An e-Course in Smart Arena is a fully online learning experience designed to deliver training, education, or skill development. It allows learners to access course materials, complete assessments, and engage with content remotely at their own pace. Ideal for modern, flexible learning. To create a new course, go to the Course management tab under Course management in the navigation menu. Click the Create new course button and select e-Course. See e-Course, Create a new course.
In the first tab, you need to enter general information. This is the first step of creating a new e-course.
Here are the steps and fields to complete:
1. Title
Enter the course title in the Title field, as this is a required field. This title will represent the course and be visible to users.
2. Mapping Code
This is the Course Identification Code linked to the integrated system. It represents the unique ID of the course or event connected to Smart Arena via the API. If your course is connected through the API programming interface, this code will populate automatically.
3. Description
Use the Description box to provide detailed information about the course. You can format the text, add images, tables, or hyperlinks, and apply styles. This description will help users understand what the course is about.
4. Content Image
You can upload an image that will visually represent the course in the catalog. Drag and drop the image into the Content Image area or click to upload one.
Edit the image position with the blue pencil button on the top right of the image, or delete it with the red trash can button.
Editing the image
The buttons, from left to right, are Zoom In (enlarges the view), Full Screen (expands content to full screen), Zoom Out (reduces the view size), Cancel (exits or cancels the current action), and Confirm (saves or confirms the action). Use them to reposition the image.
5. Category
From the Category dropdown menu, select the appropriate category for the course.
Set up Categories
Categories can be set up by navigating to the Content Categories section under Content Management. To create a new category, click the Create button, enter the desired category name, and save it. Existing categories can be expanded or collapsed for detailed management (including mapping codes).
6. Course Duration
Start Date: Select the start date for the course. This is a required field, marked with an asterisk.
End Date: Set the end date for the course. This is also a required field.
Start Time and End Time: Define the specific times when the course will be accessible on the start and end dates.
Is Indefinite Toggle: this option if the course should have no end date, allows users unlimited access. When enabled, the course duration will be open-ended.
These course settings provide flexibility for different training needs. Setting a Start Date ensures courses are launched on schedule, while the End Date enforces completion deadlines for time-sensitive training. The Start Time and End Time offer precise daily accessibility, ideal for live or limited-hour courses. The Indefinite Toggle enables open-ended access, perfect for evergreen content like onboarding or reference materials.
7. Access Days from Enrollment
If you prefer to set a fixed duration from the moment of enrollment, enter the number of days in this field. This will set a time frame for users to complete the course after they enroll, rather than by specific dates.
Use case:
This feature is particularly useful for longer courses where users are added gradually rather than all at once. For instance, if a company offers a six-month e-learning program on advanced cybersecurity, and employees from different departments are enrolled at different times, setting Access Days from Enrollment ensures that each user has an individual timeframe to complete the course from the date they were enrolled. This prevents users from feeling rushed due to a universal deadline while maintaining consistent completion goals for all participants.
8. Mandatory Time on Course
Enable this option to set a required amount of time that users must spend viewing the course content to complete it. You can also set the mandatory time to correspond to the estimated content duration if it was set in the previous step.
9. Course Prerequisites
Use the Course prerequisites dropdown to select any required course that users must complete before accessing this course.
Important!
The users must be enrolled in the prerequisite courses. If they are not, they can't complete this condition. Enrollment must be checked manually.
10. Assessments
Assessment on End: Enable this option if you want an assessment at the end of the course. Learn more about creating assessments here: Authoring tool - assessment.
Show Assessment Solutions: Check this box to allow users to view the correct answers and solutions after submitting their assessment.
Deny Access to Assessment Until Course Content Completion: Enable this option to restrict access to the assessment until the user has completed all course content.
Assessment Retake: Turn on this feature to allow users to retake the assessment after achieving a certain score.
Maximum Number of Attempts: Specify the maximum number of attempts a user can make on the assessment, or leave it set to "Unlimited" for no restrictions.
11. Completion Terms
Confirmation of Course Completion: Toggle this option to manually control the completion status for individual users.
Content is Mandatory for Completion: Enable this setting to require users to complete all course content to mark the course as completed.
12. Statements
Statement on End: Check this option to display a statement at the end of the course. This setting is used for compliance module. See Compliance module.
Statement Confirmed by Instructor: Enable this to require the instructor's confirmation for the statement.
Statement Confirmed by Learner: Select this option to require the learner to confirm the statement.
Templates: If no templates are found, contact your administrator to upload or configure templates.
Set Signers: Click the Set Signers button to define the individuals responsible for approving the statement.
The next step in e-Course creation is managing users. See e-Course manage users.