What is Lesson Invitation and how do I use this feature? (video subtitles provided in English, Español, Français, Italiano, Pусский, 中文, 日本語)

Tired of last-minute lesson cancellations or reschedules? 

Want to reserve time for your most loyal students? 

Need a 15-minute break between two lessons?

Want to schedule lessons within 12 hours?

Here’s Lesson Invitation! (release date Feb 19th 2020)

Click on "CC" to select subtitles in English, Español, Français, Italiano, Pусский, 中文, 日本語.

What is it?

Simply put, Lesson Invitation allows a teacher to invite his/her students to take lessons. Lessons initiated using Lesson Invitation can start in less, or more than 12 hours, and at any 15-minute interval e.g. 1:00, 1:15, 1:30, 1:45, 2:00. The feature will be released on both the italki website and mobile app in February 2020.

Lesson Invitation Rules

1. Only for current students or students who have filled in the “Contact Teacher Form”.
2. Only 1 Lesson Invitation can be sent to a student at a time (once the student accepts, another Lesson Invitation can be sent to the same student).
3. A Lesson Invitation will automatically be canceled after 12 hours if no action has been taken by the student.
4. Teachers will not be penalized for canceled or expired Lesson Invitations.
5. Do not use this feature to spam your students -  italki will monitor the usage of Lesson Invitation and if we receive student complaints you will no longer be able to use this feature. 
6. Lesson invitation is only applicable to individual lessons. Package lessons or trial lessons are not supported.

Key Benefits of Lesson Invitation

• Teachers have an opportunity to find replacement students for last-minute reschedules and cancellations.
• Teachers and students can have lessons at any time and the lesson can start at the next 15-minute interval (there must be a minimum buffer of 5 minutes to the next 15-minute interval). Example:
  • A student messages a teacher at 12:11 asking if the teacher is available for a lesson now. The teacher can send a Lesson Invitation to the student and select 12:30 which is the earliest time the lesson can start. 
  • If the above Lesson Invitation is sent at 12:10 or earlier, then the earliest time the lesson can start is 12:15.

• Teachers can more easily charge different prices for different students.
• Teachers can use the flexible intervals to assign 15-minute breaks in between lessons.
• Teachers can use Lesson Invitation to reserve specific time slots for specific students. 
• Lesson Invitation will override the available/unavailable time slots in your calendar, but will not affect confirmed lessons. Example:
  • You have not made 12:00 to 15:00 available (green slots) in your calendar, but you have the time to teach. By using Lesson Invitation you can have lessons during this time without needing to manually open up 12:00 to 15:00 in your calendar.  

Important Note: Lesson Invitation will work in conjunction with the current process where students send lesson requests to teachers.

Click on "CC" to select subtitles in English, Español, Français, Italiano, Pусский, 中文, 日本語.

How Do I Use Lesson Invitation?

When hovering over your profile picture you will see two NEW badges as below:

When clicking “My Lessons” you will see 3 categories, one of which is Lesson Invitation. This is where all your sent Lesson Invitations will be recorded.

When clicking “My Students”, you will find the Lesson Invitation icon (highlighted in red). Lesson Invitation can be sent to Students (those who have had at least 1 lesson with you ) and Potential Students (those who have filled in your Contact Teacher Form but not yet booked a lesson).

By clicking  , you can create a Lesson Invitation to send to your student.

Firstly, choose the lesson language, lesson type, price, and communication tool. You have the option to easily set a different price for this lesson:

Click Next and select a time and date for this lesson. Choose an available time slot:

Then confirm the details of this Lesson Invitation and send it to your student:

Under “My Lessons” you will see a record of this Lesson Invitation and its status:

If you wish to make changes to this Lesson Invitation, click on it and you will have the option to cancel it without being penalized:

Students will receive your Lesson Invitation in their Messages and on their Student Dashboard. They can respond to the Lesson Invitation by clicking “Accept” or “Decline”. If the student does not respond, the Lesson Invitation will expire after 12 hours.

For teachers, once your Lesson Invitation is accepted, your Lesson Invitation will become an upcoming lesson displayed under the “Lessons” tab as an Upcoming Lesson.

If you need any help or have questions please contact us at support@italki.com