Video: How to configure a course

In this tutorial, we'll take a closer look at how courses are configured in Boost Learn. We'll cover the key areas so that you know how your Boost courses are set up and how to configure your own courses.

Let's open up a course so you can see an example of the course settings you have available. We'll open courses and then select a course to edit from the list.

Now that we have the settings open, let's work through each of the settings tabs, checking each setting before publishing the course.

First, course details. In the Details tab, add all information learners should see, including a course description, the course’s learning objectives, and a course image. The information on the details page is what learners will see when they click on a course and helps them know what they will be learning about.

Custom Course Data contains metadata used for reporting and structuring learning within Boost. You'll see regulator status, which shows whether the course is mandatory for a regulator such as CQC; client mandatory, which indicates whether the course is mandatory within your organisation; buckets, which show the category or grouping the course belongs to on your Boost Learn reports; and wrapper information, which is advanced functionality for linking courses together. These settings are typically pre‑configured by the Boost implementation team. For changes or questions, contact your Customer Success Agent.

Certs and Credits are essential and must be completed for every course. Start by selecting a certificate template from Boost’s preloaded certificates. There are two common course types that have different recertification settings: mandatory courses and CPD courses.

Mandatory courses use the mandatory certificate. The expiry period is generally set to 365 days for annual courses. The re‑enrollment period is commonly set to 30 days before expiry, so learners are automatically re‑enrolled in time. Recertification is enabled for mandatory courses.

For CPD courses, use the additional certificate. No recertification period is added, and re‑enrollment and recertification are disabled.

The next setting to look at is Due Dates and Valid Periods. This is where we set how long a learner has to complete the course after they have been enrolled. Most often, the course becomes due 30 days after enrollment. If the learner takes longer to complete than the given due period, they will show as overdue in the Boost Learn reports.

Forums are not typically used unless specifically requested. Most customers leave this section unchanged.

Additional settings control what managers and learners can do within the course. The course owner is generally the person who created the course and has the ability to edit and delete the course. Set managers to be able to enrol if the course is a live learning event or a CPD additional course. Mandatory courses do not allow managers to enrol learners because the system automatically enrols learners into mandatory courses.

Disable that learners cannot complete the course. Course ratings and reviews are disabled. Instructor messaging is disabled. Launch course to description is enabled. Learners are not able to unenroll themselves from the course. The course length is auto‑populated for all Boost Learn courses, but you can input your own time estimation for courses you create.

Catalogue settings determine whether the course appears in the learner‑facing catalogue. Enable catalogue visibility for CPD or optional courses, and disable visibility for retraining. Managers can enrol learners on courses that are not shown on the catalogue, provided they have been set as an instructor on the course.

Reviews tie into the earlier ratings and reviews setting. Boost does not typically use this feature unless requested.

Notifications are set up to avoid overwhelming learners. Default settings usually include completion emails set to Never, four reminders (two before the due date and two after the learner becomes overdue), and enrollment notifications disabled.

When you are finished populating the course with content and configuring the course, don't forget to publish the course. Courses will remain in draft format and hidden from other users until a course is published.

This tutorial covered the key areas of course configuration. All Boost e‑learning courses are set up for you, so you generally won't need to configure courses on your own. These skills are most useful when creating your own live learning events or courses.