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This utility is to aid Students and Teachers follow an
established scheme of work. It is designed to introduce an
element of independent learning, motivate and encourage through
personal involvement and regular feedback. It can be fully
customised by the Manager (or teacher) to take advantage of
available resources. It provides reports and a clear indication
of progress. Students can decide the Levels and the areas of
study they wish to attempt.
Only one computer is required as each Member needs to spend
only a short time at the keyboard.
Students do not complete work using this programme, nor does the computer mark the work or make arbitrary decisions about the work to be followed.
For example a science class may be studying heat. Theme 1 could be Conduction, Theme 2 - Reflection, Theme 3 - Insulaton etc. A Theme could be assigned to the steps in preparing an essay or an individual project.
A Task is a piece of work the Member (or student) is asked to complete. There can be up to 10 Tasks in each Theme.
Note that the scheme relates to Tasks and not questions. They are meant to be pieces of work to be completed to the Manager's satisfaction. It is better if only a small part of the overall scheme contains Tasks which require a single simple answer. For this reason the Manager will usually issue the Member with a Key on completing a Task. Keys are discussed later.
Each Task can be presented at up to 4 degrees of difficulty called Levels. The amount of work or understanding needed to complete a Task can be modified by the Manager at any time. The Member will have some choice over the Level he or she is working at.
Keys are a unique feature of Task Manager which enables a Member to give a simple response following the completion of a Task. The Manager sees that the work is complete (and may mark or annotate it in the usual way - sorry, we cannot do this bit for you). A Key or code is issued beginning with the letters "kx" in small type followed by four digits. This is used by the Member as the response in the program which will acknowledge the completion of the work and allow the Member to proceed. This Key cannot be used again unless by chance it is regenerated when a new batch is called by the Manager.
So - all the Manager has to do is issue the Key and cross it off a typed list. Task Manager will keep a record, present a score, display Gold stars and guide the Member through the next step giving some choice as to the Level and Theme for the next Task.
Praise and reward are important features in successful learning.
Each time a Members logs on they are presented with a screen carrying information unique to them. This consists of:
In addition the Manager is able to present reports for groups giving a score and order of merit.
Some lists can be produced directly from Task Manager. These include a list of scores and a list of Member's passwords but it is more useful to take advantage of the facilities offered by a spreadsheet or database program.
Information can be easily copied to the clipboard as a CSV (comma separated variable) file and pasted into a spreadsheet such as Works or Excel or a database. There, the data can be manipulated to present orders of merit etc. (See "Producing Reports and Orders of Merit")
The first screen has an area for the Members including a list of names, a password and an ID window. The "New Member" button below this is to allow new recruits to add their details. There may be some names already entered so that you can try out the programme. These can be disabled later.
Click the button to the right labelled "Manager Only". Leave the manager's password window blank - you can add your own password in the next screen. Press the button again and you should be in the Task editing area.
The "Change Password" button will allow you to enter a manager's password. Don't forget this or you will have to go directly to the files via another program to retrieve it - see later.
The array of coloured blocks may show some as light blue. These are Tasks already entered. They can be disabled or overwritten later. Below the array of coloured blocks is a control to choose the Theme you wish to work on. The first few Themes may already be named. The "Change Theme" button allows you to enter or change the labal which appears above the array.to give a name for this area of work.
The array of coloured blocks tells you which Tasks, in light blue, are in use for the Theme depicted; empty or disabled blocks are in grey.
Click on a light blue block to turn it red and show that this is the Task you are now dealing with. The information below the array should confirm the Theme, Task and Level you have chosen (it could be Theme 1, Task1, Level 3). A task description appearing when you use the "Show Task at Red Block" button is just an example and can be written over.
If you choose an empty (grey) block you can write something in the "Description" window, put "kx" (small letters) in the response box and click "Save and Enable Task at Red Block".
You can disable the task without erasing it using the disable button.
You will probably want to extend this Task for the next level. Click on the block for Task 1, Level 3 and it will go red. You can now edit the description window which still retains the information for the last edit and save it at the new location - easy.
Task manager is designed to use existing resources - not provide them on screen. Members (the students) will probably have to make a note of the task description to avoid using too much paper. Descriptions should be as short as possible and are limited to 200 characters anyway.
So use phrases such as: "Collect sheet A5 and do parts 1 and 2"
or "Do question 5, page 118 in 'Rocket Science for Beginners'
or "Collect the Help Sheet for the investigation on Erosion - do it and show it to your teacher."
The initial trials have shown that if Tasks are printed an excessive amount of paper is wasted.
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You can start using Task Manager with just 3 or 4 Tasks in the first few Themes - more can be added as the first lot of members' progress.
If the Member is to use a Key as a response just put "kx" (small letters) otherwise type the exact form of the response. This will usually be a letter, number or word. It is worth including a few Tasks with this latter type as it allows some Members to progress without obtaining a Key from the teacher.
Now use the "Managers Utilities" button to find a tabbed page on Keys. Create some Keys using the "Make 20 Keys" button and get a hard copy using the "Print" button. If you cannot print this window then copy down several Keys to use later.
You can look at the next two tabbed pages but they will not make much sense until you have some data on record.
Close the Manager's area to display the first screen where you can add some Member details using the "New Member" button. You can just make up this information for two or three entries as all the names can be disabled later so that the file space will be overwritten.
The "Update Names" button should enable you to see the names and choose one. If you add the correct password and click "Enter" you should get the screen for that name with a message telling you that you can change Theme. Notice that as you move through the Themes using the "Change Theme" buttons a yellow box appears at the first Task. Choose one by using the "Choose This Task" button.
If you are asked if you wish to go up one Level, choose "YES". The red blocks indicate that you are now on Task 1 at Level 2. A Response window appears and you can no longer change Theme.
Normally the task that you have previously edited and entered will show in the Description pane. The Member will complete this and enter a response, which in this case is a Key. Cross off one of the Keys you recorded earlier and enter it into the response window in the form "kx1234" without the inverted commas.
The completed Task will appear green and a yellow box indicates the next Task. You may now change Theme.
If you had found the level too difficult you could have just entered an incorrect answer to be given the opportunity to try again or go down a Level.
In this way a Member will soon learn to work at the most effective Level.
Next time this Member logs on a score will appear. Quite simply, Level 1 gains 10, Level 2 gains 20, Level 3 gains 30 and Level 4 gains 40 points.
As points mount up stars appear in the top right area of the Member's screen. The increment needed to gain a star can be set by the manager in the Keys page of the Manager's area.
Give a few more correct responses for the names you have entered then go back to the Managers area.
Press "Manager's Utilities" and the "Edit Members" tab. The names you entered previously should appear. If you choose one for which you entered some correct responses you should see some numbers appear in the relevant Theme box.
You can now correct a spelling mistake in a name or read a password.
You can delete a Member by choosing "No" in the "Current Member?" box or reinstate them if their record has not been overwritten. Please note that a new member's details will occupy the first available space in the record so you need to make a separate copy for a deleted Member if you want to use the data later.
You can manually change the Members record for the Tasks and Levels covered. This is what you need to know:
Each Theme box accepts a 10 digit number, each representing the record for the Tasks 1-10 in that Theme.
A number 1, 2, 3 or 4 indicates that the Task has been successfully completed at Level 1, 2, 3 or 4 respectively.
A number 5, 6, 7, or 8 indicates that the Member has chosen and is currently working on the Task at Level 1, 2, 3 or 4 respectively. Obviously there should be only one position (or none) occupied by a number between 5 and 8.
You can now edit the record for a Theme (a number like 236 will do) and log on again as this Member to see the difference it makes to the Members own screen.
Note that the edited details are not permanent until the "Save" button is pressed.
Now go into the Reports section and try a few of the buttons.
The "Display Tasks in Columns" button will allow you to print out a complete list of Tasks. This can be used as a reference for Members who need a reminder of their Task but do not have access to the programme.
The CSV lists produced by the controls near the bottom of this screen will be the most useful. This allows you to take full advantage of the sorting and ordering features in a database or spreadsheet.
How to get an order of merit list using a Works Database
1. First, load a blank Database in List View mode. Create at least 7 blank fields (columns) and minimise the database.
2. In ILTM3 make a list of the scores using the "Display Scores (CSV)" button.
3. Use the "Copy Window" button to put this information on the clipboard.
4. Go to the top right slot of the database list, click the right hand mouse button and choose "paste". The data should appear neatly separated in columns.
The programme generates five files:
JobsFile.dat
KeysFile.dat
KidFile.dat
Mpw.dat
ThemeNames.dat
They are all stored in the same area you launch the programme from. Do not edit these outside the programme as this is very likely to cause errors.
However, if you did want to start afresh you could move them all to another folder for safe keeping. ILTM3 will then create a new set in the bin as you add more data.
If you just want to start with a new set of Members just move "KidFile.dat".