Virtual and blended classes
Teach live online over Zoom, Meet or Teams with a private meeting link for registered students, and run blended courses with an online part before class.
Updated · JoinCPR help center
JoinCPR handles two kinds of online teaching:
- Virtual classes: the whole class happens live online. You create a virtual location, schedule classes at it, and registered students receive the meeting link automatically. Public pages say "Online" and never show the link.
- Blended courses: students complete an online part (HeartCode BLS, an eLearning module, a video) before an in-person or virtual session. You describe the online part on the course, and it appears on the course and class pages and in every confirmation and reminder.
The two combine freely: a blended course can be taught in a hall or over Zoom.
Virtual locations
Under Manage → Locations, create a location and set its Type to Online (virtual). The address fields are replaced by:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Meeting link (default) | Optional. Used for every class held here unless the class sets its own link. Handy when you use one personal Zoom or Meet room for everything. |
| Joining instructions | Optional, up to 1000 characters. Sent with the link in confirmation and reminder emails, for example "Join 10 minutes early and keep your camera on for the skills check." |
A virtual location shows an Online badge in the list and reads "Online" wherever an address would appear: the class list, checkout, receipts, sign-in sheets, reports and calendar entries. Switching a location back to in person clears its link and instructions.
Tip
Create one virtual location per platform ("Zoom Classroom", "Google Meet") rather than one per class. Put the per-class link on the class itself.
Scheduling an online class
On the class form, pick the virtual location. A Meeting link for this class field appears:
- Leave it blank to use the location's default link.
- Enter a link to use a different one for this class only, for example a per-session Zoom link. Recurring classes created together share the link you enter.
Everything else about the class is unchanged: capacity, price, instructors, publishing, private client classes and the waitlist all work the same. If a virtual class has no link from either place, the class page shows an amber "No meeting link yet" reminder to staff, and the emails go out without a link until you add one.
Who sees the meeting link
The link is private. It goes to:
- Registered students, in the Registration Confirmation and Class Reminder emails (see below), on the checkout success page, in My Account → Upcoming Classes as a Join online class button, and in the calendar file they download.
- Staff, on the class page's Location card with a Copy button, and in the Google, Outlook and iCal calendar events.
- Instructors, on the instructor class page.
It never appears on the public class list, class page, course page, embeds, the client portal's class list, or in search engines. Public pages read "Online class · Held live over Zoom Classroom. The link to join is emailed to you after you register." The class title Google sees ends in "Online" instead of a city.
Blended courses: the online part
On the course form (create or edit), fill in Online part before class:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Link to the online part | Optional. Where students go to do it, such as the AHA eLearning page. |
| Instructions | Optional, up to 1000 characters. "Complete the HeartCode BLS online module before class and bring your certificate of completion." |
Either field alone is enough. When set, a Before class block appears on the course page (as "Before Class: Online Part"), on each class page of that course, on the checkout success page, and in the emails through the {{online_prework}} tag.
JoinCPR does not track whether a student finished the online part; ask for the certificate at the door, or add a registration question such as "Have you completed the online module?".
Emails and texts
Two merge tags carry the online details and are empty for ordinary classes, so templates you have already customised keep working:
{{meeting_link}}: a Join Online Class button followed by the joining instructions.{{online_prework}}: the "Before class" note and a Start the Online Part button.
Both are included in the default Registration Confirmation and Class Reminder templates. If you customised those templates before this feature existed, add the tags where you want them under Email templates. As a safety net, {{class_location}} itself reads "Online (Zoom Classroom) — https://zoom.us/…" for a virtual class, so a template that prints the location still delivers the link, and {{class_address}} is the link on its own.
The SMS reminder says "…is tomorrow, Tue Apr 15 at 2:00 PM online (the join link is in your confirmation email)". Texts never carry the link.
Calendars
- Google and Outlook events for instructors put the meeting link in the location field, which Google shows as a join button, and repeat it in the description.
- The iCal feed and the student's downloadable calendar file use the link as the event location.