CN courses have different access settings. The way users join a course depends on its access setting.

Join a Public Course

If you found a public course (access setting is Any CN Member) on CN, you just need to go to the course page and click the blue JOIN COURSE button to be a member of it.

Join a Private Course

Approach One: by accepting course invitation

If the access setting of a course is PIN protected or Email Request required, the course instructor may send you a course invitation from CN. You will receive a CN email like this:

Once you receive the email, refer to the following steps:

STEP1: Click RESPOND TO THE INVITATION in the invitation email and log in to CN

STEP2: Once you log into CN, you should see a pop-up window like this. Click ACCEPT to join the course.

If this pop-up window does not appear, you can always click the Email notification icon from the top navigation bar, find the course invitation notification, then accept or reject the invitation from there.

Note: If you choose “Accept”, you will be taken to the course page and will automatically become a course member.

Approach Two: enter course access PIN

If the access setting of a course is PIN protected, the course instructor may share with you the course URL and the course access PIN. Follow the steps below:

STEP1: Log in to CN

STEP2: Go to the course URL

STEP3: Enter the PIN and click JOIN COURSE

Hint: When you join a course through this approach, your default course role is Student. Your course instructor can later change your role and edit your permissions following this guide.

Approach Three: request to join course

If the access setting of a course is Email Request required and you never receive an invitation from the course instructor, you can go to the course page and click the blue button “Request to Join”. The instructor will receive a notification of your request and decide to accept or reject it.

NOTE: Some licensed institutions have disabled the course access settings. In that case, you will not be able to join any of their courses. You are likely to see this message when you go to the course page: