When your organisation enables the activity log for a programme, it becomes the single place to see and review all of a learner's logged time. This article explains what you will find there, including the time your learners logged before the change, and what to do with it.
Note: This article is for tutors and other admins who review learner activity. Reviewing activity requires the Allow tutor to read and write learner's activity logs permission, which every basic admin role holds by default. You will only see the learners you already have access to.
Everything in one place
The activity log holds all of a learner's logged time, whatever its source and whenever it was logged. That includes time the learner enters themselves, time captured automatically from eLearning content or a placement, and time they logged before activity log was enabled for the programme.
You review it all in the same place, using the same process, rather than working through evidence submissions to find hours.
What happened to time logged before the change
Time your learners logged previously is copied into the activity log, so you are not starting from an empty screen. Aptem runs this for your organisation and checks the totals before anything switches over, so there is nothing for you to trigger or tidy up.
The original evidence records are left exactly as they are. They are still visible on the learner's learning plan. Only the time is moved across.
The status your existing entries will have
Decisions you have already made are preserved. An entry does not come back for review because it moved.
So your review queue only contains the time that was still waiting for a decision, not your whole history. Time you accepted months ago stays accepted.
Entries that show as rejected are the ones you or a colleague previously referred back to the learner. The referral comment is carried across as the rejection reason, so the learner can still see what you asked them to change. Long comments are shortened.
Why an entry says "Evidence note:" or "Hours uploaded against evidence:"
Copied entries keep a description built from the record the time was originally logged against, so you can tell where it came from:
"Evidence note:" followed by the text of the note, where the time was recorded against a note. If the note contained only an image or formatting, you will see "Evidence note:" on its own.
"Hours uploaded against evidence:" followed by the file name, where the time was recorded against an uploaded file or an external assignment.
Formatting and images are stripped out, and a long note is shortened.
Entries that were already in the activity log keep whatever description the learner gave them, with no prefix. That is the quickest way to tell a copied entry from one logged directly.
If you find that there is time missing
If, after activity log is enabled for your programme, your find a time record that has not migrated over, please raise it with your Aptem contact. Please note that in instances where records exist but no time was recorded, you may not see them move over.
If your totals do not look right, contact your administrator before making any changes.
Activity that appears without the learner adding it
Some time reaches the activity log automatically, for example when a learner completes eLearning content or when placement hours are verified.
On an enabled programme this arrives as a draft activity rather than a finished one, because Aptem cannot know whether the time took place during working hours or in the learner's own time. Only the learner can answer that. They complete the draft, it comes to you as submitted, and you review it as normal. The learner can amend the description, which will default to saying the learning plan activity that was completed.
Draft time does not count towards a learner's off-the-job hours until they have completed it and you have accepted it. If a learner's hours look lower than you expect, it may be worth checking their unfinished drafts.
What counts towards off-the-job hours
Only accepted time counts. Submitted, resubmitted, rejected and draft entries do not contribute to a learner's off-the-job total or to the progress shown on their learning plan.
This means a decision you make in the activity log changes the learner's off-the-job position straight away.
What to tell your learners
Before your first enabled programme goes live, it helps if learners know:
Their previously logged time is still there, and they do not need to re-enter it.
The activity log is now where they add and track all their time.
Anything showing as a draft needs completing before it counts.
There is a learner-facing version of this article you can point them to, which you can find here.