: If you leave the field blank, then OLM activates the waitlist with an unlimited number of seats.
Zero (0): If you enter zero, then the waitlist remains inactive. If the maximum waitlist is zero or the waitlist is full, then learners can view that the class is full and that they cannot join the waitlist or add themselves to waitlist.
Value greater than zero: If you enter a value, which is greater than zero, then OLM activates the waitlist with a specific number of seats.
You can update and delete learner enrollments from the Class or Enrollments and Subscriptions pages.
Once a learner has completed a class, you can record the learner's successful (or unsuccessful) attendance. If enabled, the application may automatically update the learner's competency profile.
If the status of a learner for an online class is not automatically updated, you can manually update the learner's status for the online class using the Update Player Status button in the Enrollments and Subscriptions page or the Enrollments page of the class. See:Enrollment Updates
If your enterprise uses organization security for classes and enrollments, only users who belong to the appropriate sponsoring organization can designate a class as secure. If you belong to the sponsoring organization, you can update and delete the class and enroll learners in the class later. If you are not assigned to the organization that is administering the class, you cannot update or delete the class nor enroll learners in the class.
Caution: Selecting the Secure check box for a class overrides learner access granted to any learner outside the sponsoring organization.
You can specify the number of hours prior to a class, when you want to stop automatic waitlist enrollments for a class. You can modify the default value populated by the offering at the class level using the field at the class level. If a value is set at the class level, then this value overrides the value set for the OTA: Automatic Waitlist Enrollments: Hours Prior To Class profile option.
When you create a class, you can select the Learning Path only check box to indicate that the class is part of a learning path and is not available as an individual class for learner enrollment. If a class is Learning Path only, then OLM does not display the class when learners or managers search or browse for classes available for enrollment. If they search for a class as part of a learning path, then they can view the class.
When you create a class, you can select the Certification only check box to indicate that the class is part of a learning certification and is not available as an individual class for learner enrollment. You can select or deselect the Certification only check box at any point during the lifecycle of a class and regardless of enrollments in the class. If a class is Certification only, then OLM does not display the class when learners or managers search for classes. The certification only class is visible to a learner or a manager in the Certification Details page as part of a certification after they subscribe to the certification. An administrator can enroll a learner in a class that is marked as Certification only even if a learner has not yet subscribed to a certification.
You can choose from among three price bases for a class (a fourth, Order, defaults automatically when a telesales representative creates a class in Order Management; others cannot choose this option).
Customer means that you plan to charge customers associated with the class a block price for a certain number of enrollments. If you select Customer, you must associate one or more customers with the class before entering enrollments.
Student (Learner) means that you plan to charge a price for each learner enrollment.
No Charge,of course, means that the price of the class is zero.
Any pricing information you enter here overrides any pricing information set for the parent offering.
The associated finance line must use the same currency as the price basis for the class.
If the price basis is Customer, you enter the price for each customer associated with the class in the Customers for Restricted Class window.
If the price basis is Learner, the price you specify becomes the standard class price, which appears in the Enrollment Details window. Users with a qualifying responsibility, however, can charge a different amount when they enter enrollments.
You can set a maximum on the number of employees who can enroll in a class. This number is a subset of the maximum total number of learners who can enroll in a class.
If you have installed Project Accounting (PA), you can link classes created in OLM with projects to analyze the actual cost of running a class. You track classes, resources, or resource bookings through OLM while you track and invoice the cost of preparing and delivering training through PA.
Additionally, if you need to bill expenses (such as those costs associated with delivering a restricted class) to a customer, you can itemize the expenses in Project Accounting, and invoice them through the standard Project Accounting (PA) to Accounts Receivable (AR) interface.
After creating a class, you might need to change its status or the maximum number of places available.
For example, if a class proves to be popular, you can increase the number of places available by changing the venue, or rearranging the seating at the selected venue.
Alternatively, if a class is Full, you might want to prevent any new enrollments by changing the class status to Closed, automatically cancelling any enrollments with the status Requested (that is, enrollments where the learner's interest has not been confirmed or approved). You can cancel any finance lines associated with these enrollments.
Note: Administrators cannot update the class name if learner enrollment is mandatory for the class.
When you create or update a class, you select the predefined class status in the Status field in the General region. You select the User Status field in the Administration region for information purposes only. The user status values do not control the behavior of class statuses in OLM. For more information, see: Class and Enrollment Status Setup
You can add evaluation to your classes to gather feedback.
See: Evaluation for Courses and Classes
To provide additional information, you can add attachments to classes that are visible to learners and instructors. You can attach a file, or provide the URL of the document, or provide a text description, and specify whether the attachment is for learners or instructors. You can add documents, such as, information about the training facilities, course timetables, or pre-course material. Learners and instructors can view the attachments before and after an enrollment. Instructors can view both learner and instructor attachments.
If learners have reviewed and rated a class, then you can click the Reviews link to view the review details and ratings. At the class level, the Ratings icon displays the average of all ratings for that particular class.
When you click the Reviews link, a Reviews pop-up windows appears. Select the review and the associated ratings that you want to delete and click the Delete Reviews button.
See Classes for an overview.
The class Copy feature enables you to copy the following information of an existing class:
Class details
Learner access details
Session details
Resources details
Navigate to the Copy class pages by clicking the Copy icon for a class on the Classes page.
When copying a class, decide how much of the current details that you want to reuse. After entering a new name for the class that you copy, you can accept the following current details or add new.
Class details include information such as the class status, location, start and end dates, duration, and time zone. Specify enrollment details including minimum and maximum attendees and maximum waitlisted, if required
Learner access details: To copy learner access details, the class that you copy must not be public and the class must have learner access. Also, the new class that you are creating must not be public.
Session details: To copy session details, the class that you copy must have sessions and the new class must have an end date.
Resource details: To copy resource details, the class that you copy must have resource booking. You cannot double book trainers or venues.
See Classes for an overview.
Use the Class Scheduler pages to create classes in bulk for an offering. Using an existing class, you can schedule classes on specific days of a week or a month. The status of the new scheduled classes is Normal or Planned based on the selected class. Navigate to the Class Schedule pages by clicking the Schedule icon for a class on the Classes page.
The General region contains information about the class and the offering that you selected as the source to schedule new classes. These details are read-only.
