Overview

Enable Learning Rooms is a company-wide setting that controls whether the Learning Rooms feature is available in the system. A Learning Room is a dedicated online space (sometimes called a micro-site) built around a single _Subject_ (Course/Module), where _Teachers_ (Instructors) can organize lesson plans, files, discussions, events and assessments in one place for the _Students_ (Learners) enrolled in that _Subject_.

This setting works as the master switch for the whole feature. If it is turned off, the Learning Rooms feature and everything related to it is completely hidden from every user, regardless of any other configuration already made at the _Subject_ level.

What This Setting Does

When Enable Learning Rooms is turned ON:

• _Teachers_ gain access to a new option, at the level of each _Subject_ they teach, to activate a Learning Room for that _Subject_.
• Once a _Teacher_ (or an Administrator) activates and saves a Learning Room for a _Subject_, the system automatically creates one main Learning Room for that _Subject_, named after the _Subject_ itself.
• The Learning Room becomes a self-contained space made up of one or more pages, where the _Teacher_ can add different types of content: introductory text, a lesson plan (linked to the _Subject_’s curriculum units), a list of scheduled class sessions, discussion boards, assessments, public events and shared files.
• _Students_ enrolled in the _Subject_ can view the Learning Room, once it is published, directly from their My Subjects area, giving them one central place to find everything related to that _Subject_.

When Enable Learning Rooms is turned OFF:

• The Learning Room option disappears completely from the _Subject_ edit screen, and any Learning Room management screens become inaccessible to everyone, including Administrators.
• Assumption (not explicitly guaranteed by the system): any Learning Rooms that were already created before the setting was disabled are not deleted, they are simply hidden from view while the setting remains off. If you plan to disable this setting in an environment with active Learning Rooms, confirm this behavior with your Classter contact first.

Where It Is Used

This setting is found under: Admin Settings > Basic Customization > Discussion Boards section.

Note: this setting is grouped together with the Enable Discussion Boards setting under a section named Discussion Boards. Despite the section name, Enable Learning Rooms is an independent setting that controls the separate Learning Rooms feature, not the discussion boards themselves.

Once enabled, it takes effect in the following places:

1. _Subject_ edit screen (found under My Subjects / My Courses): the Enable Learning Room switch, together with its explanatory note, is only visible on this screen when the company-wide setting is turned on.
2. Learning Room management screens: where _Teachers_ and Administrators build and organize the pages and content of a Learning Room.
3. _Student_ and Parent view of My Subjects: the Learning Room, once published, is visible here to enrolled _Students_ and their Parents.
4. Any dashboard or homepage area that surfaces Learning Room content or links, where applicable.

Business Logic / Behavior

• Two-level control: this setting works as a master, company-wide switch. Even when it is turned on, each _Subject_ still needs its own separate Enable Learning Room switch (found on that _Subject_’s edit screen) to be turned on and saved before a Learning Room is actually created for it. Turning on the company-wide setting alone does not automatically create Learning Rooms for every existing _Subject_.
• One main room per _Subject_: each _Subject_ can have one main, automatically created Learning Room. Additional Learning Rooms can also be created and scoped to a specific _Group_ (Class) within that _Subject_, for a _Teacher_ who wants to tailor content to one particular _Group_ of _Students_ rather than the whole _Subject_.
• Saving is required: after switching on the Learning Room option for a _Subject_, the choice must be saved at least once for the Learning Room to actually be created. Toggling the switch without saving has no effect.
• Reactivation reuses the same room: if a _Teacher_ turns the per-_Subject_ switch off and later back on, the system reuses the original Learning Room and its existing content, rather than creating a new, empty one.
• Visibility rules: Administrators, Owners, Secretaries and _Teachers_ can create and manage Learning Rooms. _Students_ and Parents can only view Learning Rooms that are published and that belong to a _Subject_ (or _Subject_-_Group_ combination) they are enrolled in.
• Deleting a Learning Room is permanent: if a _Teacher_ or Administrator deletes a Learning Room directly (as opposed to turning off this company-wide setting), all of its pages and content, including linked files, discussion boards, and links to assessments or events, are permanently removed. Turning off this setting, in contrast, only hides the feature and does not delete anything.

