Tasks in LMS

You have scheduled items. You have web based items. You even have a blended version of the two. And then there is the “other” classification. What’s it for? Do you even use it? I know many companies that have probably never even touched it. But it can actually add a lot of value to learning, and a great way to utilize “other” items is with tasks.

Tasks are something you observe a student doing that demonstrated some level of skill or knowledge. For example, a “task” might be correctly inspecting a forklift before use. The expectation is that the student would be demonstrating the ability to correctly inspect a forklift, all while an “observer” watches and verifies that the student is able to inspect the forklift.

In the system, tasks like the one above are created and then attached to “other” classified items. Multiple tasks can be added to a single item. The item is assigned to the student. The “observer” than observes the student performing the task and verifies within the system that the student can successfully complete the task. If the student is able to complete the number of tasks above the threshold set by the admin on the item.

Let’s walk through a scenario where the admin wants to set up task checklist for using a forklift. The admin wants three tasks attached to the item, the student must complete two out of three to pass, and the admin will assign the student an observer, rather than the student picking themselves.

Create the Tasks

Go to the admin portal and navigate to Learning>Tasks>Add New. Add an ID and description to your first new task. In our case, we used Forklift 1 as the ID and “Able to correctly inspect forklift before starting” as the description. Click “add” to create the task and continue with the two other tasks.

After we are done, we’ll have all of our tasks listed.

Create the item and add the tasks to it.

Next, you’ll want to create your item. Make sure when you create it to choose the “other” classification type. Once you’ve created the item, go to the “Tasks” menu selection under “Related” on the item. Press the green plus icon to search for and add your tasks.

After they are added, click on Task Checklist to modify the settings on the task item. First, enable the checklist, then uncheck User Can Request Observation, as we want the admin to assign the observer to the student. We put the threshold to pass at two tasks and set the completion and failure statuses.

After you are done – just assign the item like you would any other. It’s now in my to-do list with other items and with “observation pending” status”

Assign the Observer to the Student

To assign an observer for your student, navigate to Users>Tools>Assign Task Observers. Search for and add your items.

Once the item as been added, click Step 2.

Next, search for and add the observer (you can add multiple). Once you’ve searched for and added your observer, click Step 3

Now, add the student(s) that the observer needs to observe. Once all are added, click “Review”.

If everything looks good on the review page, click “Send Observation Request”.

Observe the Student

The observer will now have the item in their to-do list to observe the student. They would click “Open Observation” to access their check-list.

Once opened, the observe can mark off each task as successful or unsuccessful, provide comments on each task, provide comments on the overall performance of the student, and record learning as completed or failed. Note that the completed button is only activated after the threshold task number is reached.

After “record completion” is clicked, the learning event is completed and recorded and placed in the student’s learning history.