Importing Classroom Sessions

Owned by Luc Richard
Last updated: Jul 13, 2022
4 min read

Many hospitals and healthcare organizations that implement the Dual Code learning environment need to migrate classroom sessions from their legacy LMS or create some for upcoming courses. The classroom sessions can easily be imported into the Dual Code learning environment by uploading a CSV (comma separated value) file.

NOTE: This tool leverages the same tool as the "Importing Attendance Records". You may use the tool to create classroom sessions and log attendance records at the same time, using 1 spreadsheet. We suggest that you read the documentation on how to import attendance records to better understand how this tool works.

Step-by-step Guide

To upload classroom sessions:

  1. Prepare your CSV file (read the "Important Notes" section below to learn more about the format for the CSV file)

  2. Go to Site Administration > Courses > Upload Sessions and Attendance > Upload Records

  3. Add your CSV file to the "File" text area

  4. For "Upload Mode", select "Add new sessions only"

  5. Click on the "Preview" button at the bottom of the page

  6. Review the "Results" column

    1. If you do NOT have a green checkmark in the Results column, review the "Status" column, fix your errors in the CSV, click on the "Cancel" button, and start this procedure over with the new CSV. Please note that by default, you are only previewing the first 10 rows of your CSV file. So you may want to review the CSV file in its entirety if errors were discovered.

    2. If you ONLY see green checkmarks in the Results column, click on the "Upload Records" button. Please note that by default, you are only previewing the first 10 rows of your CSV file. So it is possible to have green checkmarks in the first 10 rows but errors in other rows in the CSV file.

The file is now scheduled to be processed. Generally speaking, the file is processed almost immediately, but if the file is very large, or if there are other files waiting to be processed, it may take a while to process your file. You will receive a notification once your file has been processed. It's important that you verify the results and fix any errors that may have been encountered during the upload of the file.

Important Notes

There are a few rules that need to be respected in order to be able to add sessions:

  • The encoding of the CSV file must be in UTF-8

  • The first row in the CSV file must contain the name of the columns to be imported, These are:

    • course OR activity

    • starttime

    • endtime

    • maxcapacity

    • mincapacity

    • duration

  • The next rows in the CSV file will contain the attendance record information that needs to be imported in the learning environment (one row per attendance record)

  • The course must be the course shortname and will only work if there is only one (1) face-to-face activity in the course. If you have more than one face-to-face activity in the course, then you must use "activity" instead of "course".

  • The activity must be the ID of the pre-existing face-to-face activity. You can find the activity by navigating to the activity in question using your browser. 

  • The starttime and endtime must be in the following ISO 8601 format: 2016-06-28T15:19:21+00:00, where:

    • 2016-06-27 is the date in YYYY-MM-DD format (based on the Gregorian calendar)

    • 15:19:21 is the time in hh:mm:ss format (based on the 24-hour clock system)

    • (optional) +00:00 is the time offset from the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). For example, an organization located in Ottawa or Toronto would write -04:00. Note that the time offset (+00:00) is not required. If it is omitted, the system will take the default timezone of the LMS

  • The maxcapacity is the maximum capacity of the session. That is, the maximum number of users that can register in the system before registration is closed or users end up on a waiting list. It must be an integer value or 0 if there is no maximum capacity.

  • The mincapacity is the minimum capacity of the session. That is, the minimum number of users that must register. If that minimum number is not reached, an email may be sent to the instructor to inform them (if the instructor requested to be informed). It  must be an integer value or 0 if there is no minimum capacity.

  • The duration must be in the hh:mm format. The duration is generally equal to the end time minus the start time, but not always. For example, it's possible to have a session that starts at 8am and end at 4pm, for the duration can be 7:00 if learners are granted a 1 hour lunch during which they are not paid.

Sample File

Here is an example of a valid file with the "course" column:

course,starttime,endtime,maxcapacity,mincapacity,duration
WHMIS,2023-06-28T13:00:00-04:00,2023-06-28T14:00:00-04:00,10,0,2:00
WHMIS,2023-07-28T13:00:00-04:00,2023-07-28T14:00:00-04:00,10,0,2:00
WHMIS,2023-08-28T13:00:00-04:00,2023-08-28T14:00:00-04:00,10,0,2:00

Here is an example of a valid file if you are using the "activity" column instead of the "course" column:

activity,starttime,endtime,maxcapacity,mincapacity,duration
81,2023-06-28T13:00:00-04:00,2023-06-28T14:00:00-04:00,10,0,2:00
81,2023-07-28T13:00:00-04:00,2023-07-28T14:00:00-04:00,10,0,2:00
81,2023-08-28T13:00:00-04:00,2023-08-28T14:00:00-04:00,10,0,2:00

Custom Session Field Names

Most organizations add custom fields to their session to track instructors, room, venue, and other details. For example, let's assume that you added a field called "room" (e.g. the unique short name for that field). When uploading information for a custom session field, you must use the following convention in the header of the CSV file:

session_field_room

Note: The CSV file does not allow you to update sessions. If any of the session parameters are different, the learning environment will always create a new session. 

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