Empathy ITSI Online ebook Purchasing and Activation System
Contents Overview Empathy Registration and Login What is Empathy? Getting Started: Registration and Login Empathy Account Creation (Registration) Introduction Empathy Account Details Link ITSI School Accounts Buying Books Paying for your ebooks Purchase History Adding another School Account Account Settings Report Bug Logout
1. Overview To order and pay for ebooks online on the IT School Innovation (ITSI) system requires the following steps: Browse to the ITSI ebook portal (Empathy) Register on the system and login with your registration details Link your account to that of your child or children Select your child or children s ebooks from the pre-selected list of ebooks on the Empathy system Confirm your ebook selection Pay for your ebooks using our secure payment portal Detail on each of these steps is provided below: 2. Empathy Registration and Login 2.1 What is Empathy? Empathy is an online tool from ITSI, designed to help schools, publishers and parents manage, order and authenticate ebooks online. With Empathy: - Publishers can upload, validate and encrypt ebooks; - Schools are able to browse ebook lists online and pre-select the ebooks that they prefer to use in their schools; - Parents can access, select and purchase the ebooks pre-selected by the school. In order to access Empathy, parents have to register as a user on the portal first before they can login. 3. Getting Started: Registration and Login To get started on Empathy, open your browser. Empathy supports the latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 11. In your browser s address bar, copy the following address: www.itschools.co.za/empathy. The browser will automatically complete the rest of the address information as in the image below:
To purchase books for your child you will select New Users/Parents if you are a new user, or login using your existing username and password under Existing Users. 3.1 Empathy Account Creation (Registration) When you have selected New Users/Parents, you will be taken through a 4-step process to create an account and link yourself to your child. 3.1.1 Introduction It is very important that you have your child/children s login details for miebooks available when you are purchasing books. These login details will comprise of a username and a password. Your child s login details will not be used to register an empathy account; this information will be used to link your account as a parent to your child/children and will ensure that your child/children are able to open their ebooks. 3.1.2 Empathy Account Details On this page you are required to fill in your details as the buyer of your child s/children s ebooks, these details include first name, last name, a username that you will use to log into Empathy in the future, your email address and a password. Each field has clear instructions as to what these details will be used for. Please note that the username and password that you fill in here does NOT have to be the same as your child/children s username.
3.1.3 Link ITSI School Accounts This is where you link yourself to your child/children and their respective schools using the username and password which the school has supplied you/your child with. This username and password is the same username and password that your child will use for the miebooks application. Please take note that the username and password IS CASE SENSITIVE. Please ensure that you use the correct details. You will be notified once you have successfully linked yourself to your child.
If you have linked your child s account but it does not display on your Empathy account please make sure that your browser is compatible. Compatible browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox as well Internet Exlporer 11. If you need to add link other children simply go to the ITSI School Accounts page and select Add another ITSI School Account. 4. Buying Books Once you have signed into Empathy, you can start the process of buying books for your child / children. Click on Buy ebooks at the top right-hand corner of the page. Here you will see all of the books that have been ordered by your child/children s school/s. It is very important that you are aware of which child is selected when you are choosing books to purchase (to link another child to your account, please follow the instructions in point 7). The selected child will be linked to the books that are being selected so it is important to ensure the correct books are selected for the active child as shown below. By default only the books chosen by the active child s school will appear and be available for purchasing. You will then be able to filter for the books you would like to order by using the filter boxes at the top of the screen. The books will appear as follows: To select a book, you can simply click on it. The book s information block will turn green once it is selected.
At the top-right of the screen you will see how many items are currently in your cart and the total cost for these items. If you mouse over the cart, you will be presented with a list of the books that you have chosen for each learner account. You have the option to Empty Cart or to Confirm & Pay. 5. Paying for your ebooks Once you are satisfied with your chosen books, you may click on Confirm and Pay. This will bring up a Book Purchase Confirmation page. This is a summary of all of the books you have selected as well as which child they have been selected for.
If you are happy with the selected books, you can click on Make Payment of R. If you wish to make any changes, click on Cancel. Once you choose to continue, you will then be directed to an ITSI order page where your order is described in detail and you are given your order total. If you are satisfied, click on Pay Now. Payments are made via PayFast, a secure online payment portal. Please follow the steps that are provided. For detailed instruction on how to use the PayFast portal, please refer to their website at https://www.payfast.co.za/b/std/payment-methods Once the payment has been made, you will be redirected back to Empathy. 6. Purchase History If you would like to view your purchase history on Empathy, click on your username in the navigation bar and select Purchase History.
Once you have made a payment you can activate the book downloads manually or you can download your invoice. When you click on Actions you will be given the following options: If you wish to unlock the books for downloads, click on the unlock icon and a page will appear where you can activate the books. Select Try to activate it now and your books will be activated for download.
If you are having trouble activating your books, please send an email to activation@itschools.co.za with the following details: Empathy username, learner username and the name of the book. An ITSI support person will be in contact to assist you. 7. Adding another School Account If you have already logged into Empathy and would like to add another ITSI school account, you can click on your username in the navigation bar and select ITSI School Accounts. You can do this immediately after you have linked your first child account. This will enable you to select ebooks for two or more learners at the same time, just by alternating between the active selections, and pay for both sets of selections simultaneously. Here you can also view ITSI school accounts that you have already been linked to and you can add additional ITSI School Accounts by selecting: In the window that opens, please select the relevant school and insert the learners ITSI username and password and then select Link Account.
8. Account Settings Your account settings includes the name, surname, email address and password that you used to create an account on Empathy. If you wish to change your password, you can do it here. You may also enter a VAT number, if you have one, which will reflect on your invoices. 9. Report Bug We would like to fix any problems you encounter on Empathy as soon as possible. To report bugs please make use of the Report bug button under Help in the navigation bar. When you click on this, the Empathy Problem Reporter will load and you can enter the details of the problem.
10. Logout When you are finished with your session on Empathy, click on your username in the navigation bar and select Logout. Feedback and Comments If you have a suggestion for something ITSI should add or change regarding Empathy, please let us know. We'd love to hear about any ideas you have. You can email any feedback or comments to info@itschools.co.za. You can click on Help in the navigation bar, and then Contact Us should you require any additional information about IT School Innovation.