time on task

time on task

by Deborah Britton -
Number of replies: 3

Is it possible to embed an online program into a Moodle shell and have Moodle track time on task?  Specifically, the online program times out if no activity in 30 minutes - this is not sufficient for our policies.  I believe Moodle times out at 15 - is that correct, or can that be set? Does Moodle detect activity in an embedded program so that acitivty on the program is detected as activity in Moodle, and time off task the same?

I'm new to Moodle, so if there is another approach to solving this, I would be very grateful to learn about it.

Many thanks.

Deborah Britton

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In reply to Deborah Britton

Re: time on task

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

This is a question that comes up as regular as clockwork. The underlying problem is that web based applications are not suited to this type of policy. You have no idea if the user is reading stuff on the screen or has logged in, brought up the material and is watching TV.

You can set the session timeout for Moodle but I would in no way rely on it. The timing is done in the user's browser and you'll find it stops ticking when the computer is suspended and inconveniences like that.

You'd be much better testing knowledge with a quiz or something but I know that isn't going to be an answer...

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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: time on task

by Annette Czarnecki -

Is is possible to track time on task with a  SCORM or IMS package?  I realize this can never be a reliable measure, but some instructors really want to see some evidence of time spent on a task or time logged into a course. (even if the student is watching TV!!!)

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In reply to Annette Czarnecki

Re: time on task

by Christian Herman -

You could probably do it with a SCORM, but it will depend on what program is used to build the SCORM.  Off hand I know with Adobe Captivate you can store the system time to a user variable at the start of the lesson, grab it again at the end of the lesson, and have it compute the difference.  There may also simply be a way to add a timer that runs throughout the lesson's activity.  But as I said, it will depend on what you use to build the SCORM.

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