The Task element allows creators to set a defined task for learners to complete at any time within a topic or article. The 'task' is essentially a set of instructions you can give your learners to complete a defined activity.
The element enables blended learning. Tasks can be completed both online and offline, creating the opportunity for you to incorporate on-the-job activities into your training.
Expand the following sections to learn more.
Steps to add a task to a course
Add the element to your topic or article by selecting the Task option from the Content box, then follow these steps:
Give your task a label. The label is hidden from learners and is used for reporting purposes. It also helps you differentiate between multiple tasks within the same topic or article.
Provide instructions to your learners about the task they need to complete.
Optionally add an image to your task.
Optionally adjust the background and text colours for the task element (visible to learners). TIP: Make sure the colours you pick have high contrast, such as a dark background with light font.
Manage your settings for the task:
Learner requirements: These requirements outline what learners must do in order to complete the task.
Email Notifications: If you have enabled assessor review you can optionally send email notifications for each submission by each learner. You can choose to send these to topic creators, topic assessors or other stakeholders. These notifications are sent immediately on submission and include the date/time of submission, the learner's name, which topic it was for (including a link to that topic), the task and confirmation that the learner said they have completed the task.
Progress settings: There are two progress setting options which specify whether a learner can progress past the element within the topic or article and/or complete the topic without having completed the task.
Click Save.
Note: Depending on how long the task is expected to take a learner to complete, you may or may not choose to 'add time' to the expected amount of time your topic or article will take a learner to complete. This can be done using the settings of the section the task belongs to. Learn more about adding sections and sub-headings.
Video demonstration
In the video below, we show you how you can use the Task element within your topic or article. Please note, certain aspects of the UI may have changed since this video was recorded.
Settings and options
Learner requirements
Tick The learner must confirm they have completed the task if you want learners to confirm that they have completed the task. This will create a blue button for the learner to click when ready. This feature allows you to place ownership on the learner to confirm completion, eliminating administrative work for you.
Tick An assessor must verify this task has been completed if the task requires an assessor to verify that the task has been completed. In this scenario, a separate person designated as the assessor would confirm this in the platform. This is outlined to the learner within the task.
Note: You can choose to require just the leaner confirm their completion, just the assessor verify the learner's completion, both the learner and the assessor verify completion, or neither the learner or an assessor verify completion.
You can also nominate this Task to set the completion date for the entire topic. Once the Task is verified, its completion date (or the assessor's result date, if one was set) becomes the topic's completion date. Only one element per topic can use this setting. Learn more about setting the topic completion date from an assessable element.
Progress settings
Firstly, you can choose whether the learner is able to continue through the part without the learner requirements being met, or whether they are unable to do so until all requirements have been met. The former allows learners to continue to progress through the part without the requirements being met and might be particularly useful for tasks that will take some time to complete. In this scenario, learners can continue exploring the part while simultaneously completing the task.
Secondly, you can choose whether the learner is required to complete the Learner requirements in order to complete the topic. You may decide to allow the learner to continue exploring before the task is complete, but choose to turn on the requirement to complete the task before they can complete the topic.
As with the Learner requirements, you can choose to turn on either progress setting, both, or neither.
Completion settings
There is a final option to Set this entire knowledge to complete once this Task element is complete.
Warning: Use this setting carefully. If enabled, this setting will set the entire topic to complete once the task is complete. This is a rarely used setting and should only be used in specific scenarios where this task determines the completion status of the entire topic.
There are four possible scenarios for Task completion and its impact on topic completion:
No learner requirements are selected – This setting will have no effect.
The learner must confirm they have completed the task – This setting will set the topic to complete as soon as the learner confirms they have completed the task.
The learner must confirm they have completed the task AND an assessor must verify it – This setting will set the topic to complete only once the assessor has marked the task as Verified.
An assessor must verify the task – This setting will set the topic to complete only once the assessor has marked the task as Verified.
Note: When this setting is enabled, we recommend communicating to learners that completion of the Task will mark their enrolment in the entire topic as complete, as a best practice.
Assessing tasks
You can choose to make the Task element assessable by requiring an assessor to verify the task was indeed completed.
To do this, check the box with the An assessor must verify this task has been completed label in the Learner requirements section. Optionally, you can also require the learner to confirm that they have completed the task, making it easier for the assessor to know when the task is completed in order to verify it.
Assessors have access to a tab called “Assess” when in creator mode for the applicable topic or article. This tab is not visible to learners.
Follow these steps as an assessor:
Access the Assess tab and click on Assess tasks to view a list of tasks for you to verify.
When satisfied with a learner's task completion, select the Verified option (in the Result column). If the Task has Assessor is required to set a result date turned on, you'll be asked to select the date the task was actually completed or observed before the result is saved. Learn more about setting result dates.
Optionally, add a score, upload a file (for example a video or image showing the task being completed), and/or comments
Optionally, assessors can also click a Notify learner link to send an email notification to that learner with their graded results (including the topic and item information, result, score and comments). The Notify learner link can be used each time the results are updated to send an updated notification to the learner.
Once the task has been verified by an assessor, the element will indicate this to the learner in the topic or article. If applicable, they'll also see their score and any comments.
Note: Creators can rename the statuses shown to assessors and learners on each Task element. Learn more about custom status labels.
Examples
Here are four ways you could use the task element to help you get inspired!
Take your training into the work environment with an offline “on the job” activity.
Incorporate competency-based training with the assessable feature.
Include a practical activity at the end of a part to reinforce what's been learnt.
Provide generic information about an upcoming workshop:
How can I use the Task element to create an on-the-job activity as part of a topic?
To enhance the learning experience, we recommend including opportunities for putting new skills to the test. The Task element can be used in conjunction with several other elements to add a practical element to your topic. For more information, click here.
Reporting and analytics
Details of learner Task completions and results can be obtained using the Tasks report in Analytics.