Outschool provides a dedicated classroom for each class, where learners and teachers can interact and engage throughout the class.
Classroom Features Overview
Each class section has a page for announcements and discussions, accessible to all enrolled learners and parents.
Automatic announcements include a default welcome announcement for new students, live meeting attendance details, and optional class recordings.
Classroom access is indefinite, but the ability to post or comment expires 30 days after the section ends. The Join Live Meeting button also expires after this period.
For classes with a syllabus, teachers organize class content by adding posts and assignments to lessons, helping enrolled learners navigate their coursework.
Creating Announcements
Teachers can create a welcome announcement visible to all learners when they enroll. Additionally, teachers can upload a welcome video to accompany the message, either from the class edit tab or during the listing creation. The video will appear alongside the welcome message in the classroom.
From the Classroom tab, create a new announcement to share updates and start discussions. You can publish an announcement immediately or schedule it for a future date.
Additionally, teachers can copy a previous post from a different section of the same class. To do this, click Copy existing announcement when creating a new announcement. You can filter by section date to select the desired post and make any necessary edits before publishing it in the current section.
The classroom is public to all enrolled learners, so announcements and comments should be relevant to the entire class. Use direct messaging for private communication.
Self-Paced classes do not include the Announcements feature. You can keep learners informed by messaging them directly from the Learner tab.
Sending Notifications in Classroom Discussions
Both teachers and learners can send notifications to each other during classroom discussions. There are two ways to mention a learner:
Reply to a Comment: Click the Reply button on a classroom comment. The learner you reply to will automatically be @ mentioned.
Type the @ Symbol: In your comment, type the @ symbol. A list of learners' names will appear for you to select.
When you @ mention a learner, their family will receive an email notification.
Creating a Syllabus
Create a Syllabus from the class Syllabus tab. Add lesson titles, descriptions, and units to outline the topics covered.
Once published, new sections will use that Syllabus version once the first learner enrolls. Any edits will create a new version for future sections, ensuring that your Syllabus changes do not affect in-progress sections.
Creating Posts and Assignments
Posts and assignments are available only for fixed-length classes with a syllabus. To manage posts and assignments at the class level, click on the class Posts tab.
To add posts and assignments at the section level, click on the section Post Management tab.
Lesson posts must have the correct meeting day and time associated with the lesson. If the times are not accurately linked, learners will be unable to join the class through the Join Live Meeting button.
Add an optional description and video for each lesson or assignment. You can include one featured video per post or assignment.
File and Video Attachments
You can attach files and upload videos to announcements, posts, assignments, and messages. The maximum file size for both file and video attachments is 1 GB for teachers, and the limit for learners is 100 MB.