Configuring CE (Continuing Education) Credit Tracking

With countless associations and member-based organizations running on PheedLoop's platform, there has always been a major need to invest in ways to help our customers track CE (Continuing Education) credits for attendees. PheedLoop has mechanisms in place to track credits for both on-site (via badge scanning from the PheedLoop mobile event app) and virtual (via timed check-in surveys) events, export PDF certificates, export data reports, and more. In this article, we'll discuss the simple ways to configure your event for CE tracking and share some advanced tips as well.

1. Assigning Credits to Sessions

Since credits are connected to attending educational sessions, you must specify them for each session which is accredited.

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Sessions
Select the session would like to assign credits to from the list
In the session editor form, navigate to Advanced Settings
Under CE Credit Value, assign a number (The number will be displayed with decimals)
Select Save Changes

Once you’ve assigned credits to sessions, an indicator for the number of credits a session is worth will be visible in interfaces where an attendee is directly participating in the session. For example, the event app or virtual event portal. CE Credit Value will also appear in the session certificate next to the session.

2. Earning Credits for in-person events with PheedLoop Go!

There are two ways to earn credits. One way is for the admin to have volunteers to scan attendees into sessions. The other way is for individuals to self check-in. This section of the article will cover session check-ins by volunteers using PheedLoop Go!. For instructions on self check-in and PheedLoop OnSite, please review the self check-in feature here.

Launching the QR code scanner

From the Mobile Event App, navigate to the left hand side navigation menu
Under Event Tools, select Scanner
1. There will be different menu options which you can choose from the very top, make sure you are in the Session Check-In menu.
2. The scanner can also be under a different name like Exhibitor Tools, if an Exhibitor profile is the one using the Mobile Event App.

Here there are different options:

Launch Scanner

By selecting this, the camera will open on your mobile device where you can now scan attendees who are waiting to get checked-in. When you are ready to scan, this is the last button to click.

Please select a session

By selecting this, a dropdown list will appear where you can select the individual session you need to scan for.

Automatic Mode

By toggling this on, it allows you to scan endlessly without having to keep launching the scanner after each scanned check-in. This skips the step where event staff are required to verify each scan.

Restrict to Pre-Registered

By toggling this on, only attendees who have pre-registered for the session will be allowed to be scanned in, anyone else will trigger an error.

Check-Out Mode

By toggling this on, you will track the people who will be leaving the session. An easy way to identify check-in, check-out, and duration times throughout the session.
If you check someone out - they will not technically earn the credit and this credit will not show up in the certificate. This behaviour can be changed in the Event Dashboard by enabling the Require Checkout for Credit checkbox in the Event Dashboard. For more information, please review the Earning credits by checking out of a session of our How to Use Session Check-In For An In-Person Event article.
This is primarily used to manage individuals who leave a session early on-site or attended the wrong session.

Using the Self Check-In Feature

Using the Self Check-In feature is only applicable if the session has the Self Check-In feature enabled from the back end. To find this in the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Sessions, select the session you would like to enable self check-in for. In the session editor form navigate to Options and toggle on the Enable Self Check-In checkbox.

From the Mobile Event App, navigate to the left hand side navigation menu
Select Schedule
Select the session you would like to self check into
In the session editor screen, select Check-In
Fill out the Text Code or select Scan QR Code
1. Normally the speaker acquires the code and reveals it at the session when everyone is seated or shares it to attendees with other means like email.
2. To find the code in the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Sessions, select a session and in the editor form under Options there will be a Self Check-In Code field which can also be edited.
Select Submit

3. Earning Credits Virtually

For events that are hybrid or fully virtual, credit tracking is just as critical as on-site. You can't scan a badge of course, but you can quiz attendees! To accommodate this, PheedLoop offers built-in session attendance tracking directly into the Virtual Portal. When enabled, the Virtual Portal will assign CE credits based on how long the attendees have been in the session for. If an attendee leaves the session or loses connection to the stream, the Virtual Portal will still track their time and not start from zero.

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Sessions
Select the Session you wish to edit
Scroll down to Virtual Settings
Toggle on the Enable Virtual Attendance Tracking checkbox
Under the Minimum Attendance Percentage for Attendance CE Credits field, enter the minimum number of minutes the attendee needs to be in the session for to earn their credits
Under the Attendance CE Credit Value field, enter the number of CE credits to be awarded after the attendee has attended the session
Select Save Changes

Another method to track session attendance is through Check-In Surveys. Check-In Surveys allow you to gather input from your sessions as well as serve as a proof of attendance.