Example(s)

Example 1 – Enabling Learning Rooms company-wide

Northgate Academy wants to give its _Teachers_ a way to centralize everything related to each _Subject_ in one place for _Students_. An Administrator goes to Admin Settings > Basic Customization > Discussion Boards and turns on Enable Learning Rooms. Immediately, every _Teacher_ across the school sees a new Enable Learning Room option on the edit screen of each _Subject_ they teach, but no Learning Rooms exist yet because none have been individually activated.

Example 2 – Activating a Learning Room for one Subject

Ms. Everly Cole teaches the _Subject_ Biology 101. She opens the edit screen for Biology 101, turns on the Enable Learning Room switch, and saves. The system automatically creates a Learning Room titled Biology 101. Ms. Cole then adds a welcome text item, a lesson plan item linked to the term’s curriculum units, and an item listing upcoming class sessions. Once she publishes the room, all _Students_ enrolled in Biology 101 can see it from their My Subjects area.

Example 3 – A Group-specific Learning Room

Later, Ms. Cole wants to share extra revision material only with _Group_ 10A, one of several _Groups_ taking Biology 101. She creates an additional Learning Room scoped specifically to _Group_ 10A, separate from the main _Subject_-level room, so that _Students_ in other _Groups_ do not see this extra content.

When to Use

When to Enable

• Your institution wants _Teachers_ to have a structured, easy way to organize lesson plans, files, discussions, events and assessments for a _Subject_ in one central place.
• You want _Students_ to have a single, organized view of everything related to a _Subject_, instead of navigating between separate screens.
• Your _Teachers_ are comfortable maintaining an additional space per _Subject_ (or per _Subject_-_Group_) and will keep it updated and published.

When to Disable

• Your institution does not plan to use this kind of content hub and prefers to keep the My Subjects area simple, showing only standard tools such as grades, sessions and assessments.
• You want to prevent _Teachers_ from creating additional content areas that would need to be reviewed, maintained or moderated.
• You are still evaluating the feature and prefer to keep it hidden from all users until your institution is ready to roll it out.

Notes

Related Settings

• Enable Discussion Boards/Enable_Discussion_Boards (Admin Settings > Basic Customization > Discussion Boards) – a separate setting that controls the Discussion Boards feature. It appears in the same settings section as Enable Learning Rooms but works independently.
• Enable Subject Editing for Enrolled Teachers/MyCourses_Enable_Subject_Editing_For_Enrolled_Teachers (Admin Settings > My Subjects related settings) – when enabled, this broadens who can edit a _Subject_’s Learning Room. Normally only the assigned _Teacher_ of a _Subject_ can edit its Learning Room; with this setting on, any _Teacher_ enrolled in that _Subject_ can also edit it.
• Enable Configuration for Higher Education/Xrisi_parametropoihshs_kolegiou (Admin Settings > Higher Education Customization > Higher Education Basic Settings) – see the K-12 vs Higher Education note below.

Prerequisites

There are no other settings that must be configured before turning this setting on. However, for a Learning Room to actually appear for a given _Subject_, the per-_Subject_ Enable Learning Room switch must also be turned on and saved individually for that _Subject_ (see Business Logic / Behavior above).

K-12 vs Higher Education Mode

Enable Learning Rooms behaves identically whether the institution is running in standard (K-12) mode or in Higher Education mode, that is, regardless of whether Enable Configuration for Higher Education/Xrisi_parametropoihshs_kolegiou is turned on or off. There is no functional difference in how Learning Rooms are created, displayed or managed between the two modes.

Learning Room vs Other Types of Rooms

A Learning Room is different from a physical classroom (used for scheduling and timetabling) and different from an online meeting or video conferencing link (used for live classes). A Learning Room’s class sessions item can display and link to scheduled sessions, but the Learning Room itself is a content hub, not a room booking or video-conferencing tool.