Schedule Details
In the Schedule region, define the following scheduling details for the new classes:
Select a weekly schedule or a monthly schedule.
Specify the recurring details for the weekly or the monthly option that you select.
For the weekly option, select the week and the day that you want the classes to recur. You cannot select multiple weeks or days.
For the monthly option, select when in each month you want to schedule classes. You cannot select multiple days.
In the Start Schedule field, enter the date on which to schedule new classes. Note that the first class is not scheduled to start before this date.
In the End Schedule field, select one of the following values to end the scheduling of new classes:
By (default): The Date field appears when you select By and you can enter the date by which to end the scheduling of classes.
After: The Occurrences field appears when you select After. Enter the number of occurrences after which to end the scheduling of classes.
Class Names
Use this region to specify the prefix and suffix for class names. The prefix value is mandatory. For the class suffix, select date or class ID.
Enrollment Details
Enter the maximum and minimum number of days before the class start date by which learners can enroll. The attendees and waitilisted information defaults from the source class.
You can specify learner access details only if the source class includes these details. If local access details are available, then select the learner access that you want to add for the new scheduled classes.
To reuse sessions and resources details for the new scheduled classes, the source class must contain these details. If these details are available, then select the sessions and resources that you want to apply to the new scheduled classes.
After you click Submit, OLM processes your request to create classes using the class scheduler. Note the concurrent ID and navigate to the View Requests window to monitor the concurrent process run. After the process completes successfully, the Classes page lists the new scheduled classes.
Sessions are the lowest level objects in the catalog hierarchy. A synchronous class, online or offline, can run for any period of time you choose, from hours to weeks. To help you create a detailed agenda for a class, you can break it down into shorter sessions, specifying the location and schedule of each session.
Sessions are discrete topics or time slots within a class. For example, you may run the class Setting Up and Using Learning Management over three days. The first session, on Day 1, might be Introducing Learning Management, the second session, on Day 2, might be Setting Up the Application and the third session, on Day 3, might be Scheduling Classes and Enrolling Learners. The sessions may or may not be held at the same venue.
You can divide a class into several sessions, specifying the date and time for each session. For example, if a course runs every Wednesday morning for 5 weeks, you can create a class with a duration of 5 weeks, comprising 5 sessions. You can then schedule each session from 9 am to 12 noon on consecutive Wednesdays. You must specify both start and end dates for a class to add and schedule sessions. The session start and end dates must occur within the class start and end dates.
Note: The session end date is always the same as the start date. To schedule sessions that occur over multiple days, you must schedule separate sessions, one per day.
You can book resources, such as instructors or venues, for individual sessions. See Resource Booking
Note: Before you can delete a session that has resource bookings, you must delete the bookings.
A learning path is a catalog object that contains one or more virtual groups of courses (sections), helping learners achieve learning goals that a single course cannot address.
Learning paths can come from various sources:
Learners and managers can create individual learning paths within OLM.
Appraisers and managers can create learning paths from Performance Management.
When an overall learning objective spans multiple courses, such as a curriculum of introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses, you can set up a learning path to which learners subscribe, and which then appears to the learner in a specific learning path table.
A learning path does not duplicate the courses; the learning path is simply a container for a logical grouping of existing courses, with some added attributes at the learning path level.
A learning path enables you to identify mandatory and optional courses, and to set a target completion period, to help learners and their managers manage their long-term goals. You can also specify a number of days prior to the end of the target completion period for the application to notify the learner of the upcoming target completion.
OLM uses start and end dates to control when learning paths appear to learners and managers (administrators can view all catalog objects until deletion).
Many aspects of catalog learning paths are similar to courses. You can set learner competencies for a learning path, in addition to competencies that already exist at the individual course level. See Competencies
As with courses and other catalog objects, you can establish learner access for a learning path. See Learner Access
You can add an image while creating or updating a learning path. You can upload an image either from your local machine's desktop or select an image that exists in the database. OLM resizes the image that an administrator uploads to 180 x 120 (height x width) size, irrespective of the size of the uploaded image. Learners can view the learning path image.
When you click Generate Hyperlink, the application generates a hyperlink to this learning path that you can paste into e-mail, external web pages, or announcements.
Learners and managers can create learning paths through Self Service. Such learning paths usually serve individual needs, and do not appear in the catalog. Learner-created paths receive a source type of Learner, and manager-created paths receive a source type of Manager. See Self-Service Interfaces
If you use SSHR, Performance Management, and OLM, appraisers and managers using the Suitability Matching or Appraisals modules can recommend courses for their employees to take. These courses become part of a learning path automatically created for the learner, and do not appear in the catalog. The path receives a source type of Performance Management.
The target completion period for a learning path is optional, but is useful to ensure learners successfully meet their goals, for example when related to performance reviews and career planning.
You enter the target completion period as a number of days. When a learner subscribes to the learning path, the number of days is converted to a date calculated from the subscription date.
A learning path must consist of at least one section. Each section determines how many courses (components) in the group the learner must complete. Create sections to provide a mixture of elective and mandatory courses in the same path.
You can reorder the sections, to determine the order in which they appear to learners within the learning path.
The section types available are:
All Components Mandatory means the learner must complete all courses in the section.
All Components Optional means all courses in the section are optional. The learner may elect to enroll in one or more, or in none of the courses.
One or More Components Mandatory means the learner must complete a given number of courses in the section. You specify the number of courses the learner must complete, but the learner selects which courses to take.
To ensure an identifiable completion criterion, at least one section must have a mandatory component. Therefore, when you create the first section of a learning path, the All Components Optional section type is not available. If you subsequently create additional mandatory sections, you can make the first section optional.
A learning path is marked as completed when a learner has met the completion requirements of all sections in the learning path.
Learning path components are existing courses in the catalog. You add components to each section in the learning path. You can reorder the components, to determine the order in which they appear to learners within the section.
When you add components, you may set a target completion period for individual components. If you specify a period for one component that is greater than the period set for the learning path, the application updates the target completion period for the learning path to match the longest individual component period.
When learners subscribe to a learning path, the application does not automatically enroll them in any of the component classes. Learners search for offerings and classes for each of the components they wish to take.
