In the tutor-led classroom, the Tutor runs the room. They start the Lesson, let Students in from a waiting list, and hand the room over when the next Lesson is due. Bobbin no longer guesses from the timetable which Lesson is running, so attendance, recordings and Lesson insights are tied to the Lesson the Tutor actually started.
Tutors do all of this from the Lesson tools panel, which floats over the classroom. It starts in the bottom-left corner, and Tutors can move it to any corner by clicking the small grid icon at the top of the panel and choosing where it should go. Bobbin remembers the corner on that browser. The panel can be minimized, and it opens again by itself when someone new asks to join.
How a Lesson runs
The Tutor starts the Lesson: The panel lists the Course's Lessons for the week, with the one due now first. The Tutor clicks Start next to the Lesson they're running. While it runs, they can use Switch lesson or End lesson.
Students wait to be let in: A Student or parent who opens their classroom link while a Tutor is in the room sees a waiting page. They appear under Waiting to join, and the Tutor clicks Let in or Turn away.
The first Tutor to arrive takes the room: If Students are already in the classroom when the first Tutor arrives, they move to the waiting list and the Tutor lets them in.
Students follow the Lesson: Starting, switching or ending a Lesson reloads the classroom, and the Students already in it move along with the Tutor.
Removing someone: Use the whiteboard's own controls to remove a person from the room.
What Tutors can see while a Lesson runs
Once a Lesson is running, the Lesson tools panel lists four things the Tutor can open without leaving the classroom. Each one takes over the panel, with a back arrow to return to the controls. With several Students on the Lesson, the Tutor switches between them using the name tabs at the top.
Lesson plan: the running Lesson's objectives and plan. If the Lesson has no plan yet and AI is on for that Course or Lesson, the Tutor can type an optional brief and click Create a plan, and Bobbin drafts one in about a minute.
Last lesson: the most recent Lesson on the Course before this one: its topic and date, what it covered, each Student's next steps (if you show next steps in Lesson insights), and the Tutor's notes from it.
About the students: each Student's learning profile, read-only, if you use learning profiles.
Notes: the Tutor's notes on each Student for this Lesson. These are the same notes as on the Lesson's page, and the Student's Client sees them in the Lesson Report. The Tutor can edit them before the report is sent.
About the students and Notes only show when the Lesson has Students on it.
Handing over to the next Tutor
If a Tutor arrives for their Lesson while another Tutor's Lesson is still running, they'll see whose Lesson is in progress and can ask to take over the room. The request appears in the other Tutor's panel, with Hand over and Keep the classroom.
If the Tutor running the room doesn't answer, the room is handed over automatically about a minute after they've seen the request, or once their Lesson's scheduled end time has passed. Administrators can always move the room on.
Start a lesson before students join their tutor
This setting is under Organization > Settings > Lessons and is turned on by default.
On: Students wait until their Tutor has started a Lesson before they can be let in. If a Tutor ends a Lesson and stays in the room, Students wait until the next Lesson starts.
Off: A Tutor can let Students into the open classroom without starting a Lesson first. Ending a Lesson shows the Students in the room that it has ended.
Either way, a Student on their own can still use the classroom when no Tutor is there, and a Student stays in the room if their Tutor drops out part way through.
Let tutors into the classroom during another tutor's lesson
Each Course has one classroom. Normally, if a Tutor opens it while another Tutor's Lesson is running, they're shown whose Lesson it is and asked to take over (see Handing over to the next Tutor above).
With this setting on, any Tutor on the Course can go straight into the running Lesson as a visitor instead. This is useful if several Tutors share a classroom, for example so a Tutor can set up before their own Lesson or sit in to support a colleague.
Turning it on
Go to Organization > Settings > Lessons.
Turn on Let tutors into the classroom during another tutor's lesson.
It's off by default. Turning it off stops new visits straight away, but a Tutor who's already visiting stays until they leave or reload the page.
What a visiting Tutor can and can't do
The classroom has two sets of controls, and a visiting Tutor gets different rights in each:
Bobbin's Lesson tools panel: this is where Tutors Start, Switch lesson and End lesson, which decides which Lesson the room is running. A visiting Tutor can't use these while the Lesson's own Tutor is in the room. If they want to run their own Lesson, they ask to take over in the usual way.
The whiteboard itself: a visiting Tutor has full Tutor controls here, the same as the Lesson's own Tutor. That includes the whiteboard's option to end the session for everyone.
Note: Ending the session from the whiteboard closes it for everyone in the room, including the Lesson's own Tutor and their Students. Let your Tutors know that visitors shouldn't use it.
A visiting Tutor also:
doesn't see the Lesson's Student list or Students' join links
can't let waiting Students in or turn them away
can't add a second device
Attendance and feedback
A visiting Tutor's time in the room, and anything they say, is recorded against the Lesson that's running.
They don't get AI teaching feedback for a Lesson they visit. Feedback is only written for Tutors who are on the Lesson, so if a Tutor regularly teaches a Lesson they aren't listed on, add them to it.
