Tasklist

View of the basic tab for the Task List activity.

The basic tab for the Task List activity, allows sequence authors to specify a title for the activity, provide a set of instructions for learners about how to use the activity, and create a list of tasks to complete.

• Title: All Activities have a web page title which is presented at the top of the activity page when displayed in the Learning Environment. This is NOT the same title as the Title that can be set using the Properties Inspector

• Instructions: All Activities have a text area that is presented beneath the title. This is where the main activity text to be displayed to learners is entered. The text can be formatted using the Rich-Text Editor. Image, Video, Audio and URL content can also be displayed in the Instructions area.

• Specific Features: Tasks
  • The yellow pencil edits existing tasks, and the red cross deletes them from the list.
  • To add a new task, click the button.

Creating and Editing Tasks

Each tasks in the Task List has a Title and Description. For example, there might be a task titled "Homework Assignment", and the description might be "Complete worksheet One."

For each individual task in the list, there are options that define how the task interacts with other tasks in the list. By default, all of these options are disabled.

• Required Task: Enabling this option means that learners must complete the particular task in order to progress to the next activity in the sequence.

• Allow Learners to add comment(s): This option allows learners to add text comments to the particular task.
  • Comment required to complete task: When commenting is allowed, this option requires learners to make a comment in order to complete the particular task.

• Allow Learners to add file(s): This option allows learners to upload files as attachments to the particular task.
  • File required to complete task: Like the comments required option above, this makes it compulsory for learners to attach a file in order to complete the task.

• Don't display until parent task has been completed
  This option, when enabled, allows sequence authors to specify another task in the list that must be completed before the current task is displayed to users. This allows tasks to be 'nested' inside each other.

View of the Advanced tab for the Task List activity.

Options on the Advanced tab change the behaviour of the entire activity. All of these options are disabled by default.

• Lock when finished: Enabling this option means that the activity will not accept further changes once learners have moved past the activity through the sequence. This means that comments and attachments (where enabled) cannot be added, and any tasks not completed when the learner moves to the next activity remain marked incomplete. The learner can still return to the activity and review their contributions.

• Tasks have to be completed in sequential order: Enabling this option means that learners must complete the tasks in the order specified on the Basic tab.

• #, Minimum number of tasks to complete: specifies how many of the tasks must be completed in order to move to the next activity.

• Allow Learners to contribute tasks: This option allows learners to add tasks to the list. These learner contributions are visible by all other learners.

• Monitor needs to verify...: requires sequence monitors to confirm that each individual learner has completed the tasks. This operation is performed in the monitoring area for the specific task list. See below for details.

• Add Notebook at end of Task List...: This option is available on all Activities. Enabling this option creates a Notebook as part of the Activity, which Learner's can use to reflect on the activity just completed. The reflections are personal (ie: not shared with other learners).

View of the Instructions tab. This is the same for all activities.

The Instructions tab contains the same features for all Activities.

It allows the Author to create specific instructions for the activity, as well as upload files that may be useful for running the activity (ie: support documents, etc.). It is a resource that can be used by teachers who are running the sequence for their learners. (In the Monitoring Environment, the Instructions for an Activity can be viewed by double clicking the activity on the Sequence tab and then selecting the Instructions tab.

There are two types of Instruction possible, Offline and Online, depending on the mode that the teacher wishes to run the activity. The feature is useful for teachers who are sharing sequences with their colleagues as it provides an area where the Author can describe any learning objectives and/or the specific purpose of the activity.

View of the Conditions tab for the Task List activity.

This tab is where the Task List really starts to show off!
From here, sequence authors can create their own conditions for mapping the Task List to a branching activity.

Creating and Editing Conditions

Conditions on the Task List allow you to filter learners based on which tasks they have completed. When the Task List is combined with Task-based branching, sequence authors have at their disposal a very powerful tool for creating customised sequences based on learner input.

• Click to make a new condition for the Task List.

• The Title is where authors specify a name for the condition. It is best practice to give the condition something simple and intrinsic, such as "First Task Done" or "Task 3 and Four Done"

• The check boxes define which tasks need to be completed for the learner to be streamed based on that condition. For example, to select all the learners that completed task 1, check the box for task one.

IMPORTANT

Learners are streamed by the Task List based on the order in which the conditions are created.
It's best to explain this with an example:

1. Condition, Task One Completed: Learner's who have completed task one.
2. Condition, Task One and Two Completed: Learner's who have completed BOTH tasks one and two.

In this case, if task one is made compulsory, ALL learner's would be streamed according to that condition.

A Learner cannot be part of two conditions.

It is best practice to make the first rule have the highest number of completed tasks, and work backwards from there. For example:

1. Condition, Tasks One and Two Completed.
2. Condition, Task One Completed.

First checks for learner's who have completed BOTH tasks, selects those that HAVE, and then checks the remaining learners against the next condition.

Where a condition does NOT exist for a particular learner, they are moved to the Default branch in the corresponding Branching Activity.

View of the Task List Monitoring Summary tab.

The Summary Tab for Task List allows Monitors to see which tasks have been completed by Learners at a glance.

• Where a learner has completed a task, that task is marked with a symbol.
• Where a task has not been completed, LAMS displays a bold dash ( — ) symbol.

If the Monitor needs to verify these tasks... option has been selected on the advanced authoring tab, the Monitor will see the option to Confirm Completion of tasks for each learner. When the Verify option has been selected, the Sequence Monitor must confirm that each learner has completed the assigned tasks before they can move on to the next activity in the sequence.

View of Detailed Task Summary screen.

By clicking on the hyperlinked task name at the top of each column, Monitors can view more detailed information about that particular task.

The detailed task summary displays the properties of the task (such as whether or not there is a parent task, or whether adding comments or files is permitted), and allows Monitors to download Learner attachments or view Learner comments, where applicable.

View of the Monitoring Instructions tab.

In the Authoring Environment, Authors can use the Instructions Space to attach support files for a specific activity, or leave comments for othe Monitors about how a given activity should be run.

These comments and files can be viewed from here - the Instructions Tab.

View of the Task List Statistics tab.

The Task List Summary screen displays:

• The title of each task
• Who suggested each task (typically the monitor who started the lesson, unless Allow Learners to Create their own tasks has been enabled.
• The total number of learners who have completed each particular task.