Similarly, when learners unsubscribe from a learning path, the application does not unenroll them from the component classes. Learners can unenroll from individual classes.
Learning paths have no effect on enrollment or learner access. Learners require access to the individual components in order to enroll in a class, whether or not the learners have access to the learning path.
If required, you can automatically enroll learners in classes when you subscribe learners to a learning path.
Adding Multiple Subscriptions to a Learning Path
On the Subscriptions page of a learning path, when you select learners and click Add Subscriptions, the Bulk Subscribe: Selected Learner page appears. Select the Enroll learners in class when subscribing to Learning Path check box to enroll learners in all the classes of a learning path. The check box is available when all sections in the learning path have the All Components Mandatory section type. This feature enables you to create learning paths to group classes for specific learning requirements and enroll required learners in the learning path using minimum transaction steps.
After you select the Enroll learners in class when subscribing to Learning Path check box, you can choose which of the classes the learners must enroll in when they subscribe to the learning path. For each of the sections in the learning path, you can view:
Offerings available for a course.
Classes available for a course.
Number of free seats in a class prior to enrollment in the learning path.
Availability of a class. You can view whether a class is available only as a part of learning path.
Start and end dates of a class.
Viewing the learner status
The Learner Status column provides administrators a quick overview of each learner's status for the learning path:
Subscribed: Indicates that the learner has subscribed to the learning path, but not enrolled in all classes belonging to the learning path.
On Plan: Indicates that the learner has subscribed to the learning path and is enrolled in all classes. None of the unfinished classes in this learning path have passed the end date.
Not on Plan: Indicates that the learner has enrolled in all classes, but has not completed at least one of the classes, which has passed its end date.
Completed: Indicates that the learner has attended or passed all classes.
Cancelled: Indicates that the learner has been unsubscribed from the learning path. This status also applies when learners themselves unenroll from the learning path.
The learner status is for information purposes and does not drive the application functionality.
The Additional Details table for each of the learners displays the enrollment method of the learner.
You can view whether a learner has:
Enrolled in the class separately and not through learning path subscription
Enrolled in the class through learning path subscription
Use the Unsubscribe and Unenroll buttons to unsubscribe learners from the learning path and unenroll learners from all classes of courses in the learning path. When you unsubscribe and unenroll learners, the application unenrolls learners only from the classes that they have enrolled through learning path subscription. If learners are mandatorily enrolled in a class, then when you unsubscribe and unenroll learners from the learning path, OLM does not unenroll learners from mandatorily enrolled classes.
When learners have subscribed to a learning path, the application sends the following notifications:
Subscription (Unsubscription) to Learning Path notifies the learner of their subscription (or unsubscription) to a learning path.
Learning Path Completion Notification to Learner notifies the learner that the learner has completed the learning path, and that the learning path will move to the learner's learning history.
Learning Path Completion Notification to Creator notifies the learner or manager who created the learning path that the learner has completed the learning path.
Note: This notification is applicable only for Learner and Manager learning paths.
In addition, if you specify a target completion period for the learning path or for individual components, the application sends the following notifications:
Learning Path Completion Target Reminder notifies the learner that the learning path is approaching its target completion date. The application sends this notification a number of days prior to the target completion date, dependent on the value you enter in the Notification before Target for the learning path.
Learning Path Component Completion Target Reminder notifies the learner that an individual component is approaching its target completion date. The application sends this notification a number of days prior to the component's target completion date, dependent on the value you enter in the Notification before Target for the component.
The application sends the preceding two notifications only if you have scheduled the following concurrent programs to run at least once every day:
Send Learning Path Completion Target Notifications
Send Learning Path Component Completion Target Notifications
See the implementation step Set Learning Path Reminder Concurrent Programs to Run Regularly, Oracle Learning Management Implementation Guide
The learning certification catalog object offers learners the opportunity to subscribe to and complete one-time and renewable certifications, including regulatory certifications such as compliance training and professional development certifications such as Oracle DBA.
Important: Oracle Learning Management provides the administrative framework for learning certifications; it is solely the responsibility of your organization to ensure that each learner meets all the success criteria you establish. These criteria may include such activities as proctored examinations and supervised laboratory work.
Like a learning path, a learning certification is a catalog object that contains one or more courses, helping learners achieve learning goals that a single course cannot address. Unlike learning paths, certifications can include renewals and enforced due dates. Certifications do not duplicate their component courses; the certification is primarily a container for a logical grouping of existing courses, with added attributes such as renewability and deadlines.
OLM uses start and end dates to control when certifications appear to learners and managers (administrators can view all catalog objects until deletion). To prevent learners from unsubscribing from a learning certification, select the Prevent Unsubscribing check box. If an administrator selects this check box, then the Unsubscribe field in the Certification Information section, Learning Certification page for learners is automatically displayed as No.
As with courses and other catalog objects, you can establish learner access for a certification. See Learner Access
You can set competencies learners achieve by completing a certification, in addition to competencies that already exist at the individual course level. See Competencies
When a learner subscribes to or unsubscribes from a certification, or when a certification is due for completion, the application sends workflow notifications. See Certification Notifications
You can add a certification image while creating or updating a certification. You can upload an image either from your local machine's desktop or select an image that exists in the database. OLM resizes the image that an administrator uploads to 180 x 120 (height x width) size, irrespective of the size of the uploaded image. Learners can view the learning certification image.
When you click Generate Hyperlink, the application generates a hyperlink to this learning certification that you can paste into e-mail, external web pages, or announcements.
Certifications consist of components, which are referenced courses.
Mandatory Components: To get certified, learners must complete all components or all courses in this mandatory component section or a class from each course/component in this section. You specify the order in which components appear to learners, though you would have to assign catalog prerequisites to enforce the order in which learners must complete the classes.
Optional Components: In this section, add the components that are optional for learners. After adding the components, click Components to Complete to select the number of optional courses that learners must complete to get certified.
Note: You cannot add a course with mandatory evaluation as a learning certification component. When you search for learning certification components, OLM does not display courses with mandatory evaluation or courses that have classes with mandatory evaluation.
When creating a certification, you can specify when a learner must complete this certification, both initially and during renewals. "Based on date" specifies a fixed due date for all learners, while "Based on number of days" enables you to set a due date relative to each learner's subscription or renewal date.