If you would like to learn about compiling attendance data following your event, please review the 7. Downloading Session Check-in Data section at the bottom of this article.

Viewing Session CE History

Once the session has concluded, CE credits will be assigned automatically to attendees who have met the prerequisite requirements. Event Admins can view the CE credits assigned to attendees from the Event Dashboard.

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Sessions and select the session you wish to edit from the list
Above the Sessions table, select Actions > Session CE History

The Session CE History will not appear on your screen. You can download the results by selecting the download icon on the top right corner of the form.

The Session CE History will reveal the following information from Attendees

First Name
Last Name
Credit Type
Credits
Total Time Duration
Date Created

Using Check-In Surveys

An alternative to attendance tracking is to use PheedLoop’s Check In Survey feature. This allows you to create surveys that attendees can respond to which will pop up after a number of minutes you specify once the session's stream is enabled. This requires your attendees to pay attention and watch out for the pop-up survey so that they can submit it.

Most events use check-in surveys as a proof of attendance towards their CE credits. The survey itself can be any general form you create via the Custom Forms module in the PheedLoop event dashboard, and you can attach the same survey to more than one session.

Session Check-In Surveys can also be used for in-person events. For more information, please review our How to Use Session Feedback Surveys in the Event App article.

Creating Check-In Surveys

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Advanced > Custom Forms
Above the Custom Forms table, select Create
Under the Name field, enter the name of the survey
1. The name will be visible in the Virtual Portal.
Under the Category field, select General Survey
Under the Description field, enter a description for the survey
1. This description will not appear in the survey but descriptions for questions will be visible to attendees.
Select Add Question to create your questions for the Survey
1. For complete instructions, please review our Creating and Sending a Custom Form to Attendees article.
Select Save Changes

Attaching a Check-In Survey to a Session

From the Event Dashboard, navigate Sessions > Sessions
Select a session you would like to attach a survey to from the list
In the session editor form, navigate to Virtual Settings
Under the Check-In Survey field, select a custom form from the list
Under the Check-In Survey Delay field, fill out a number
1. This number will correspond to the amount of minutes which will delay the pop up survey from the time the session begins.
Select Save Changes

Testing the Check-in Survey in the Virtual Portal

Once the Check-in Survey has been assigned to the session, it will appear at the designated time set under the Check-In Survey Delay field.

Use Case examples of the Check-In Survey

If you have a check-in survey delay at 10 minutes. That means 10 minutes into the session you will receive the pop-up.
If the session is live and the session starts at 1:00PM EST, then the survey will only pop up at 1:10PM and you must be in the session before then. If you join after, you will miss it.
If the session is on-demand - then you need to consecutively spend 10 minutes into a session before a popup is created.

Downloading the Session Attendance Time Tracking report

For Virtual Events making use of Virtual Attendance Tracking, use the Session Attendance Time Tracking report to gather your event’s session check in data.

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Data & Reports > Custom Reports
Above the custom reports table, select Create
Under Report Type, select Session Attendance Time Tracking
Under Fields, select the following as required

Session Title	The title of the session
First Name	The first name of the Attendee
Last Name	The last name of the Attendee
Email	The email of the attendee
Credits	This field will display the continuing education credits the attendee earned for the session
Time Duration	This is the duration of time the attendee was in the session for.

Under Sessions, select the individual session would like to get the data from
1. If you leave this blank and choose sessions as a field, the report will take data from every session in your event.
Select Save Changes

Exporting the Session Attendance Time Tracking Report as a CSV file

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Data & Reports > Custom Reports
Select the custom report related to Session Attendance Time Tracking from the list
Above the custom report table, select Actions > Generate Report
Select Download Previous Report

4. Adding CE Credits on a Per Track Basis

If you have the requirement of providing multiple types of CE credits on a per session basis, we have an advanced feature to add additional credits on a per Track basis. Attendees will receive an extra number of credits whenever they complete a session from this track. For more information on Tracks, please review our Personalizing Sessions using Tracks Formats Audiences article.

