8.0 ILA Scotland Database / PROMT software
8.1 Will the PROMT software be compatible for server orientation?
No, the PROMT software is web-based and needs to sit on a user’s PC. However, you may nominate more than one member of staff as a user and load the software onto multiple PCs. For information and guidance, providers should contact Technical Support on 0141 285 6104.
8.2 Will the PROMT software mean a doubling-up of effort and duplication of course information?
No. For those of you who already have information in the National Learning Opportunities Database (NLOD), the PROMT software will allow you to flag the courses you wish to be submitted for inclusion in the scheme. However, as the ILA Scotland scheme explicitly requires information that is not currently mandatory in the NLOD, e.g. price and start date, there may be some additional work required initially to add this information to existing records.
If you are not currently on the NLOD, you will be able to use the PROMT system to submit all of your courses and have these included on the NLOD system, as well as the ILA Scotland database. Once data has been entered, changes to courses will be reflected in both the NLOD and ILA Scotland databases.
For help adding your course information there is plenty of PROMT support online or for specific queries, please call the Information Services team on 0141 285 6100
8.3 Will there be provision for more than one person per provider to input into the ILA Scotland website?
Each organisation will have a single Web Administrator who may then create sub-users. There is a need for a single person to enter into agreements and authenticate the site. However, the facility for that person to create sub-users should give organisations control over their administrative systems.
8.4 If using the XML option, is it possible to submit an entire database?
Yes. However, as the use of XML will require more detailed technical discussions between you and the ILA Scotland technical staff, it is expected that the majority of you will use the PROMT software data submission system. Those who wish to investigate the use of the XML data submission method should contact the ILA Scotland technical helpline on 0141 285 6104 to register your interest.
8.5 If all courses need to have a start date for the database, how are courses that don’t have a start date included?
Where courses do not have a specific start date, such as distance learning courses, you should use the Flexible Start Date box in PROMT. You should then use the Available From and Until dates to advise the period in which the flexible opportunity will be available.
8.6 Some of my courses are broken down into modules but not all of them have prices, how does this work?
For courses to attract ILA Scotland funding, each of the modules would need to have a price.
8.7 How long will it take to get a course on the ILA Scotland database?
By using the PROMT software, you should expect your courses to be checked within 5 working days. However, in exceptional circumstances, such as a requirement to clarify course details with you to ensure compliance with the Definition of Eligible Learning, this may take longer.
8.8 What level of detail will be required when submitting courses?
All courses must meet the same standards as those currently in the NLOD but, in addition, data on price and course start / end dates will also be required. Only courses which meet the ILA Scotland Definition of Eligible Learning will be approved.
8.9 How will we know that our course submissions have been accepted?
Courses and opportunities which are accepted will be visible on the ILA Scotland website and will also be identifiable within the PROMT software.
8.10 Will courses have a unique identifier?
Yes, each course in the database has a unique identifier. You are, however, able to enter your own course identifiers so that you can easily identify and manage your courses.
8.11 Will we be able to amend course details / prices online?
Yes. The PROMT software enables you to access your data online and to amend a wide range of fields, including course details and price.
8.12 Where there are multiple users, does the PROMT software only submit the data that an individual is working on or from all users?
It will submit everything that has been input, since the last synchronization, by an authorised user with a valid login and password. You will also be able to check any other edits that have been done since then.
8.13 I have a number of one day courses. Do I have to put all of these in separately with different start and end dates?
No – you can clone the courses and simply change the start and end dates.
8.14 Are there different levels of user, for instance administrator?
No. The PROMT software does not currently support different levels. However, we will be monitoring feedback from providers on how the system can be enhanced and if this is something that providers request, after having used the software for a while, we will look to include this functionality.
8.15 If a course is already approved and we wish to change the date, do we need to re-submit it for approval?
Yes. The PROMT software will automatically flag the course as having had a change and the status will be changed to inform our information specialists that the course needs to be checked again.
8.16 Can the PROMT password facility be changed?
The PROMT password can be changed by a request from an authorised representative of the organisation.