For unrenewable (one-time) certifications, the options are simple: enter the due date or the number of days until due and specify when to send the learner a reminder of the due date.
Renewable certifications first require you to select one of three options (the fourth option, Never, creates unrenewable certifications):
Learner can renew immediately after certification due date enables learners to renew their subscription anytime after the previous certification period's due date. If I complete my previous certification on September 21, and its due date is October 31, I can renew my certification beginning on October 31.
Learner can renew immediately after learner completes enables learners to renew anytime after they have completed the requirements for the previous certification period, regardless of the due date. If I complete my previous certification on September 21, and its due date is October 31, I can renew beginning on September 21.
Learner can renew for a period before certification expires enables renewal for a set number of days prior to the expiration of their current certification. If my certification expires on September 21, and you have set the number of days at 10, I can renew beginning on September 12.
You must also specify how long the certification is valid. If you selected "Based on date", you need only specify the number of days for the validity period. If, however, you selected "Based on number of days", you must decide whether the certification validity period should begin on the day the learner completes the certification or on the due date of the certification period.
You can restrict learners from taking self-study classes through certification or ensure that a learner takes instructor-led classes in between and not self-study classes to complete a certification based on the certification configuration. This feature enables you to specify how many consecutive certifications or renewals a learner can complete with self-study classes. OLM filters restricted classes whenever a learner tries to enroll in these classes through the certification. The "Synchronize Certification Subscriptions with Class Enrollments" concurrent program will also consider the restriction.
This feature is applicable to the following learning:
Instructor-led classes: Includes traditional instructor-led class or web conference with live instructor over the web.
Self-study or self-paced class: Includes online self-study or recorded web conference or documents.
There are four options you can choose to determine the number of times, a learner can take self-study classes to complete the certification or renewals.
Note: Both e-learning and self-study classes are the same. If you do not choose any of the following options, then by default, the first option will take effect.
If the "No restriction on the use of self-study classes for initial certification or renewal" option is selected, then the learner can choose instructor-led classes or self-study classes for initial certification subscription and renewals of the certification, that is, there is no restriction for the learner in taking either self-study or instructor led classes to complete the certification.
If the "Use of self-study classes allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal" option is selected, then the learner can choose either instructor-led classes or self-study classes for the initial certification. The number of consecutive self-study classes used for renewals including the initial subscription is limited to the number given in the "Max number of consecutive certifications and renewals using self-study" field.
If the "Use of self-study classes not allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal" option is selected, then the learner is restricted to take only instructor-led classes for the initial certification. The learner can choose either instructor-led classes or self-study classes for renewals, but the number of consecutive self-study classes used for renewals including the initial subscription is limited to the number given in the "Max number of consecutive certifications and renewals using self-study" field.
If the "Use of self-study classes not allowed for initial certification or renewal." option is selected, then only instructor-led classes can be used for the initial certification and subsequent renewals.
All these options along with "Max number of consecutive certifications and renewals using self-study" can be updated at any point in time. These changes will affect the future subscriptions or renewals.
The following table explains how these options work:
| Option | Number specified in the "Max number of consecutive certifications and renewals using self-study" field | Outcome for learners |
|---|---|---|
| No restriction on the use of self-study classes for initial certification or renewal | This field is not shown. | Learners can view all types of classes. |
| Use of self-study classes allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal | 0 | Learners can view instructor-led and self-study classes for the initial certification subscription, but can only see instructor-led classes for renewals. |
| Use of self-study classes allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal | 1 | Learners can see instructor-led and self-study classes for the initial certification subscription. If learners are certified by instructor-led learning, then they can see all classes for their first renewal, if learners are certified by self-study, then they will see only instructor-led classes for their first renewal. Meaning, learner can take self-study classes alternatively to complete the certification. |
| Use of self-study classes allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal | 3 | Learners can see instructor-led and self-study classes for the certification. Combining the initial certification and the renewals, learners can only do three consecutive self-study certifications or renewals in a row. The fourth time learners will see only the instructor-led classes. |
| Use of self-study classes not allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal | 0 | No self-study is allowed for learners. |
| Use of self-study classes not allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal | 1 | Learners will only see instructor-led classes for the initial certification subscription, but will see both instructor-led and self-study classes for the first renewal of the certification. Learners can take self-study classes alternatively for subsequent renewals. |
| Use of self-study classes not allowed for initial certification. Restriction on the use of self-study classes for renewal | 3 | Learners can only see instructor-led classes for the initial certification subscription. They can see both instructor-led and self-study classes for the next three renewals. If they take instructor-led for their second renewal, then they can see both instructor-led and self-study classes for their next three renewals. that is, self-study classes can be taken not more than 3 consecutive times for completing the certification. |
| Use of self-study classes not allowed for initial certification or renewal | This field is not shown. | Learners will see only see instructor-led classes for their certification and renewals. |
When granting learner access to certifications, you can subscribe learners to learning certifications automatically using the Automatic Subscription check box. See: Learner Access
In the Subscriptions page for a learning certification, you can search for learners who are automatically subscribed to a certification. In the search results table, you can view if a learner is automatically subscribed to a certification.
When you click the Details icon for a learner, the Additional Details table appears. Use the Additional Details table to view information associated with a certification such as the course name, the offering name, and the class name. You can also view the enrollment status of a learner and the enrollment method.
Use the Bulk Subscribe: Select Learners page to automatically enroll learners in classes that are a part of a certification. Note: This feature is not available when you subscribe a single learner using the Single Subscribe icon on the Add Subscriptions page or using the Add Single Subscription button on the Subscriptions page of a certification.
You can navigate to the Bulk Subscribe: Select Learners page when you search for a certification using the Catalog tab or when you subscribe learners using the Enrollments and Subscriptions page.
The following steps explain how to automatically enroll learners in classes when you search for a certification using the Catalog tab.
Click the Catalog tab.
Search for a certification.
Click the certification Details icon. The Learning Certification page appears.
Click the Subscriptions link. The Subscriptions page appears.
Click Add Subscriptions. The Bulk Subscribe: Selected Learners page appears.
Click Add Learners. The Add Selected Learners page appears.
Select the learners that you want to subscribe to the learning certification and click Add. The Bulk Subscribe: Selected Learners page appears.
