Offline Working: Registers, Logbooks and Evidence Without a Connection

Summary

Offline working lets facilitators take the register and learners record logbook entries and capture portfolio evidence in skillSYMS Desktop with no connection. You choose what to take offline on skillsyms.com, the desktop app downloads it, you work on site, and everything syncs when you reconnect — signed, with the time it was captured, and with conflicting edits kept for an administrator to decide.

Who This Guide Is For

• Administrators switching offline working on and trusting devices
• Facilitators who deliver sessions in venues with poor or no connectivity
• Learners recording workplace logbook entries and evidence on site

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• skillSYMS Desktop installed from skillsyms.com/download and signed in once while online
• For administrators: permission to manage devices (Settings → Devices)
• For facilitators: sessions you facilitate in the next few days
• For learners: a learner record linked to your account

Step 1: Switch Offline Working On (Administrators)

1. Go to Settings → Devices (/sdp/settings/devices) and click Desktop policy.
2. Tick Allow offline mode.
3. Set Offline retention (days) — how long a downloaded pack stays usable before it expires.
4. Click Save policy.

Offline data can only be held by trusted devices. In the device list, click Manage on each computer your staff carry and choose Change trust level → Trusted (or Managed for institution-owned computers). An Untrusted device is told offline working is not available.

Step 2: Choose What to Take Offline

Staff: open Me → Offline Packs (/sdp/offline). Learners: open Help & account → Work Offline (/learner/offline).

Under Take something offline, click Make available offline on:

The pack appears under My offline packs. Your desktop downloads it the next time it checks in while online (within about 15 minutes, or immediately with Sync Now).

Tip: Add My upcoming classes the afternoon before you travel, then open skillSYMS Desktop once while still connected.

Step 3: Open the Sync Centre

In skillSYMS Desktop, open Offline & Sync Centre from the tray icon. If you start the app with no connection, the welcome screen shows Work offline.

The Sync Centre shows the connection state, Waiting to sync, Conflicts, Failed and Synced counts, and the Offline Packs on this computer. The links above the page title open Classes, Verify, Logbook, Evidence and Timetable.

Step 4: Run the Class (Facilitators)

1. Open Classes and choose the Session. Its Lesson plan is shown if one was attached.
2. Under Register, tap Present, Late, Absent or Excused for each learner. Use Mark everyone unmarked present for a full class, then correct the exceptions.
3. When the register is complete, click Finalise register, then click it again to confirm. It finalises in skillSYMS when it syncs, after your marks.
4. Under Teaching journal, record whether the session was delivered, how far the objectives were met, what was not covered and any follow-up, then click Submit journal.

Each tap is saved on the computer immediately, with the time you marked it. If the register was already finalised online, your marks are recorded as amendments.

Step 5: Record a Logbook Entry (Learners)

1. Open Logbook.
2. Fill in What did you do?, the Date, Hours, and optionally the Module code, Description and Reflection.
3. To send it for sign-off, tick Submit for supervisor verification when it syncs.
4. Click Save entry.

The form saves as you type — close the laptop mid-sentence and it is restored next time. Unticked entries sync as drafts. Only supervisor-verified entries count toward your hours.

Timetable shows your sessions for the next two weeks, as they were when the computer last synced.

Step 6: Verify Logbook Entries (Workplace Supervisors)

1. Add the Logbook entries to verify pack on skillsyms.com, then connect once.
2. In skillSYMS Desktop, open Verify.
3. Confirm each entry, or return it with a note saying what needs correcting.

Your decisions are recorded when you sync. You can only decide on entries for learners you are assigned to supervise.

Step 7: Capture Evidence (Learners)

1. Open Evidence and choose the Evidence type.
2. Drag photos or documents onto the drop area, or click to choose files.

Each file is encrypted on the computer and uploads to your portfolio when the connection allows. Files are limited to 10 MB each.

Step 8: Sync and Check

When you are back online, sync runs automatically every couple of minutes. To sync straight away, open the Sync Centre and click Sync Now.

• Synced — the change is in skillSYMS.
• Needs review — someone changed the same record online meanwhile; an administrator will decide.
• Failed — the change was refused, with the reason shown (for example, the learner is no longer on the session’s register).

Under Uploads you can choose Core records only (hold large files) on a slow connection, or Paused.

Step 9: Resolve Conflicts (Administrators)

1. Go to Settings → Offline Sync (/sdp/settings/devices/sync).
2. Under Conflicts, click Review.
3. Compare the Server version and the Offline version, and read the offline audit history.
4. Choose Keep the server version, Keep the offline version or Escalate to someone else, add a note, and click Apply decision.

Resolving a conflict needs the same permission as editing that kind of record — for example, resolving an attendance conflict needs permission to capture attendance.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Forgetting to download before travelling: a pack only reaches the computer while it is online.
2. Leaving devices untrusted: untrusted devices cannot hold offline data, whatever the policy says.
3. Expecting assessment results offline: marks are not captured offline; capture them when connected.
4. Ignoring “Needs review”: conflicts wait for an administrator; they do not resolve themselves.
5. Signing in for the first time on site: each computer must sign in once while online to register.

Verification Checklist

Before relying on offline working, verify:

• Allow offline mode is ticked in the desktop policy
• The computers your staff carry are Trusted or Managed
• My offline packs shows the pack, with a download time
• The Sync Centre on the computer lists the pack and its record count
• A test mark synced and shows as Synced

Next Steps

• Workplace Logbook — How supervisors verify entries
• Portfolio of Evidence — What happens to evidence after upload
• Deploying skillSYMS Desktop — Installs, Group Policy, kiosk mode and device trust
• Download skillSYMS Desktop — Windows, Mac and Linux