Live Sessions

Session Types

Individual Sessions

One-on-one sessions with a single student.

• Linked to one specific StudentCourse enrollment
• Direct teacher-student interaction
• Personalized attention and pacing
• Ideal for tutoring, assessments, and conversation practice

Group Sessions

Multiple students in one session.

• One LiveSession with multiple SessionParticipant records
• Students from same course or multiple courses
• Each participant's attendance tracked separately
• Link to a StudentGroup for recurring sessions

Scheduling a Session

Preparing for a Session

Content Preparation

• Review the lesson plan or course lesson linked to the session
• Prepare presentation slides or visual aids
• Organize screen-share content (websites, documents)
• Plan interactive activities and discussion topics
• Create polls or quick-check questions
• Have a backup plan for technical issues

Technical Setup

Equipment Checklist:

• Computer charged or plugged in
• Close unnecessary programs
• Camera working and positioned at eye level
• Good lighting on your face
• Microphone clear and at proper level
• Headphones ready (prevents echo)
• Internet speed at least 5 Mbps

Environment Checklist:

• Quiet location with "do not disturb" sign
• Clean, professional background
• Water and notes within reach
• Clock or timer visible
• Phone silenced
• Email and notifications closed

Pre-Session Communication

Send a reminder to your students 24 hours before:

• Date, time, and timezone
• How to join (the link will be active 10 minutes before)
• What to prepare (complete a specific lesson, bring questions)
• What will be covered
• Technical requirements (camera, microphone)

Conducting the Session

Joining and Starting

1. Join the session 10 minutes early from Schedule -> find your session -> click "Join Session"
2. Allow camera and microphone access
3. Select audio input/output devices
4. Check video preview
5. Mute microphone until ready

Welcome Phase (First 5 Minutes)

• Greet each student by name as they join
• Quick audio/video check: "Can you hear me? Can you see my screen?"
• Brief small talk to build rapport
• Share the session agenda and set expectations
• Establish norms: how to ask questions, when to speak, chat usage

Teaching Phase

Review (5 minutes): Quick recap of the previous lesson, ask review questions, connect to today's topic.

Present New Material (15 minutes): Share your screen with slides or lesson content. Speak clearly and at an appropriate pace. Ask questions frequently to maintain engagement. Use the laser pointer or highlighter for emphasis.

Interactive Practice (15 minutes): Group pronunciation practice, role-play scenarios, whiteboard exercises, chat-based responses.

Discussion and Q&A (10 minutes): Open the floor for questions. Check the chat for written questions. Clarify confusing points. Encourage students to unmute and participate.

Wrap-Up (5 minutes): Summarize key takeaways. Assign homework with clear instructions and due date. Preview the next session. Thank students and end on a positive note.

In-Session Tools

Screen Sharing: Share slides, demonstrate websites, show documents, play videos.

Whiteboard: Draw diagrams, write examples, collaborative annotation, visual explanations.

Group Chat: Real-time text messaging between all session participants. Teachers and students can send messages during the session (see Group Chat section below).

Polls: Quick comprehension checks, opinion gathering, engagement boosters.

Video Call Dock (Group Sessions)

In group sessions, the video call dock automatically resizes when participants join or leave. When a student joins and the filmstrip appears, the dock expands to accommodate multiple video feeds. When participants leave, it shrinks back. The resize happens with a smooth transition.

If you manually resize the dock, the auto-resize pauses for a few seconds to respect your preference before resuming.

Session Management Tips

• Time Management: Watch the clock, adjust if running behind, do not rush important points
• Equal Participation: Call on students by name, rotate who answers
• Energy: Vary your voice, use humor, take short breaks if session is long
• Technical Issues: Have a backup plan, be patient, use chat as fallback for audio problems

After the Session

Mark Session Complete

1. Go to "Schedule"
2. Find the completed session
3. Mark as "Completed"
4. Record attendance for each participant
5. Add session notes

Provide Scores and Feedback

For each student, you can score on a 1-5 scale across multiple dimensions:

• Speaking score
• Listening score
• Reading score
• Writing score
• Grammar score
• Vocabulary score
• Engagement score
• Teacher comment (up to 1024 characters)

Viewing Feedback in the Session

Once a session is verified, both teachers and students can see the feedback directly in the session view — a Teacher Feedback banner appears showing the scores and written comment. Teachers also see a hint: "To change feedback, find this homework in Homework and revoke verification."

Send Follow-Up

Within 24 hours, send a follow-up message including:

• Key points covered
• Shared resources and materials
• Homework assignment details
• Next session date, time, and preparation instructions

Reflect and Improve

After each session, take a few minutes to note:

• What went well
• What to improve
• Pacing adjustments needed
• Content that needs clarification
• Activities to try next time

Session Status Flow

Sessions follow a defined lifecycle:

• scheduled -- Session created, waiting for start time
• active -- Session is currently in progress
• ended -- Session completed normally
• canceled -- Session was canceled before it took place

Lesson Library & Switching

During an individual live session, teachers can switch to a different lesson from the course without leaving the video call. This is useful when you want to revisit a previous lesson, jump ahead, or pull up supplementary material on the fly.

How It Works

1. Click the "Lesson Library" button (book icon) in the session toolbar.
2. A side panel opens showing all lessons in the student's enrollment.
3. Search and filter by name, lesson type (Class, Homework, Independent), or status (Completed, Upcoming).
4. Click "Open Here" on any lesson to switch to it within the current session. The video call continues uninterrupted — only the lesson content changes.
5. To return to the original session lesson, click "Return to Session Lesson" at the top of the page.