To automatically enroll learners in classes when you subscribe them to a learning certification, select the Enroll learners in class when subscribing to certification check box. When you select this check box, a region appears for each course in the certification. Mandatory and optional certification courses are listed under separate headers.
Each course region presents the following information:
The name of the offering
The type of the offering
The class name
The number of free seats available in a class prior to enrollment in the certification
The type of class availability: Whether a class is available for all learners or as a certification-only class.
Class start and end dates
Select classes to enroll learners.
Select at least one class for each mandatory course. If there is only one class in a mandatory course, then that class is selected by default. If there are multiple classes, you can use the Reset button to change your selection of classes.
In the optional courses section, select the classes as appropriate.
OLM displays classes that meet the following conditions:
Synchronous classes:
Classes for which the current date falls between the enrollment start date and end date
Classes for which the current date falls between the enrollment start date and end date
Asynchronous classes:
Classes for which the current date falls between the enrollment start date and end date
Classes for which the class start time and date or the class end time and date fall during the certification period
When you select classes in which to enroll learners and then you click Apply, OLM uses the following rules for learner enrollment.
If a learner is already enrolled in one of the selected classes, then this class becomes a part of the certification for the learner.
If a learner has already attended a class that is a part of a certification, and the class attendance is valid for the certification, then OLM marks the learner's class status as Attended for this class in the certification.
If an error occurs during class enrollment of a learner due to security access issues or unmet class prerequisites, then the learner is not enrolled in that specific class, but is enrolled in other classes that are part of the certification.
To control records, availability, and workflow notifications, certification uses two types of statuses, subscription and period.
Subscription statuses apply to the entire subscription, determining whether the learner is subscribed or certified. Most status changes occur automatically; for example, the status changes from subscribed to certified when the learner has completed all the component courses. You can, however, manually change some subscription statuses from the Enrollments and Subscriptions page. If an error occurs during class enrollment of a learner due to security access issues or unmet class prerequisites, then the learner is not enrolled in that specific class, but is enrolled in other classes that are part of the certification.
Waiting for Approval--the learner has attempted to subscribe and is waiting for a required approval
Subscribed--the learner has successfully subscribed
Concluded--the learner has completed the component courses but the certification is not yet verified
Certified--the learner has completed the certification
Unsubscribed--the learner has cancelled a subscription
Expired--the certification has passed its end date and cannot be completed
Rejected--the learner's manager (or other approver) has declined the subscription attempt
Assign Competencies for Learning Certifications
OLM assigns competencies for learning certifications when learners complete certifications. To enable this feature, select the Assign Competence check box in the Update Subscription Status page. Only if the subscription status is Certified, then the page displays the check box. If you select this check box, then certification specific competencies are assigned to the learner based on the Competency Update Settings for the certification. See: Competency Automation
Period statuses apply only to renewable certifications, and work with subscription statuses to provide a clearer picture of the state of a subscription.
Active--the learner is subscribed and has renewed or can renew their subscription for the current period
Completed--the learner has successfully finished the certification for the current period
Inactive--a subscribed learner cannot currently renew or complete a renewed certification, usually because the renewal period has ended, a component course is unavailable, or the learner is not enrolled in any classes that complete the current certification
Cancelled--the learner has cancelled their subscription for the current period
Incomplete--the learner has not yet finished the certification
Expired--the renewal date has passed and certification cannot be renewed
Member statuses indicate a learner's status for a certification course:
Active--a learner has enrolled in the certification course
Cancelled--a learner has cancelled their enrollment in the certification course
Completed--a learner has completed the certification course
Planned--a learner has requested enrollment in the certification course
Pending Signature--a learner has completed the course but has not yet provided the electronic signature
Note: When a learner requests renewal of a learning certification, and if the certification period is active, the certification status on the learner's home page changes to Renewing. The Renewing status is not available to the learning administrator when updating the certification enrollment status or certification enrollment period status.
If a course, which is part of a certification, is eSignature enabled, then this course is not considered attended until the learner provides the electronic signature. If a learner completes a course before the certification expiry date, but provides the electronic signature after the certification expiry then the learner has to retake the course and provide the electronic signature again. OLM uses the electronic signature date for learning certification and to assign competencies.
The Unsubscribe and Unenroll button is available in the following pages:
Enrollments and Subscriptions
Subscriptions
Click Unsubscribe and Unenroll to unsubscribe learners from a learning certification and to simultaneously unenroll those learners from all classes that belong to courses in the certification. You can perform this action if a learner's class enrollment status is Requested, Placed, or Waitlisted. When you unsubscribe and unenroll learners, OLM unenrolls learners only from those classes in which they were enrolled through the learning certification subscription. If learners are mandatorily enrolled in a class that is a part of a certification, then when you unsubscribe and unenroll learners from the learning certification OLM does not unenroll them from mandatorily enrolled class.
Note: If one of the classes in the learning certification is an online class, and a learner has attempted the class, but not completed it (that is, the enrollment status is Placed), then the learner is unenrolled from the class when the learner is unsubscribed from the certification.
The Delete button is available in the following pages:
Enrollments and Subscriptions
Subscriptions
Use this button to delete one or more subscriptions to a certification. You can delete certification subscriptions only if none of the active certification members have been completed by the learner. When subscriptions are deleted, learners do not receive any notifications.
You can report on certifications.
Forums and chats are online communication tools that bring learners and instructors together in a learning environment. A forum is a message board that learners and instructors can use to post general learning topics for discussion. Chats enable quick and easy online communication between learners and instructors. You can create forums and chats within a category or for a specific class.
Category forums and chats encourage participation in general subject areas beyond learners enrolled in a specific class. They are accessible to all learners who meet the learner access conditions defined for the forum or chat. Learners can:
Search for or drill down a category to locate and subscribe to category forums and chats
View subscribed category forums and chats from their home page.
Post public topics and messages to subscribed category forums. They can view category forum messages without subscribing but cannot post messages or enable forum notifications without subscription.
Subscribe to category chats and exchange online messages with other learners in the chat.
You can book a moderator to monitor messages exchanged in category forums and chats. Only a moderator is allowed to delete messages in a forum.
Learners can use class chats to exchange queries on the class subject area with instructors and other learners enrolled in the class. Class forums support both public and private messages. Learners and moderators can post private messages that are only visible to selected recipients. Moderators can post private messages to learners or other moderators. Learners can post private messages to moderators only.
Learners can access the class forums and chats from the learner interface, only after they have enrolled in the class. Instructors can access the forums and chats associated with their class by logging in to the instructor self-service. An instructor usually serves as a moderator for class forums and chats, however you can book a separate moderator (using resource type Trainer or Others) if required. Users booked as moderators can log in to the instructor interface to moderate the forums and chats. For more information on the instructor interface see Instructor Interface
You can report on forums and chats.
See:Producing the OLM Chat Report
See:Producing the OLM Forum Report
You use Web conferences to deliver online synchronous classes, and to record these classes for on demand playback.. A Web conference is a live class delivered by an instructor to learners over the Web. OLM integrates with Oracle Web Conferencing (OWC) to deliver online synchronous classes over the Web.
To host online synchronous classes, you must set up a conference server that integrates your application with the OWC server. For more information on setting up a conference server see Conference Servers
You can create a Web conference for an online synchronous class after you have set up a conference server in the application. This Web Conference link is visible on the Class page only if you have at least one conference server set up in the application. OWC uses the conference information entered in OLM to create the web conference on the OWC server. The OWC server returns the meeting ID, attendee URL, and the host URL after creating the conference. Once you have created a web conference, you cannot change the conference server, meeting ID and the time zone for the conference. You can update other information until the web conference begins.
You can also host online asynchronous classes as Web conferences. OWC enables you to record a Web conference on the OWC server as it is being played. You can enter recorded Web conference information such as the meeting ID and the conference server name, for a learning object. To deliver an online asynchronous class as a recorded web conference, you associate the class with the learning object that has the recorded Web conference information specified.
Learner Access is OLM's term for determining who can view and enroll in any given class. You can grant learner access at any level of the learning object hierarchy, each object inheriting (and optionally adding to) the learner access designated for its parent object.
Learner access to your catalog begins at zero: no learner can view or enroll in any catalog object. You must define your own access model.
Note: You cannot modify inherited access directly. You must modify access from the source catalog object.
Inheritance means that you can establish varying degrees of control over access, from defining individual learners' access to each class, to opening up the catalog to everyone with a login.
You'll probably wish to create an access model somewhere in between the two extremes, as one would require huge amounts of maintenance and the other would result in inappropriate enrollments.
Thus it may not be a good idea to set root category learner access to include the entire business group. If your catalog model uses categories to target courses to specific organizations, you can add those organizations to the category's access profile. Then everyone in those organizations could view and enroll in all the classes within that category.
Similarly, by granting learner access at the offering level, you give learners their choice of delivery modes to fulfill their learning requirements.
A class can be either public (learners from any customer or internal organization can enroll) or restricted. Marking a class unrestricted disables all learner access rules attached to it or inherited from a parent object.
A restricted class is either:
An internal class in which you can enroll learners according to learner access, or
Associated with one or more customers so that only those customers can enroll learners in the class
You restrict a class by checking the Restricted check box on the Create or Update Class pages.
If you restrict classes to selected customers, use the Customers for Restricted Class window to select the valid customers. Once you have done so, only that customer's representatives can enroll in the class.
You can add access by assignment by specifying any combination of organization, job, and position. You can thus grant access to all members of an organization, or to all senior programmers in the business group. The Include child organizations box appears when you specify an organization, which enables you to select an organization hierarchy and grant access to all members of the selected hierarchy in addition to members of the selected organization.
Adding access by learner, of course, grants access to selected individuals.
To grant access to a specific group of learners, add access by learner group. Learning administrators can create eligibility profiles and attach eligibility profiles to learner groups. OLM applies the eligibility profile criteria to determine learner access to catalog objects. For more information, see: Learner Groups.
The Self-enrollment option enables the selected learners to bypass the approvals process when enrolling in classes governed by these access rules. Note that enabling self-enrollment at the category, course, or offering level activates self-enrollment for all associated classes.
Caution: Selecting the Secure check box for a class overrides learner access granted to any learner outside the sponsoring organization.
When you define learner access for a restricted class, you can make the learner enrollment mandatory, which means OLM will automatically enroll the learner and that the learner cannot unenroll. You can use this feature to ensure that workers enroll in mandatory trainings. You can make a restricted class with no maximum internal learners or maximum attendees as mandatory to a specific learner, learner group, organization, job, position or a combination of components. OLM notifies learners and class owners about mandatory enrollments.
Note: The mandatory enrollment feature applies to internal learners only. You cannot select both Self Enrollment and Mandatory Enrollment. If you make learner enrollment mandatory, then you select prerequisites that learners must complete for this class. Managers, instructors, or administrators can unenroll mandatory enrollments.
To process mandatory enrollments, system administrator must schedule the Process Mandatory Enrollments program to automatically run at specified intervals. This program verifies mandatory enrollments and enrolls new learners who meet the enrollment criteria. If required, the system administrator can run the program manually. For example, a new class is created with mandatory enrollments and for the enrollments to take effect, the administrator must run the program manually.
See: Running the Process Mandatory Enrollments Program
Depending on the volume of data to be processed, you can schedule to run the multithread version of the program. For example, if there is a large volume of data to be processed for mandatory enrollments, then the multithread version of the program can be scheduled to run.
You can subscribe learners to learning certifications automatically using the Automatic Subscription check box. When you select the Automatic Subscription box, and the Process Automatic Certification Subscription is run, all learners who are part of the group defined by that learner access will be subscribed to the certification. Note that the automatic subscription for certifications feature applies only to certifications based on number of days. OLM does not display the Automatic Subscription check box for certifications that are date based. This feature does not work for certifications that are based on dates.
You cannot select both Self Enrollment and Automatic Subscription check boxes.
To process automatic subscription to learning certifications, your system administrator must schedule the Process Automatic Certification Subscription program to automatically run at specific intervals. This program checks all automatic subscriptions to see if new learners should be automatically subscribed.
See: Running the Process Automatic Certification Subscription Program
OLM applies the following rules when subscribing learners to certifications automatically:
Learners cannot unsubscribe from automatic subscription. On the Learner home page, the Unsubscribe icon in the Unsubscribe column will be inactive. Only the administrator and the learner's manager can unsubscribe an automatically subscribed learner.
