Feature – Multi-Profile Accounts

Ever had a new student come to you and been unable to connect to you via the student app because their previous instructor also used MyDriveTime?  That meant you had to contact us to disconnect them from their previous instructor to free them up for your invitation.  Then this feature is good news for you and good news for your student.  Whether they have had one or many instructors you will be able to invite them straight away and connect to you.

A byproduct of this feature is that it will enable PDI’s to transition from being a student to an instructor in MyDriveTime without problem and also gives instructors the ability to create themselves dummy student accounts so they can experience what their students will experience from the student app.

What’s the difference between an account and a profile?

Your account is what you log into using your login details, namely a phone number or an email address, and a password.  Previously you could only have one profile for each account but now you can have multiple profiles attached to each account.

So, an instructor will have their instructor profile but now can have a student profile as well, both using the same login details.

Furthermore, a student can have multiple student profiles, one for their current instructor and one for a previous instructor – or more than one if they have moved between a number of instructors.

How does that work then?

When you click ‘Get Started’ you will enter your login details exactly as you do now.  If you only have one active profile linked with your account, you will go straight into it and not notice any difference at all.  So that’s most of you!

For the few complicated souls out there who have multiple active profiles, you will get to choose each time you log in which profile you want to work with.

It’s all about hats!  If you only have one hat, you wear that hat; if you have more than one hat, you choose which hat you’re going to wear today.

I’m an instructor – what hats do I have?

As an instructor, you can now create a student profile so you can see what your students will see.  As an instructor, create a student using your phone number and/or email address.  Invite the student to use the app.  When you receive the invitation, click on the link.

Rather than create a new account, click “Sign in to link your account with …” and then log in to your current account.  The app will connect your new profile, i.e., a student profile, to your current account.

Now, whenever you log in, you will be asked to select whether you want to wear your instructor hat or your student hat.

I’m a PDI and I’ve just got my Instructor hat!

As a PDI you have probably been a student of an existing instructor whilst doing your part 1 and part 2 and therefore have an existing student profile.  Now you need to move on to part 3 and have a new hat, as an instructor.

When your school invites you to become an instructor, instead of registering as such, click “sign in here” and log in to your existing account.

Your account will now be connected to your instructor profile as well and you will be able to select which profile you want to work with, when you log in.

My student had a previous instructor!

In this situation, you can now invite your new student to use the app.  When they receive the link, they click on it and when asked to register, click “I already have an account”.

They log in using their existing student details and then they will be invited to connect this new student profile to their existing account.

When they log in, they can choose either this profile or their previous profile with their old instructor if it is still active.

Notes

  • Transferring a student from one instructor to another within a school, will create the required student record and automatically create the profile so they will not need to be invited.
  • When a student has started with a new instructor, not within a school, they will need to be invited in the normal way.
  • Presently the only way to swap between profiles is to log out and log in again.  This will be changed in the near future so that there is a ‘Switch Account’ button included within the app.

…and finally

As driving instructors, we need to be many things to our students:- instructors, assessors, mentors, advisors, counsellors and sometimes care workers.  To misquote from a popular sci-fi franchise, “The needs of the one aren’t necessarily the needs of the many” and we need to wear many hats.  This change to the app is to facilitate some of the different hats you may need to wear.  We hope you will find that it makes your lives easier.

p.s., There is a subtle change to this blog, different from our standard blogs.  Have you spotted it?

As always, if you find any issues with this blog or anything else, please contact us at support@mydrivetime.co.uk.