In this webinar, the Aptem Product Team walked through the new Tutor Console and answered questions from clients.

The following is a transcript of the questions asked during the webinar, along with the experts' answers. For any further information, do contact your IC or support.

What is the anticipated date in Feb for release?

The Tutor Console will be released in the 15th February update. Further information will follow in the pre-release communication email.

Re. new secondary learner permission when we migrate over to tutor console where we have linked admins to a group as well, will the admin accounts by default get secondary learner permission or will we have go through all admin accounts to add it in?

Using the filter to view 'Secondary Learners' is not in itself a permission. When you are selected as the component owner at the component level you would simply see those learners in the list. This is particularly useful where you may have specific components being delivered by a second Tutor, i.e., for Functional Skills.

Currently at the end of completing a review when you click Finish the admin can sign straightaway before the learner then needs to sign. Will this still happen?

Yes, this is correct, the admin will still be able to sign immediately upon finishing the review.

Does the terminology apply to the tenant or the programme level?

It is only possible to configure terminology at the tenant/provider level.

Where will the Off the Job Hours summary now show? Actual vs planned?

These will show in the learner dashboard shown in the briefing along with the additional new metrics.

Will we be able to use this 'off-line'?

Not currently no. We are now using the Progressive Web Apps technology in our new consoles as a step to enabling this later, but there is still some work to do. Priorities have shifted slightly in responding to the COVID-19-related increase in digital use and we would expect any development of offline functionality to be initially around the completion of reviews and will revisit the priority for this later this year.

Are there plans in to be able to use MS teams for meetings instead of zoom?

This is not currently planned in our roadmap, but we will look at the feasibility of delivering this in the latter part of this year.

Is the Skills Radar linked to the Unit criteria?

When you create a Skills Radar you can link it to the relevant standard criteria or define your own criteria if you wish.

The Tutor view of the learner dashboard is great, will Employers get a view of this too?

The first version of the employer console is already released and available for you to activate for employers. This contains the most common functionality used by client employers, including simple lists of their employees and allows them to view and sign documents. A second version, taking account of customer feedback will include some dashboards similar to those in the tutor console and will also provide a role-based option to show a more granular view and this is being developed during the course of this year.

From the dashboard can we click on the employer and access their name and numbers?

Yes, if you have the 'Manage Organisations' role assigned to you as a Tutor, a link will allow you to pass through to that information in the 'Classic' view

Will the functionality for verifying hours for placement/workshops be available in the new tutor console, if so, where will that sit?

At present this will continue to be available and be accessed and managed through the 'Classic' view. We are looking to review component types this year and any changes to how and where placement/workshop activities are managed will be considered as part of that review.

Where will activities sit? From the Add Activity functionality currently at learner level? - is this Tasks?

'Activities' are the new name for 'Components'. As is the case now, you are able to create them at programme level or at a learner level from the learning plan. You can also create a task linked to an activity (type dependant) if you wish. Please remember that you can choose your own terminology for 'Component' via Support, your IC or Account Manager.

Can the RAG rating status be used without the review process?

Currently the RAG rating can only be set within a review. We are considering the further enhancements and use of the RAG rating and whether it could also be an indicator that is not displayed to the learner.

Is there a way for learners to map their work to the apprenticeship standard or does that still sit with the tutor in the updated interface?

A Learner can be given the option to select the criteria they feel they have covered when submitting a piece of evidence for marking. A Tutor can both pre-map to KSBs by editing a learner's learning plan component and confirm criteria selection when marking any evidence. The ability for learners to view and suggest mappings against criteria is set at both the programme and individual learner level.

We use a MS Teams based telephony, is it planned to link to Teams to make calls for PC based staff as well as mobile based?

This is not currently planned in our roadmap, but we will look at the feasibility of delivering this in the latter part of this year.

When do you see the learner and employer parts to be completed because the mobile elements will be really good for them?

Both the Employer and Learner consoles are optimised for viewing via a mobile device and will continue to be further enhanced in the coming months. In developing the new consoles, we have done a great deal of optimisation for mobile devices to enable them to respond quickly and use minimal bandwidth. We have also undertaken usability testing to improve navigation and simplicity to improve the user experience. You will have seen this in the learner console, and this will be continued across all consoles as they are released and are refreshed.

Will this calendar link to our work Google calendar?

Not currently but we are looking at a calendar integration service for the platform and hope to have some further news on this plan within a month or two.

Do the titles freeze while scrolling down the learners?

We've designed the learners grid to show key information to avoid overloading the view with too much information. We have also implemented search-as-you-type functionality and quick filters to avoid unnecessary and frustrating scrolling.

When you look at a learner in mobile view, we present the label next to the value for each learner to ensure it is easier to understand the information that you are viewing. Drilling down to the learner dashboard gives the complete progress overview that tutors will need to manage the learner effectively. Once our tutor caseload dashboard is released this will draw your attention to specific learners that need attention.