Learners cannot be automatically unsubscribed from an automatic subscription if they, at a later time, have changes to their organization, position, job or learner group, and become ineligible for the subscription.
If a learner is automatically subscribed to a certification and then unsubscribed by an administrator or manager, then the learner will never again be automatically subscribed to that certification in future.
If a learner has subscribed to a certification with standard approval, the learner will not be automatically enrolled until the approval has been approved or rejected.
OLM does not automatically revert an automatic subscription. Administrator must unsubscribe the learner manually.
When an administrator selects the Automatic Subscription check box, learners with Unsubscribed and Expired certification statuses will be subscribed again. For learners with Awaiting Approval status, OLM waits for the approver to approve or reject the subscription to the certification. Based on the approval, learner will be automatically subscribed when the concurrent program runs.
Automatic subscription to certifications only works for internal learners and not for external learners.
You can deliver course competencies at a specific proficiency level through classes your enterprise (or an outside supplier) provides. You can then update a learner's personal competency profile after they have successfully gained the competency. You can also set competency prerequisites, competencies learners must or should achieve before they can enroll in a class under a specified course.
For further information regarding the Oracle HRMS competency model used by OLM, see Competencies, Oracle HRMS Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide.
You can also require the instructor of each course to exhibit competencies at specified proficiency levels.
To find instructors qualified to teach a course, see Finding Specific Locales and Instructors.
If enabled, you can update competencies automatically, depending on the default workflow rule chosen:
Notification, Automatic Update after Approval
Notification, Automatic Update without Approval (automatic update occurs without approval)
No Notification, No Auto Update
Notification, Manual Update (learner or manager notified that they must manually update profile)
Even if the default rule is one of the first two, automatic updates will not occur unless one of the following is true:
For offline classes, an administrator or instructor must select the Successfully Attended box under Attendance on the Update Enrollment page.
For online classes, the learner must meet the criterion--a test mastery score, for example--established for the successful completion of the class.
You can also set automation rules at the catalog object level (course, offering, learning path, and learning certification), overriding the default automation rule or the rule set for the offering's parent course.
You can evaluate self-paced and classroom based courses online to gather feedback from learners. For example, you can collect feedback on the content of a course and about the instructor, and venue of a class.
The following sections describe how to use the Evaluation functionality in OLM.
To evaluate courses and classes, learning administrators must first create an evaluation in the Learning Object folder under the Content tab. To create an evaluation, select Evaluation as the Assessment Type on the Create Test page. Select Not Scored as the scoring option for the evaluation. You cannot use tests or surveys for a course or class evaluation.
See: Test Creation
After you create an evaluation, use the Evaluation link on the Course and Class page to add the evaluation for the objects.
Note: You cannot add an evaluation to a course or class if enrollments already exist for the course or class.
Course Evaluation
At the course level, you can add an evaluation not only for a course, but also a default evaluation for the class level in that course. This default class level evaluation appears automatically in the Class Evaluation field when you create a class within the course. You can also define separate evaluations for courses and classes. You cannot select the same evaluation for a course and a class within that course.
Class Evaluation
If a default class level evaluation is defined at the course level, then the administrator can update the default value by selecting a different evaluation or enter a new one if a default evaluation was not initially selected.
Mandatory Evaluation
At the course and class levels, you can select the Mandatory Evaluation check box to ensure that learners complete the evaluation for the learning objects. If you define either a course evaluation or class evaluation as mandatory, then the entire evaluation becomes mandatory.
If a course or a class in a course is already part of learning certification, then the application disables the Mandatory Evaluation check box. If you select this option for a course, then you cannot add this course to the learning certification object later.
Note: You cannot create an evaluation for existing and end-dated courses and classes. Learners must have access to OLM to complete an evaluation. Therefore, administrators must review whether all learners have online access before making an evaluation mandatory.
As an administrator, you cannot update or delete an evaluation, if the enrollment status of any of the learners in the course or class within the course is set to a status other than Attended or Cancelled.
Use the Evaluation link on the Course and Class pages to view evaluation results. You can also view the results of different evaluation sections. The Evaluation Results page displays details only for non-text questions: True or False, Multiple Choice (Single Response or Multiple Response). For each question, OLM displays the percentage of learners that responded to the question.
Note: You can view answers for the Free Text, Fill-in-the-blank-text, and Fill-in-the-blank- numeric question types on the OLM Evaluation Report.
Course level
At the course level, you view results for the course level sections as an average of evaluations completed for classes in that course.
Class level
When you view the results for the class evaluation sections at the class level, OLM displays results for the class and the average of responses of all classes in the course.
Learning administrators and instructors can view the status of course and class evaluation for learners. The Enrollment and Subscriptions page displays the Evaluation Status column that helps administrators to track the evaluation status of learners.
OLM displays icons to indicate the following evaluation statuses:
Mandatory evaluation is associated with the class, but is not yet enabled
Voluntary evaluation is associated with the class, but is not yet enabled
Mandatory evaluation is associated with the class, but is pending learner completion
Voluntary evaluation is associated with the class, but is pending learner completion
Learner has completed mandatory evaluation
Learner has completed voluntary evaluation
Instructors can view the evaluation status of learners for a specific class.
Learners can complete their evaluation after they complete the class. If the class contains an evaluation, OLM displays a play icon for the evaluation. When the learner completes the class, the play icon becomes active. When the learner completes the evaluation, OLM substitutes the icon with the Done text.
At the learner level, an evaluation works as follows:
Self-paced class with mandatory evaluation
The evaluation becomes active when the learner completes the class. OLM sets the learner's enrollment status to Pending Evaluation and automatically changes the enrollment status to Attended when the evaluation is completed and submitted.
Self-paced class with voluntary evaluation
The evaluation becomes active when the learner completes the class. OLM sets the enrollment status to Attended whether or not the learner completes the evaluation.
Scheduled class with mandatory evaluation
The evaluation becomes active when the instructor or the administrator sets the enrollment status to Pending Evaluation. When the learner completes the evaluation, OLM changes the learner's enrollment status to Attended.
Scheduled classes with voluntary evaluation
The evaluation becomes active when the instructor or the administrator sets the learner's enrollment status to Attended.
