There are four options for sessions in Academy:

• Virtual Session – an online session for your entire cohort.
• In-Person Session - a face-to-face session for your entire cohort.
• Hybrid Session - a session that has both virtual and in-person joining opportunities for your entire cohort.
• Group Sessions – will display a different session date and time for each group in your program. 

This article will focus on whole Group Sessions, read the article on whole cohort Sessions here.

Group Sessions

Group sessions enable each group to have a different session time, ensuring that each group can only view the details for their specific session. This setup is useful in courses with varying learner needs and/or schedules, large participant numbers, or content and activities tailored to different audiences.

Select Group Session in the Session Type, then select the appropriate Group Type. You can then choose whether all the groups will meet at the same time or at different times.
 

If groups are meeting at the same time, you will then be prompted to enter the date, time and duration for the groups' sessions. This will automatically schedule this time and date for all groups.

If groups are meeting at different times, the sessions will be set as ‘unscheduled’ and will not yet appear in the learners' calendars. To schedule each session, add a date and time to the relevant group on the Groups tab (see below). 
 

You will then be taken to the Details screen, where you can populate completion, commitment and availability.

Click the ‘Groups’ tab. Here, you will see all of your groups with the selected session date and time. To add each group's individual session details and schedule their sessions, click the three dots next to the group and select Schedule Group Session.

The Edit Group Session window will now appear. You can select your Group Session Type; Hybrid, Virtual or In-Person.

If the session is face-to-face or hybrid, you may add the location from the address book. If you selected All Groups will meet at the same time, the date, time and duration are auto-populated with the details you entered when you created the sessions. If this time changes, or you selected for the groups to meet at different times, you can add and edit the date, time and duration of the session. 

Add session details, facilitators and coordinators if applicable. If it is a virtual or hybrid session, and you don't have Zoom integration, you can add your meeting link here. If you do have Zoom integration, please follow the steps in our ‘Create Zoom Sessions and Track Attendance’ document. 

Once you have populated all of your necessary details, click Schedule to publish this Group Session. 

In the Group Session Menu, all of your Scheduled groups will say Scheduled, and any you have not yet scheduled will say Unscheduled. Only Scheduled sessions will appear to learners. Scheduled sessions will also populate their columns.
 

You may also like to add upcoming session reminders in the Reminders tab. Reminders will be sent as an email. You can select the number of hours or days before the session that learners will receive the reminder. Then, begin to edit the email template as required.

If you do not wish to use the standard template for the program, you can opt for a customised email. 

Email variables are used to insert information that is unique to either a user or a program. This information can be used to populate the email template.

The variables available for each email can be found at the bottom of each template. Ensure that you copy the variable exactly when inserting it into the email. 

Group Sessions will appear in the Program Schedule located in the Calendar tab, but they will only be visible to the learners assigned to that specific group. Sessions can be added to various calendars (Apple, Google, Outlook, Yahoo or an .ics file) for your reference.