The Sessions activity enables organizations to schedule, manage, and track events directly within their LMS courses. It supports in-person, virtual, and blended training formats, making it easier to coordinate live learning experiences alongside self-paced content.
Sessions provides a structured framework for organizing scheduled training events, managing learner registrations, tracking attendance, and sending automated notifications. This activity is designed to support organizations that deliver synchronous learning, where training occurs at a specific time and location.
Key Benefits
Centralized training management
Sessions allows administrators and instructors to manage all scheduled training events from within a course, ensuring that learners can easily view and register for available sessions.
Flexible delivery formats
Sessions supports multiple delivery methods, including:
- In-person classroom training
- Virtual webinars
- Hybrid training events
- Multi-day workshops
- Coaching or mentoring sessions
Automated communications
Learners receive automated messages when they register for sessions, including confirmation emails and calendar invitations. Notifications can also be sent for cancellations or updates.
Attendance and completion tracking
Instructors can record attendance for each session and configure completion requirements based on participation.
How Sessions Works
The Sessions activity organizes training using three core components:
- Activity
A Sessions activity is added to a course and represents a training program or event.
- Tracks
Tracks allow instructors to group sessions into different delivery streams or learning pathways.
Tracks can represent:
- Training locations
- Learning levels
- Delivery formats (virtual vs in-person)
- Different cohorts of learners
- Sessions
Sessions represent the specific scheduled events learners can attend.
Each track can include a single or multiple sessions, such as recurring classes or alternative training dates.
Learners can register for available sessions depending on the activity configuration.
Enabling The Sessions Activity
The Sessions activity can be enabled by a site administrator from the admin panel.
To enable:
- Navigate to:
Site administration › Plugins › Activity modules › Manage activities
(or access directly via: https://your-site-url/admin/modules.php) - Locate Sessions in the list of activities.
- Click the Enable (eye) icon to activate the activity.
Once enabled, the Sessions activity will be available for instructors to add within courses.
Note: If the Sessions activity is not visible, please contact your platform administrator or support team for assistance.
Adding A Session's Activity To A Course
To add a Sessions activity:
- Navigate to the course.
- Enable Edit mode.
- Select Add an activity or resource.
- Choose Sessions from the activity list.
- Enter the activity name and description.
- Save the activity and configure tracks and sessions.
Once created, instructors can define tracks, schedule sessions, and manage learner registrations.
Managing Sessions
After creating the activity, instructors can configure and manage several aspects of training delivery.
How to create Tracks
Tracks allow sessions to be organized into structured learning pathways.
Each track can include:
- Track name and description
- Maximum number of attendees
- Instructor assignment
Tracks are useful for separating training by format, location, or cohort.
Scheduling Sessions in Tracks
Within each Track, instructors can schedule one or more sessions by defining:
- Start and end date
- Session instructions or notes
- Instructor or facilitator
- Capacity limits
Sessions can be updated, cancelled, or rescheduled as needed.
Learner Registration
Learners can register for sessions based on the configuration set by the instructor.
Registration options may include:
- Self-registration by learners
- Manual booking by instructors
- Cohort Sync or group bookings
- Waitlists when sessions reach capacity
Notifications
Sessions supports automated notifications to keep learners informed.
Examples include:
- Booking confirmation emails
- Calendar invitations
- Cancellation notifications
- Session updates or reminders
Administrators can also customize the content of these messages.
Attendance Tracking
Instructors can record attendance for each scheduled session.
Attendance data can be used to:
- Track participation
- Support certification or compliance requirements
- Contribute to the course completion criteria
Completion rules can be configured to require attendance at specific sessions or a minimum number of sessions within a track.
Note: Instructors can record attendance in bulk to efficiently manage multiple learners in a session.
Messaging Participants
Instructors can communicate directly with learners registered for a session or track.
Messages can be sent to groups of participants based on their status, such as:
- All registered learners
- Confirmed attendees
- Learners who cancelled
- Learners who attended or partially attended
This allows instructors to send reminders, updates, or follow-up communications efficiently.
Reporting
The Sessions activity integrates with the Open Reports Engine, enabling administrators to build custom reports to monitor training delivery, participation, and attendance.
The following report sources are available for Sessions:
- Session activities: Provides information about the Session’s activity instances configured within courses.
- Session attendance: Tracks attendance records for users who participated in scheduled sessions.
- Session attendees: Displays users who have registered for or been booked into sessions.
- Session tracks: Provides details about tracks created within a Session’s activity, including capacity and configuration.
- Session wait-lists: Reports on users who are currently waiting for an available spot in a session.
- Sessions: Provides details about individual session events, including scheduling and status information.
Administrators can combine these sources with available fields to generate detailed reports, such as:
- Session start and end times
- Session status
- Track name and details
- Maximum attendees and current attendees
- Wait-list counts
- Session notes
- Course name
- Session configuration settings
These reporting capabilities allow organizations to track session scheduling, learner participation, and attendance outcomes, supporting operational oversight and compliance reporting.
Calendar Integration
Sessions can be integrated with external calendar tools such as Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook.
Learners receive calendar invites upon registration, allowing them to easily track upcoming sessions alongside their existing schedules.
Timezone Support
Session timings are displayed based on the user’s configured timezone.
Users can set their timezone in their profile settings to ensure session schedules are accurately reflected according to their location.
eCommerce Enablement
Sessions can be monetized by leveraging the availability plugin, enabling organizations to offer paid training or restrict access based on defined conditions.
Migrating From The Face-to-Face Activity
Organizations currently using the Face-to-Face activity can transition to Sessions using a built-in migration tool.
The migration tool allows instructors to convert existing Face-to-Face activities into Session activities while preserving training data.
During migration:
- Existing sessions are converted into tracks and sessions.
- Attendee information is imported.
- The original Face-to-Face activity can be hidden or retained.
This allows organizations to adopt Sessions gradually without disrupting existing training programs.
Current Limitations
Grading Support:
Unlike Face-to-Face, grading for sessions is not currently supported.Related User Approval:
Approval workflows (e.g., manager approvals) are not yet available.
Example Use Cases
Corporate compliance training
Organizations can schedule mandatory training sessions where employees select a suitable time slot. Attendance is tracked and reported to support compliance and audit requirements.
Higher Education Tutorials and Labs
Institutions can offer multiple tutorial or lab sessions for a course, allowing students to choose a preferred time while instructors manage capacity and monitor attendance.
Multi-Location or Multi-Format Training
Training programs can be delivered across different locations or formats (e.g., in-person and virtual) by organising sessions into tracks, enabling learners to select the option that best suits their needs.
Certification and Skills-Based Programs
Programs that require attendance as part of completion can use Sessions to track participation and ensure learners meet the necessary requirements for certification or progression.
Workshops and Instructor-Led Events
Organizations can manage workshops or events with limited capacity, allowing learners to register in advance, receive automated notifications, and have their attendance recorded for reporting purposes.