This article shows how to set up your cohort’s launch date, blackout dates, pacing, weekend days, and optional self-enrollment using the Configure page in the cohort setup menu.
Once your cohort is created, you can add specific details about the cohort on the Configure page.
To begin, navigate to the Configure page.
Cohort Detail
In this section, you can change the name of your cohort, which can be done at any time, including after a course has launched. Best practice is to be as specific as possible when naming cohorts so that as time passes, the cohorts are easily identifiable from one another.
For example, we recommend including the course name, time of year, and/or audience in the cohort name. The default cohort naming convention will be <Name of Course> YYYY-MM. Note: Learners will only see the course name, not the cohort name. Only administrators and people with access to multiple cohorts at the same time will see the cohort name to ensure they find the cohort(s) they’re looking for.
Self Enrollment
In this section, you can enable self enrollment via the course splash page. Learn more about how to create a splash page for self enrollment in a course.
You can also set a self enrollment limit for the cohort which will restrict the number of learners that can enroll themselves in this cohort to the number you include (Note: You can create multiple cohorts for learners to sign up for if you’d like). Additionally, you can set an enrollment close date so learners can only sign up for a certain period of time.
If self enrollment for a cohort is enabled in the Configure page and if a splash page has been created, learners that visit the splash page will be able to enroll in the course by adding themselves to the cohort. If self enrollment is not enabled for a cohort, learners will not be able to add themselves to that cohort.
Note: If the maximum number of enrollments is reached, learners will no longer see the Enroll button on the splash page. Also, be sure to periodically check the number of enrollments on the cohort Members page so you can increase the maximum number of enrollments or communicate to your audience as needed if the maximum is reached.
Pacing
Pacing determines the dates on which course lessons and activities are to be completed by learners. By default, the platform sets each cohort to auto-paced pacing, which lays the course out such that each day of the course contains one lesson only. Learn more about course structure and the difference between activities, lessons, and modules.
If you would like to adjust the pacing of the course (e.g. having two lessons per day) to support your course design or the timeframe you’d like the course to run in, you will need to select a custom pacing, which must be created separately before appearing as an option in this section. Learn more about how to create custom pacing options for a course.
Start Date
The start date you select will be the first day of the course, meaning the first day on which activities are scheduled. This does not include any welcome/pre-work module activities, which are not included in pacing. Learn more about prework modules.
For example, in the example image, the first day of course activities will be 4/4/2022. If there is a pre-work module, you would want to open the course to learners to complete the pre-work activities ahead of 4/4/2022.
Blackout Dates
When scheduling a course for a cohort, there may be specific dates that you do not want learners to complete activities, for example due to a holiday or a company meeting. You can skip over these days by clicking on the appropriate date(s) on the calendar in the Blackout Dates section. Since this will alter the course schedule, it is important to review the schedule of activities after adding blackout dates to ensure the course is set up as desired. This is especially true if the course contains live event activities.
It will be helpful to toggle back to the course page for the cohort to check how the pacing, start date and blackout dates set up the schedule for your course to ensure it will run the way you’d like. You can do so by clicking View Course on the top of the Configure page. Tip: Use two tabs in your browser to toggle between the Configure page and course page.
Notifications
In this section, you can optionally specify the date on which an automated email reminder will be sent to learners ahead of the course launch. The date specified in this section is the date that the reminder will be sent, not the course launch date. Best practice is to send a reminder one week ahead of the course launch date. Note: For the email to be sent, Course Enrollment Notifications must be turned on for the site by the site owner.
Cohort Settings
When the upper box in this section, related to learners viewing completion progress, is checked, learners will be able to view the completion progress of all other learners in the cohort via the red, yellow, and green Module Completion Bars and Participant Roster Report that typically only course admins have access to. Best practice is to leave this box unchecked.
Based on best practice, the lower box is checked by default. When unchecked, the cohort’s performance data will not be visible in the High Impact Learning Dashboard, Current Courses dashboard, or Completed Courses dashboard.
Make sure to click Save at the bottom of the page to save your work.