Before you turn it on
Only turn this on if you're happy for your Tutors to be in each other's Lessons. The Lesson's own Tutor can't keep a visiting Tutor out. If you need to stop visits, turn the setting off.
The classroom library
Tutors and Administrators can add ready-made resources to the whiteboard from the library inside the classroom. As well as your organization's files, the Course's files and their own library, it has Math, Language, Science, Music and Other tabs, with worksheets, diagrams, music notation, stickers and a few blank whiteboards and lesson plans. Each tab can be searched, and files can't be uploaded to them. Students and Clients don't see the library tabs.
If someone opens the Tutor's link
Everyone has their own classroom link. A Tutor's link is personal to them and won't sign anyone else in. If a Student, parent or anyone else opens it, they see This link belongs to your tutor and are asked to type their name and click Ask to join.
Their request appears under Waiting to join in the Tutor's Lesson tools, with the name they typed. Bobbin can't tell who they are from the link, so the Tutor chooses which Student on the Lesson they are:
To let them in: click the Student's name under Let them in as. They join as that Student, and their attendance is recorded against that Student.
If you don't recognize the name: click Turn away.
This only works while a Lesson is running, and only Students on that Lesson are offered.
Note: You can't let someone in as an Administrator or Tutor this way. If the person you pick also has an Administrator or Tutor role in your organization, you'll see That person joins as a tutor, so they cannot be let in this way. They should sign in to Bobbin with their own details instead.
To avoid this, make sure Students always use their own link. Each Student's link is on the Lesson's page in Bobbin, and under Join links in the Lesson tools panel. Students can also join from their lesson reminder emails.
Testing the classroom
If you'd like to try a Lesson before your Tutors and Students use it, set your test up the way it will run for real. Bobbin decides who someone is from the link or login they use, not from who is sitting at the computer, so a test where one person plays several roles can give confusing results.
Use a different person for each role. Bobbin always treats an Administrator or Tutor as someone who runs the room, so the same person can't also join as the Student.
Use each person's own link. The Tutor signs in to Bobbin and clicks Join Space. The Student opens their own link, not the Tutor's.
Use a separate device for each person. If you open a Student's link on the Tutor's computer, that window joins as the Student, so the Tutor appears in the classroom under the Student's name.
Start the Lesson first. The Tutor clicks Start in Lesson tools before letting the Student in, so attendance is recorded against the right Lesson.
Attendance
Attendance counts from when the Tutor starts the Lesson. That means a Student who looked in early and left before the Lesson started isn't marked as present. A Student who's in an online Lesson for less than a minute is marked absent, though their Tutor can still mark them present. If a Tutor starts a Lesson early, the attendance email still goes out ten minutes after the Lesson's scheduled start.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a Student stuck on a waiting page?
A Tutor is already in the room, or a Lesson has been started, and the Tutor hasn’t let the Student in yet. Ask the Tutor to check Waiting to join in their Lesson tools and click Let in.
Why can’t a Student get in with their Tutor?
The Tutor may not have started the Lesson yet. If Start a lesson before students join their tutor is turned on, the Tutor needs to start the Lesson before they can let anyone in.
The Lesson tools panel is covering part of the whiteboard. Can it be moved?
Yes. Click the grid icon at the top of the panel and pick another corner. You can also minimize the panel to a small bar.
Why does a Student see "This link belongs to your tutor"?
They've opened their Tutor's link instead of their own. They can type their name and ask to join, and the Tutor can let them in as the right Student. See If someone opens the Tutor's link above. For next time, send them their own link.
Why can't a Tutor let someone in, with the message "That person joins as a tutor"?
The person the Tutor picked has an Administrator or Tutor role in your organization, and Bobbin won't seat them in a Student's place. They should sign in to Bobbin with their own details and join the Lesson that way.
Why does someone appear in the classroom under another person's name?
Bobbin names each person after the link they joined with. If someone opens another person's link, for example a Tutor testing with a Student's link on their own computer, they appear under that person's name. Ask everyone to join with their own link.
Why is a Tutor seeing someone else’s Lesson in the classroom?
Another Tutor’s Lesson is still running in the room. The Tutor who’s arrived can ask to take over from the page they see, and the Tutor running the room can choose Hand over or Keep the classroom. If they don’t answer, the room is handed over automatically about a minute after they’ve seen the request, or once their Lesson’s scheduled end time has passed. Administrators can always move the room on. If you'd rather Tutors could go straight in, see Let tutors into the classroom during another tutor's lesson above.
Why did the whiteboard close for everyone during a Lesson?
Someone with Tutor controls in the whiteboard ended the session. If Let tutors into the classroom during another tutor's lesson is on, that can include a visiting Tutor. Ask your Tutors not to end the whiteboard session in a Lesson that isn't theirs.
Why can’t Students hear a video a Tutor is sharing?
Sound from a shared screen only comes through when the Tutor shares a Chrome tab, not a window or their whole screen. Ask the Tutor to open the video in its own tab in Google Chrome, click the screen-share icon in the classroom, choose Chrome Tab, pick the tab, tick the box in the bottom-left corner to share the tab's audio, and click Share.