For self-paced and scheduled classes with a mandatory evaluation, OLM updates the competencies after learners complete the evaluation.
For self-paced classes with a voluntary evaluation, OLM updates the competencies after learners complete the classes.
For scheduled classes with a voluntary evaluation, OLM updates the competencies after learners complete the classes.
Learners receive notifications about completing mandatory evaluations for online classes when instructors or administrators change the status of scheduled classes to Pending Evaluation.
You can report on course evaluation.
See: OLM Course Evaluation Report
The OLM Certification Report enables administrators to report on the subscription status of certifications. Use the report to investigate which of the learner certifications are nearing the expiry date or whether learners hold valid certifications.
Run the OLM Certification report from the Submit Request window.
To run the OLM Certification Report
In the Name field, select OLM Certification Report.
Click in the Parameters field to select the parameters for the report. The Parameters window includes the following optional fields.
To generate a report on all the certifications, leave the parameters blank.
Select the certification for which you want the report.
Select the subscription status for which you want the report.
Select the learner for whom you want the report
Specify the start and end dates of the subscription status.
Specify the expiry period if you select either the Subscribed or the Certified subscription status. You can view the expiry date of the certification on the report.
Submit the report.
The predefined report columns list learner name, certification name, subscription status, date, and expiry date.
The OLM Chat Report displays details of the content posted on chats and users who post the content. You can gather information such as, participants of a specific chat and use the information to monitor chats.
Run the OLM Chat Report from the Submit Request window.
To run the OLM Chat Report
In the Name field, select OLM Chat Report.
Click in the Parameters field to select the parameters for the report. The Parameters window includes the following optional fields.
To generate a report on all the active chats, leave the parameters blank.
Select the chat for which you want the report.
Specify the time period to view chat details.
Specify whether you want to view the report by content or person type. The report output depends on this parameter. If you select the Content value, the report lists chat name, posted date, and chat content columns. If you select the Person value, then the report lists chat name, person type, and full name columns. The person type column shows the chat participants, such as, instructors.
Submit the report.
The OLM Forum Report enables administrators to understand the forum activities and participation, for example, to know how much activity happened in the Safety Forum in the last 2 weeks or the questions in a forum. The report displays details such as the forum name, authors of the forum topics, and the date of the forum activity. The report displays both private and public messages. You can generate the report for a specific forum or for all forums in use.
Run the OLM Forum report from the Submit Request window.
To run the OLM Forum Report
In the Name field, select OLM Forum report.
Click the Parameters field to open the Parameters window. The Parameters window includes the following optional fields.
Select the forum name. Leave this field blank to generate information for all forums.
Select an author who participated in the forum that you selected in Step 1. Leave this field blank to generate information for all authors across forums.
Select a message in the forum that you selected in Step 1. Leave this field blank to generate information for all messages across forums.
Specify the period for which you want to see the information.
Submit the report.
The predefined report includes the author, message, original message, topic name, forum name, description, and date columns.
The OLM Course Evaluation Report enables administrators to view feedback on a specific class and the entire feedback for a course. You can generate the report for a specific course or for all the courses. Use this report to improve your training courses.
Run the OLM Course Evaluation report from the Submit Request window.
To run the OLM Course Evaluation report
In the Name field, select OLM Course Evaluation Report.
Click the Parameters field to open the Parameters window. The Parameters window includes the following optional fields. You can generate the report for a specific course or for all courses.
Select the class name for which you want to generate the report. Leave this field blank to report on all classes.
Select the course name for which you want to generate the report. Leave this field blank to report on all courses.
Specify the answer type to view the feedback evaluation. The Text answers include: Free text, Fill-in the blank text, fill-in the blank numeric questions. The Non-text answers include: True/False, Multiple Choice (Single response and multiple response).
Note: The Answer Type that you select defines the predefined report layout. The report for the Text answer type lists the Course Name, Class Name, Date, Section Name, Question Text, and Answer columns. The report for the Non Text answer type lists the Course Name, Class Name, Date, Section Name, Question Text, Choice Text, and Number of answers columns.
Specify the period in which learners have completed the evaluations.
Submit the report.
The OLM Learning Path report enables administrators to report on the status of learners in one specific learning path or on the status of all learning paths for one specific learner.
Run the OLM Learning Path report from the Submit Request window.
To run the OLM Learning Path Report
In the Name field, select OLM Learning Path Report.
Click in the Parameters field to select the parameters for the report. The Parameters window includes the following optional fields.
The learning path name or the learner name is mandatory.
Select the learning path for which you want the report.
Select the learner for whom you want the report.
Select the learning path status for which you want the report.
Submit the report.
If you choose to report using the learner path name, then the predefined report includes the learner name and learner status columns.
If you choose to report using the learner name, then the predefined report includes the learning path name, learner status, class name, and class enrollment status columns.
Schedule the Process Automatic Certification Subscription concurrent program to run automatically at specified intervals. This program checks all automatic subscriptions to see if new learners must be automatically subscribed. For information on automatic subscription, see: Learner Access
Run the Process Automatic Certification Subscription Program from the Submit Request window.
To run the Process Automatic Certification Subscription program
In the Name field, select Process Automatic Certification Subscription.
Click in the Parameters field to select the parameters for the program. The Parameters window includes the following optional fields.
Chunk Size and Thread Count: OLM provides these multithread parameters to enhance performance when large volume of data is processed. Specify the chunk size and thread count that OLM must consider when running the program.
Chunk Size: Chunk of person IDs that the request must process.
Threads: Define parallel runs for the request.
When you specify these two parameters, OLM processes the request using multiple threads. Based on the learner access definition, OLM selects the person list and then chunks are determined based on the chunk size parameter.
Select the certification for which you want the request to process automatic subscription. If the parameter is left blank, the request runs for all certifications to verify automatic subscription.
Submit the request.
Note: When the Process Automatic Certification Subscription request runs, the Purge Mandatory Enrollment Multi Threading Records concurrent program will run in the background.
When the concurrent program is run, it will check to see if new learners have joined the group defined by the learner access. These new learners will then be subscribed to the certification.
For learners who will become eligible at a later time, for example, if there a change in the organization, position, job, or member of a new learner group, then their subscription will happen as soon as the concurrent program has run the first time after the change has taken place.