Can you make a course valid for a time period?

[stevepeo]

Hi all

I am just wondering if you can make a course valid for a fixed period before the learner MUST retake it - eg; a health and safety update which all employees MUSt take every 365 days.

Cheers

Ste

[andreas]

This feature would require something in the user management, not the course management, as the 365 days (or whatever) would potentially be different for every user. Here is a suggestion of how to implement it (in theory) - we have a similar issue:

Add a couple of fields and a tab in CB - i.e.
TAB: continuing education,
FIELDS: last_course_taken (Text), valid_until (date)

Now, once an elearning course is completed, a little script (Den???!!!!) would write the name of the course and the date of completion + 365 to the CB user file.

Now it would also be possible to write regular reminders to all users who come close to the valid_until date....

Good luck.... And yes, Den, I think a plugin that transfers course completion data into CB would be extremely helpful!

[stevepeo]

I don't use community builder, nor ahve any need for it on the site thanks.

Perhaps I wasn't too clear either - Effectively can I reset a course back manually even at the end of the period. As I see it currently the system is naturally intended to 'certify' a learner once they have passed a course and that's it for life whereas I would like to reset and allow them to retake the course AND subsequent quiz at a time period I specify.

[andreas]

Except if all users take the course at the same time, it still is a user issue...

Of course, you can (re)set dates for a course manually and request your users to retake it.

Just log in as a teacher in the front end, click on edit course settings and change the beginning and end date of the course.

Next: you need to inform your users that they have to retake the course. Now the mailbox in the system is not using normal email, but just an internal mail. So people who are not entering the course will not find their notifications. You will need a separate email list to inform all your users that the course needs to be retaken. Shouldn't be too difficult though. You might install a newsletter for that purpose and add every employee who is supposed to take a specific course. Just send out the newsletter - e.g. once a year before your course starts.

Hope this helps. ;-)

[stevepeo]

That's great thanks and will give me a workaround (the site already has a newsletter sender installed which I use for such purposes) and fortunately the staff numbers involved for this purpose won't be too many.

Perhaps this is someting which needs to be added to a future version... I also have experience with an $80 Joomla LMS system (and its Free counterpart) both of which allow you to set an option of a course running out xx days from when each individual learner takes it (naturally it can last forever too).

This allows the learner say to join the business and take a course immediately, having to follow up on an exact basis (eg 90, 180, 365 days in fact you can say any figure you care). This also spreads server workload and downtime in the workplace on a particular day/week/month just as the course becomes available again.

Steve