Adding Extra Credits to Tracks

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Tracks
Select a track you would like to add an extra credit to from the list
In the tracks editor form, navigate to Extra Credit Value and fill out a number
Select Save Changes

Associating a Track to a Session

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Sessions
Select a session you would like to add a track to from the list
In the session editor form, navigate to Other Details
Under Tracks, select a track from the list
Select Save Changes

In the PDF certificate, you will now see the extra credit associated with the session in a separate column.

5. Retrieving PDF Certificates

Once your sessions have finished, it’s important to know how to retrieve the PDF certificates so your attendees can acquire what they’ve deserved!

Send Certificates to Attendees via the Event Dashboard:

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Attendees > Attendees
Select an attendee you would like to get their PDF certificate from, from the list
Above the attendee table, select Actions > Certificate > Download
1. You also have the option to select Send Certificate. This will immediately send the PDF certificate to the attendee’s email address linked to their profile.
2. To edit this email, navigate to Communications > Email Templates from the Event Dashboard and search for Attendee Session Certificate. Here you can edit the custom content, add links, and more.

Enabling and Sending Certificates

If you're running a virtual event, entirely optional is a setting that allows your attendees to download their own certificates via their Account section in the virtual event portal itself.

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Settings
Under General, toggle on the Enable Certificate Export in Portals & Event App checkbox
Select Save Changes

Quick tip - Above the attendee table you can select Actions > Email > Attendee Portal Welcome. You can also select Event App Welcome and Virtual Event Welcome to send emails to attendees to direct them to specific portals.

How to Access a Certificate in the Event App:

From the Mobile Event App, navigate to the left hand side navigation menu,
In the navigation menu, navigate to Certificates
At the top of the page select Download Certificate

How to Access a Certificate in the Virtual Portal:

From the Virtual Event Portal, navigate to Account
Select Request New Certificate
1. Or select Download Previously Generated Certificate to obtain your certificate as well.

How to Access a Certificate in the Member Portal

From the Member Portal, navigate to Events
Select the Event you wish to download the certificate from
Select Download Certificate

6. Customizing the Certificate PDF

You may want to edit the certificate to have specific custom text, you have the option to do so.

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Settings > General
Under the Attendance Certificate Custom Content text box, write the custom content you would like to show up in the PDF certificate
Toggle on the Enable Certificate Export in Portals & Event App checkbox to allow attendees to download certificates from the Virtual Portal and PheedLoop Go!
Toggle on the Include Credit Total checkbox to display a total number of credits earned while attending sessions
1. This will appear under the Certificate of Attendance section in the certificate.
Select Save Changes

Customizing a Certificate on a Per Session Basis

If you want to add a specific set of text associated to a session in the certificate on a per session basis, you have the option to do so.

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Sessions
Select a session you would like to edit from the list
In the session editor form, navigate to Advanced Settings
Under Custom Certificate Content, fill out the information you want to have in the certificate
1. If you add something in this section, that content will appear underneath the session information itself in the certificate.

Quick Tip - if you want to remove certificate credit total - there's a function in Settings Session:

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Sessions > Settings > General
Toggle off the Include Credit Total checkbox
1. By toggling on this checkbox, it will show a cumulative total of credits earned in session certificates.

7. Downloading Session Check-in Data

After your event has concluded, you can easily gather all your attendee data with our custom reports feature.

Creating a Session Check In Report

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Data & Reports > Custom Reports
Above the custom reports table, select Create
Under Report Type, select Session Checkins
Under Fields, select the various fields related to session checkin and credit accumulation
1. Date In will reveal the time and date when they have checked in to the session
2. Session will reveal the session the attendee checked into.
3. Form will reveal the check-in survey form or any survey attached to the session.
Under Sessions, select the individual session would like to get the data from
1. If you leave this blank and choose sessions as a field, the report will take data from every session in your event.
Select Save Changes

Downloading the Session Check In Report

From the Event Dashboard, navigate to Data & Reports > Custom Reports
Select the custom report related to Session Checkins from the list
Above the custom report table, select Actions > Generate Report
Select Download Previous Report once it becomes available

Frequently Asked Questions

Manual Session Check-In - If you would like to check someone manually into a session and have this displayed in their certificate, you are able to do this as the event admin in your dashboard. To do this, please navigate to Sessions > Sessions > select a session Actions > Manual Session Check-in. If you are looking to check someone out of an event, you are also able to do the same thing via the same actions.