Unlocking the Power of Auto-Linking Assessment Tasks in Your Online Course
As an educator or course creator, making it easier for your students to navigate their learning materials is a top priority. One feature that can simplify this experience—without requiring you to manually add hyperlinks—is the auto-linking of activity names. It’s a useful tool that can save you time and enhance your course’s usability. Here’s a quick guide on how you can leverage this feature in your online courses.
What is Auto-Linking?
Auto-linking is a feature that automatically creates links for activity names in your course content. This means you don’t have to manually insert hyperlinks for each task or resource; the system will do it for you as long as the names match exactly. This is particularly useful when listing assessment tasks or activities that students need to complete. In this post, we’ll walk you through how to set up and use auto-linking for your assessment activities.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Auto-Linking for Assessment Tasks
Let’s break down the process, step by step.
1. Create a New Page
First, you’ll need to add a new page to your course. In your course dashboard, click on Add Activity/Resource and choose Page. For this example, we’ll name the page Assessment Activities since this page will list all the assessment tasks.
2. Add Assessment Tasks
Within the content area of your page, you’ll start by adding a heading for your assessments. You might want to label it as “Assessments” or “Tasks.” Below that heading, create a list of the tasks that students need to complete. For simplicity, let’s use tasks like Task 1, Task 2, Task 3, and so on.
Here’s what the list could look like:
- Task 1
- Task 2
- Task 3
- Task 4
- Task 5
By copying and pasting the exact names of your tasks (the ones you’ve created in your course), you’re setting up the system to recognize them and auto-link them later.
3. Format the List
To keep everything neat and organized, format the tasks as a bullet list. This makes it easier for students to follow and navigate the page.
4. Enable Auto-Linking
At this point, we’ve got our tasks listed, but the links won’t work just yet. To make auto-linking work, you need to enable a specific filter within your course settings.
Here’s how to turn it on:
- Go to the More menu in your course and select Filters.
- Find the Activity Names Auto-Linking option, which by default will be turned off.
- Turn this filter on and click Save.
Now, go back to your Assessment Activities page, and you’ll notice that the system has automatically linked each task to its corresponding activity. This means that when students click on Task 1, they’ll be taken directly to that specific task’s page, whether it’s a quiz, assignment, or forum.
5. Test It Out
To make sure it works, go ahead and save the page and return to the course. You’ll now see that each task is hyperlinked. When students click on a task name, they’ll be directed straight to that activity, saving them time and frustration.
Important Notes About Auto-Linking
While auto-linking is a great feature, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Exact Matches Are Key: For the auto-linking to work, the task names in your content need to match exactly with the names of the activities in your course. Even a small change, like an extra space or punctuation, can break the link. For example, if you change Task 4 to Task 4.1, the link will no longer work because the names no longer match. So, if you make changes to a task name, you’ll need to update the corresponding name in your content to ensure the link remains active.
- Consistency is Critical: If you want to ensure the feature works smoothly, maintain consistent naming conventions for your activities. This will help you avoid any confusion or broken links down the road.
Conclusion
Auto-linking is a simple yet powerful tool that can save you time and improve the user experience for your students. By enabling activity names to automatically link to their corresponding tasks, you streamline your course content and ensure your students can easily navigate the materials. So, if you haven’t yet, go ahead and turn on that auto-linking filter—it’s a small step that makes a big difference!