You can also click "Open in New Tab" to view a lesson in a separate window without switching the session content.

Student Edit Permissions

During an individual live session, you can control whether the student can edit the shared lesson document in real time.

How to Toggle Edit Access

1. Hover over (desktop) or tap (mobile) the student's avatar in the session toolbar. A popover opens.
2. Look for the pencil icon button in the actions row:
   • Green pencil — student can edit the document
   • Red pencil-off — student is in view-only mode
3. Click the button to toggle. The change takes effect immediately.
4. The student receives a real-time notification and the document switches mode for them instantly.

Group Chat

Live sessions include a built-in group chat for real-time text communication during the session.

How It Works

• Both teachers and students can send text messages while the session is active.
• Messages are visible to all participants in the session.
• Chat messages are saved and can be reviewed after the session ends.
• The chat panel appears on the right side of the session interface.

Use Cases

• Students can ask questions without interrupting the speaker.
• Teachers can share links, vocabulary, or instructions in writing.
• Quick comprehension checks ("Type the answer in chat").
• Side notes that complement the live audio/video discussion.

Recurring Schedules

For enrollments with regular lesson times, you can set up recurring schedule rules so that sessions are automatically generated.

Setting Up a Recurring Schedule

1. Open the student's enrollment detail page.
2. Navigate to the Schedule section.
3. Click "Add Schedule Rule".
4. Configure:
   • Day of the week (e.g., Monday, Wednesday)
   • Time (e.g., 14:00)
   • Default lesson length (e.g., 45 minutes)
5. Save the rule.

The platform generates calendar placeholders based on these rules. You can still adjust or cancel individual sessions without affecting the recurring pattern.

Default Lesson Length

Each enrollment can have a default lesson length (in minutes). This determines the default duration for sessions created from schedule rules. You can override it for individual sessions when needed.

Instant Lessons

An instant lesson is a temporary lesson created on-the-fly during a live session. Unlike regular course lessons, instant lessons:

• Do not appear in the course lesson list
• Are tied to a specific session
• Are useful for spontaneous content, warmup activities, or ad-hoc exercises
• Can still contain exercises, vocabulary, and all regular editor content

To create an instant lesson, click "Create Instant Lesson" during an active session. The editor opens inline, and the lesson is automatically linked to the current session.

Lesson Analysis

After a student completes a lesson, you can request an AI-powered analysis of their performance. The analysis examines the student's answers across all exercises in the lesson and produces a detailed report.

What the Analysis Provides

• Performance summary — overall assessment of how the student did
• Exercise breakdown — correct/incorrect counts per exercise type, with error patterns identified
• Strengths and weaknesses — what the student did well and where they struggled
• Essay feedback — quality rating and detailed feedback (if the lesson contained essay exercises)
• Lesson recommendations — suggested follow-up topics with rationale and focus skills
• Learning plan — immediate focus areas and suggested exercises

How to Trigger Analysis

1. Open the student's enrollment page.
2. Find the completed lesson in the lesson list (status must be "Passed" or "Verified").
3. Click the brain icon next to the lesson.
4. A confirmation dialog shows the token cost. Click "Analyze" to proceed.
5. The analysis runs asynchronously. When complete, the brain icon turns yellow — click it to view the report in a side panel.

Analysis can also be triggered for the 20 most recent lessons at once using the bulk analysis option.

Token Costs

• Single lesson analysis: 70 tokens
• Bulk analysis (last 20 lessons): 500 tokens

The analysis runs asynchronously — you can continue working while the report generates. Reports are produced in the student's target language.

Student Balance After Group Sessions

After a group session ends, students can view any token balance changes resulting from the session on their billing page. This provides transparency on session-related costs when applicable.

Troubleshooting

Student Can't Join

1. Send direct join link
2. Verify they are logged in to the correct account
3. Try a different browser
4. Check firewall settings
5. Use phone audio as backup

Audio/Video Problems

• Restart the browser
• Check camera/microphone permissions in browser settings
• Try headphones to eliminate echo
• Use chat as a backup communication channel
• Switch to phone audio if internet is unstable
• Group sessions use optimized audio settings for multi-participant calls. If you experience audio issues, the platform will show a friendly error message with troubleshooting suggestions

Screen Share Not Working

• Try sharing a specific window instead of entire screen
• Check browser permissions for screen sharing
• Try a different browser (Chrome works best)
• Have a PDF backup of your slides to send via chat

Low Engagement

• Ask direct questions using student names
• Use polls for quick interaction
• Change the activity type (switch from lecture to practice)
• Take a short 2-minute break

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Next Steps

• Student Groups - Organize students for group sessions
• Homework Management - Assign follow-up work after sessions
• Use Cases: Conducting a Live Session - Full walkthrough
• Use Cases: Scheduling Group Sessions - Group session setup

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Q&A

What video platform does the Lex Platform use?

Live sessions use our internal video calls platform for video conferencing. It runs directly in the browser -- no additional software installation is needed.

How many students can join a group session?

Group sessions support multiple participants. The exact limit depends on your plan and server capacity. For best interaction quality, groups of 3-5 students are recommended.

What happens if I need to cancel a session?

Go to the session in your schedule and click "Cancel". All participants will be notified automatically. If the session had a linked course lesson, it remains available for rescheduling.