8.17 If adding in new courses – identical to previous courses but with different start dates – do they appear in chronological order?
No. At present, courses on the ILA Scotland and NLOD websites are not arranged in chronological order.
8.18 If a course date was to change between the learning episode being booked and the course being due to start, how does the system cope with that? Do we have to change dates on the database then?
For courses that are a considerable period of time in the future, we would recommend that the new course dates be entered and bookings cancelled on the original course dates. New bookings will need to be made for the new course start dates.
8.19 If part of a course is subject to VAT and the other part is not; how do you enter this into the PROMT system?
For courses of this nature you must enter the price of the course including VAT into the ‘inc VAT’ field, enter the amount excluding VAT in the ‘exc VAT’ field and then press the equals sign next to the VAT amount. The system will then calculate the percentage VAT that the opportunity attracts.
8.20 Could you advise what is the easiest way to use the PROMT software to add the same courses but with a variety of start/end dates?
If the course is the same but it is available on a variety of start dates, we would recommend that you only clone the opportunity and enter the revised start/end dates and any other factors that may change, e.g. if one of the start dates is not only on a different date but at a different venue you will need to amend the venue details for that particular opportunity.
8.21 My courses are already on the NLOD. Can I submit them for ILA Scotland approval from there?
Yes. Once you have your PROMT software operating you can search for those opportunities that you wish to submit for approval. Once you have identified the opportunities you want to submit, you must change the ILA Scotland status value to 'requested'. This will inform ILA Scotland staff that you want these to be checked. Note that you must complete a number of mandatory fields including start and end date, the mode of attendance and the price of the opportunity in order for the opportunities to be effectively assessed.
8.22 For flexible learning courses it has been recommended that the start/end dates for courses are updated every month. Is it possible to put in a full year’s worth of courses?
Yes. As many opportunities can be entered as you wish.
8.23 If I have a distance learning course which has a nominal start date of the 1st of the month and someone wants to start on the 3rd, can I create a new opportunity for them?
Yes, but you will not be able to book a learner onto this opportunity until it has been approved and the new details passed to the booking system. In these cases we recommend the use of the nominal start date as the date upon which the learner booking would be made.
8.24 In some courses it isn’t possible to confirm the price until the learner has selected the modules they wish to complete. How can these be included if the price is a mandatory field?
Every opportunity must have a specific price. Where individual modules are present these can have individual prices allocated. You may wish to offer a ‘bundle’ of modules, e.g. an opportunity could be entered that has a specific price for a group of 3 or 6 modules that learners can select from courses that meet the Definition of Eligible Learning.
8.25 There are no search facilities available at the moment, for instance, to check if requested courses have been approved.
This has already been identified and system developments are currently being worked on.
8.26 It has been mentioned that feedback forms will be going out at the end of the course. For flexible / distance learning there is only a nominal date in the system and it may be possible that this would trigger a feedback form when the learner has only started the course.
For flexible learning it is not possible to know exactly when a learner has completed a course without significantly increasing the administration involved. However, based on the information about the course contained in the attendance details and the mode of attendance we expect to be able to send out feedback forms at a time that will provide sufficient information for effective analysis.
8.27 I had a few problems installing PROMT software and then the upgrade didn’t work.
In a very small number of cases there may be a combination of factors that mean the installation of the PROMT software is not as smooth as we expect. As a windows-based product, PROMT software may be affected by changes and upgrades to the windows operating system. If you have encountered problems during the installation or are planning updates to your operating system please select the PROMT support option on the ILA Scotland provider helpline.
8.28 Can you copy and paste from other Windows applications to PROMT?
Yes.
8.29 Can you upload opportunities to PROMT from another application?
No. At present it is not possible to upload opportunities in this way. However, development work on using XML to facilitate submission of information into the ILA Scotland and NLOD databases is well advanced.
8.30 Can you export data from PROMT?
No, this functionality is not available at this time. However, feedback on what sort of export facility would be most useful is encouraged.