The following describes the side menu options.
Environments
Select the Environments option at the top of the side menu, above Users, to open the Environments drawer.
When preparing and running an experience session, an instructor can create their own dedicated environment directly from the Instructor Console. For example, an instructor may create and share an environment with participants in order to demonstrate workflows, troubleshoot issues, or provide a live example that participants can follow in real time.
The Environments drawer is organized into three tabs: Shared, Personal, and Instructors.
Each tab that contains an environment displays two sections: Environment Status and VMs List.
Environment Status
The Environment Status card shows the current state of the environment as it's created and while it runs:
Before an environment has been created, the Environment Status card shows Not Created. An instructor clicks + Create to create the environment for that tab (Personal or Shared).
Once created, the Environment Status card instead shows the environment's live state:
- Status indicator & progress bar: A checkmark and label (e.g., Ready) show that the environment has finished spinning up. While VMs are still being provisioned, this area instead shows a progress bar reflecting spin-up progress, along with a status label reflecting the current state.
- VM count: Shows how many of the environment's VMs are ready.
- Remaining runtime: A countdown showing how much time is left before the environment is automatically suspended.
- Deletes in: A countdown showing how much time is left before the environment is automatically deleted.
Below the status details, the following actions are available:
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Resume/Suspend: Resumes/Pauses the environment.
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Extend: Extends the environment's remaining runtime.
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View: Opens the environment so the instructor can work in it.
VMs List
Below the Environment Status card, the VMs List shows each VM included in the environment:
- A status icon (a green checkmark once the VM is ready).
- The VM name.
- A protocol selector (for example, RDP or Console), letting the instructor choose how to connect.
- An Open link to launch the VM using the selected protocol.
Personal Tab
The Personal tab shows the instructor's own environment — its Environment Status and VMs List, as described above. This is where the instructor can create and use their personal environment.
Instructors Tab
The Instructors tab lists the environments owned by other instructors in this experience, and a status indicator for each instructor.
Shared Tab
CloudShare enables multiple participants to access a Shared Environment in which they can work on the same VM at the same time.
Shared Environments can be created by an instructor as described in [Beta] Creating and Managing Shared Resources.
Note: It may take a few minutes to create the network and for it to be connected. It will only be seen in the Participants Viewer after it has been created.
After an instructor has created a Shared Environment, participants can access shared VMs in the VMs List of the Participants Viewer, as shown below. Multiple participants can then work on these VMs simultaneously.
The Shared tab shows the same Environment Status layout described above for the experience's Shared Environment. If no Shared Environment exists yet, the instructor clicks + Create to create one; once created, the tab also displays the VMs List, and the instructor can check the environment's status, extend it, suspend it, and open its VMs.
Users
Select the Users option in the side menu to display the User List, which provides a quick, at-a-glance view of all participants and instructors in the current experience, along with their current status. It enables instructors to check participant connectivity, communicate directly with participants and the instructors, and manage each participant's environment.
The User List is displayed as shown above.
The User List has two tabs:
- Participants Tab: Displays all the Participants in the Experience. The tab name shows the total number of participants added to this experience.
- Instructors Tab: Displays all instructors assigned to the Experience. The tab name shows the number of instructors assigned to this experience.
Participants Tab – Users List
The following describes the options in the Participants tab (shown above) of the Users List.
Search and Select
- Search Participants: Enables the filtering of participants by name.
- Select All: Selects all users in the current list. This enables the application of bulk actions, such as Test Connectivity.
Group Statuses
Participants in the list are grouped by their current environment status. Each group can be expanded or collapsed
for easier navigation.
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Active: Participants who are currently connected and working in their environments are marked with a green
dot.
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Invited: Participants who received an invitation but have not yet joined are marked with an orange
dot.
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Suspended: Participants whose environments have been paused, either automatically or by an instructor, are marked with a red
dot.
Additional statuses may appear that list participants by status, such as Resuming.
Icons and Actions
The following indicators and options are provided for instructors regarding the users in this list:
Connectivity Icon: Shows the participant’s current network state.
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: A white icon indicates that the instructor is connected and can conduct a connectivity test.
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: A green icon indicates that an instructor is connected and has run a connectivity test.
See Running a Connectivity Test for more information.
Chats : Opens a private chat side pane with this participant. Unread messages are represented by a red badge counter on this icon.
Assist Me : A raised-hand icon appears when a participant requests help using the Assist Me option in the Participants Viewer. This icon remains visible until the instructor provides assistance. The instructor can click on this icon to provide assistance.
Three-Dot Menu: Provides participant-specific actions that depend on the participant’s environment state, such as viewing information, analytics, enabling live thumbnails, zooming in, opening or reverting environments, suspending or resuming, extending runtime, deleting environments, and performing connectivity tests.
Instructors Tab – Users List
Clicking the Instructors tab displays a list of all the instructors assigned to this experience.
Chats
Select the Chats option in the side menu to display a Chats side panel that has two tabs:
- Participants Tab: Displays all Group Chats messages sent by participants in the experience, as well as the responses/messages sent by instructors to all participants.
- Instructors Tab: Displays all messages sent by instructors and is visible to all instructors.
A badge appears in the side menu to indicate the number of new chat messages.
Participant Tab – Chats Panel
The Participants tab enables an instructor to view messages from any participant who has sent a Group Chat message. In this Chats side pane, all participants can see all messages, as well as all instructor responses.
Personal chat messages from a participant can be seen in the User List and in a participant’s Thumbnail.
Instructors Tab – Chats Panel
Clicking the Instructors tab allows instructors to chat with one another. Messaging between instructors is visible to all instructors and hidden from all participants.
Analytics
Select the Analytics option in the side menu to display a wide variety of charts and graphs that provide instructors with insight into the participant population, their engagement, and their progress throughout the experience. This information is organized into three tabs: Participation, Collaboration, and Performance. The information is live and updates as the experience progresses.
Participation Tab
This tab (shown above) provides an overview of the participant population and their activity, featuring charts that track attendance trends and display the geographic distribution of participants, including participation timelines and counts by country.
Collaboration Tab
This tab represents participant engagement, showing both peer-to-peer collaboration and interaction with the instructor using chat messages and Assist Me options.
Performance Tab
This tab tracks progress within the experience content itself. These analytics enable instructors to identify inactive participants, recognize engagement patterns, and support participants who may be struggling to keep up.
Accessing Analytics – Experience-Wide or Participant-Specific
An instructor can access either Experience-Wide or Participant-Specific analytics to view charts and graphs that summarize overall participation, collaboration, and performance across the experience.
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Experience-Wide: To view aggregated analytics for all participants in an experience, select Analytics
in the side menu.
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Participant-Specific: To view analytics for an individual participant, open the Zoom In view for that participant and then select Analytics
External Resources
The External Resources option enables an instructor to display the details of the external resources (URLs or machine addresses) that are accessible in this experience from External Cloud, as shown below: