Webinars

What are Webinars?

Webinars allow scheduled live learning to form part of a Shapeshift Course alongside Lessons, Quizzes, SCORM content and Surveys.

A Webinar is a standard Shapeshift module with its own enrollment and progress. The actual live session is delivered through an external webinar or virtual-event provider configured for the implementation.

Shapeshift does not include a default webinar provider. Where Webinars are required, the integration is configured around the client's chosen service.

Webinar integrations

The live Webinar experience depends on the external provider used by your implementation.

This may include functionality such as:

  • Joining the live session
  • Synchronizing event dates and times
  • Recording attendance
  • Updating completion
  • Making a recording available after the event

The exact behavior depends on the capabilities of the external service and the integration configured for your Shapeshift implementation.

Attendance itself is managed by the external Webinar platform rather than manually within Shapeshift.

Creating a Webinar

Webinars are managed from Webinars in the CMS.

A Webinar can include:

  • Title and subtitle
  • Start date and time
  • End date and time
  • Supporting rich-text content
  • Files
  • Video or recording
  • Availability and due-date settings

Webinars support Draft and Publish, allowing them to be prepared before being made available to learners.

Once created, a Webinar can be added to a Course curriculum in the same way as other module types.

Scheduling

The Start Date and Time identifies when the Webinar takes place, with the End Date and Time defining when it finishes.

Shapeshift uses the schedule to identify upcoming Webinars and can surface the learner's next scheduled live session.

How scheduling information is synchronized with the external Webinar provider depends on the integration.

Dates and times are stored as date/time values and displayed to learners in the appropriate local context provided by the implementation and their browser.

Joining a Webinar

How a learner joins the live session depends on the Webinar provider configured for the implementation.

Shapeshift does not provide a generic Webinar room of its own. The learner experience must therefore be integrated with the external service used to host the event.

Depending on the integration, access to the live event may also depend on the scheduled start time.

Webinar enrollment and progress

When a Webinar forms part of a Course, the learner receives a Webinar enrollment as part of their Course enrollment.

Shapeshift can track:

  • Whether the Webinar has been started
  • Whether it has been completed
  • When it was started
  • When it was completed
  • Active Time within Shapeshift

Completion can then contribute towards the learner's overall Course progress.

Unless the Webinar has been marked as an optional module, it must be completed before the Course itself can be completed.

How attendance at the external live event translates into Webinar completion depends on the provider integration.

Recordings

A Webinar can include a video, allowing recorded content to be made available through the Webinar module.

This can be used to provide a recording after the live event where appropriate.

The exact recording workflow depends on the Webinar provider and integration. For example, an implementation may synchronize a recording automatically or require an administrator to add it afterwards.

Supporting content and files

Webinars can contain rich-text content and supporting files in addition to the live session itself.

This can be used for information such as:

  • Joining instructions
  • Session preparation
  • Learning objectives
  • Supporting documents
  • Resources to use during the session
  • Follow-up information

Notes

Learners can create private Notes against a Webinar in the same way as other supported learning modules.

These Notes belong to the learner and can also be accessed through their Notes Library.

Webinars and Course completion

Webinars behave as part of the Course curriculum rather than as standalone external events.

A required Webinar therefore contributes to the same Course progress and completion rules as other required modules.

If attendance or completion is determined by the external Webinar provider, the integration is responsible for synchronizing that result with the learner's Webinar enrollment in Shapeshift.

Configuration

Webinars are a standard Shapeshift module type, but using them requires configuration for the chosen external Webinar platform.

The available provider, joining experience, attendance synchronization, completion rules and recording workflow can therefore differ between Shapeshift implementations.