Events and absences
Absence management allows attendance lists to be kept online and absences to be documented. Attendance is monitored on a course-by-course basis.
For this purpose, events can be created in the course, which can be divided into several units. For example, a morning (event) can be divided into several time blocks (units). This makes it possible for participants to be marked as absent for individual units of an event without losing the entire event.
Events and units are either created by the course owners themselves or synchronized with OpenOlat via an external administration system. All events also appear in the course calendar, provided the course includes a calendar.
Before absence management can be used, it must be activated by the course owners. This is done under Course > Administration > Settings > Tab Execution. After activation, further settings can be made, and the "Events" option additionally appears in the toolbar.
"Events" in the toolbar
Course owners can add events and organize absences here. In addition, the menu "Events and absences" appears for course owners in the course administration. The options are largely identical.
Course coaches see the "Events" menu only in the toolbar, not in the course administration. They also cannot create new events, only view existing ones and, if activated, record absences. It is also possible to filter by events for which you are registered as coach.
Participants see the "Events" menu in the toolbar and can quickly identify synchronous face-to-face or online events, e.g. in the context of blended learning.
Participants can find their personal absences under "Personal tools" in the Absences menu.
The following section describes the events and absences view for course owners in more detail.
Tab Events
Display events
In the "Events" tab, events can be added to the course and displayed filtered according to various criteria. If, for example, the event has been assigned to subjects (taxonomy), it can be filtered by these. To display details about an event, click on the + at the beginning of the relevant line.
In the 3-dot menu at the end of each line, you will find further options for an event. Here you can edit, copy, delete the event, change it to an online meeting, mark it as an exam, create PDF lists and generate further downloads. Completed events can also be reopened.
Create/Edit event
To add (further) events, use the "Add event" button at the top right above the list in the "Events" tab.
Important
The "Add event" button is only displayed if the course is a standalone course. See Course > Administration > Settings > Tab Share > Section Usage.
If the course is used in the Course Planner, the events are created and managed in the Course Planner.
A popup opens for entering all details of the event.
Title: Give the event a meaningful name.
Reference: The optional reference serves to distinguish events with the same title.
Date: A date must be specified.
Time: The time is also a mandatory field. This is because, for example, calendar entries can only be displayed correctly with a time specification.
Unit: This specifies how many (time) units this event comprises.
An event can comprise 1 - 12 units.
Example: An event comprises 2 hours, divided into 4 thematic units (4 x 0.5 hours).
Location: This specifies where this event takes place. This can be, for example, an on-site location or the exact room designation.
Online meeting: If the event is to take place online, switch on the toggle button "Online meeting". Available options are BigBlueButton, Microsoft Teams and "Meeting link". The meeting link covers other providers, for example Zoom. For this option, enter the "Meeting provider name" and the "URL to join the meeting".
The online meeting takes over the title, time and people from the event. You open it later in the event list via "Join online meeting".
Learners have access via the calendar or the "Events" icon in the toolbar.
Recording URL: Any URL can be specified under which a recording of the meeting is accessed. The URL can also be specified if the toggle button "Online meeting" is switched off.
Subjects: Here you can assign the event to one or more terms of a stored taxonomy. This makes the event easier to find.
Teacher: A course coach must be selected for each event. Only the selected course coaches can carry out the attendance check. (Only a person who also has the role "Coach" can be added as a teacher.) If a course owner also wants to take on this function, this person must additionally register as a course coach in the course.
Description: Here you can optionally add a description for the event.
Preparation/Follow up: If you want to give the participants a preparation or follow-up assignment for the respective event, it can be added here. It is displayed in the calendar, provided the events are synchronized with the course calendar: Course > Administration > Settings > Tab Execution.
Compulsory: If the switch is set to "Off", absence recording is deactivated for the event.
Copy or delete events
As soon as at least one event is selected in the first column, the buttons for copying and deleting events appear above the list of events.
Alternatively, the options for copying and deleting can be accessed under the 3 dots at the end of a line.
Import events
It is also possible to import events that have been exported elsewhere in OpenOlat. To do this, click on the small arrow next to the "Add event" button in the "Events" tab.
Mark event as exam
Under the 3 dots, an event can also be marked as an exam. For an event marked this way, for example the Safe Exam Browser can be activated.
Cancel events
Events are cancelled via the event icon in the toolbar.
Close events
Events are closed via the event icon in the toolbar.
Reopen events
An already closed event can be reopened by course owners. You will find the option "Reopen event" under the 3 dots in the line of an event.
Alternatively, an event can also be reopened via the book icon (edit absence).
Manage teachers
As soon as at least one event is selected in the first column, the button "Manage teachers" appears above the list of events.
Exclude participants
When the detail view of an event is open (after clicking on the + at the beginning of the relevant line), an icon with 3 dots is displayed at the bottom. There you will find the option to exclude the participants from the selected event.
Tab Participants
In the "Participants" tab you get an overview of all participants of the course or the selected groups. (Excluding owners and coaches, unless they are additionally registered in the role participant.) The list can be printed via the "Print" button.
First admission
The first admission defines when the participant started the course.
Units
Here the maximum number of units a person can achieve is displayed, regardless of whether the event has already taken place or not.
Attended
Here it is displayed at how many units the person was present. The number of closed (done) absences is taken into account.
Not authorized
Units for which the person was marked as not authorized.
Authorized
Units for which the person was marked as authorized. The reason can be specified.
Dispensed
Units for which the person was dispensed. Whether dispensations are counted as attended is determined by the configuration of the absence management.
Progress
The progress shows attendance graphically. Green symbolizes attendance, orange authorized, red absent or not authorized, and blue dispensed units.
The attention column with this icon shows whether the defined attendance rate has been reached. The red icon means that the rate is below the required limit. The warning icon appears when the rate is less than five percentage points above the limit.
The info column displays information that deviates from the default settings. This is, for example, a personal rate or a later course start. These two options can be defined in the settings (pencil). The personal rate defines the attendance rate to be achieved for the person in question.
If changes are not immediately visible, please log out and log in again.
Customize the threshold for mandatory attendance
The threshold for mandatory attendance set for the course in general can be adjusted individually. To do this, select the person in question in the "Participants" tab and click on the edit icon.
Tab Appeals
If appeals have been submitted, you can get an overview under this tab as course owner. Filters help you with a larger number of appeals.
Appeals are usually processed by absence managers, who can access all appeals across courses in the central cross-course absence management.
Further information
Basic concept Events and Absences >
Activation and configuration of absence management by administrators >
Configuration of absence management in a course >
Recording and managing absences in a course by coaches >
Personal absences >
Cross-course absence recording in the coaching tool >
Cross-course absence management by absence managers >