What is a Flexible Task?
Flexible tasks are for homework which doesn't require a submission from your students. This is automatically communicated to students at the bottom of the task description, as shown below:
Flexible tasks can be used in a number of ways, such as:
Sharing a video or article for students to digest before the next class
Distributing revision materials
Setting an optional task
When implementing the flipped learning / flipped classroom model
Set a Flexible Task
To set a new flexible task, click 'Set task' at the top of the navigation panel. Then click 'Create' under the Flexible Task type.
You can reuse a previous flexible task with the widget on the right, or create a new one from scratch by filling out the onscreen form.
All of the information you enter on this page will be visible to the students and parents who receive the task.
Details
Title: Appears on the students' calendar and to-do list.
Type: Switch to a different task type without losing the information you've already entered in the common fields.
Class groups: Select one or more class groups to receive this task.
Your own classes appear first in the dropdown, followed by all other classes.
Use the Advanced search option within this menu to filter all classes in the school by name, subject or year group and easily select them en-masse.
Students: By default, all students in the class are selected and will receive the task. However, you can deselect individuals from the existing selection, or click the 'X' to clear the entire selection, and then select specific students.
Subject: Select a subject for the task. This will help students locate it on their to-do list / calendar and it’s also important for reporting purposes.
💡 Top tip: If you select a class group first, the subject is automatically populated.
Description: Enter instructions for the students or use Sidekick to automatically generate a task with AI.
💡 Top tip: To build your assignment using Sidekick, find the purple box and enter your topic. You can enter a long and detailed prompt for best results. If you like, you can also tick the optional boxes:
Include blooms taxonomy (Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analysing, Evaluating, Criticising)
Include a debate question
Include homework objective
Include differentiated question
Then click 'Create'. The AI will create an assignment in seconds.
Issue date: Select the date your task will become visible to the students. This allows you to schedule the work well in advance without worrying that students can see it ahead of time.
Completion date: Select the deadline for completion. Unlike other task types, flexible tasks never become 'past due' and students are not prompted to make a submission if they have not finished the work by the 'Completion date'.
Issue on lesson: Select a specific timetabled lesson for your task to be issued on. Represented visually on the Timetable with a green 'Set' label.
Due on lesson: Select a specific timetabled lesson for your task to be due on. Represented visually on the Timetable with a red 'Due' label.
Attachments: Upload related resources or worksheets from your computer, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive.
Web links: Add useful websites or video conferencing links for remote lessons. Paste the URL and press enter to save it.
Additional information
Estimated completion time: Defaults to 30 minutes but can be manually adjusted.
📝 Unlike most other task types, there is no 'Submission method' or 'Marking scheme' dropdown when setting a flexible task, because you are not expecting the students to submit any work.
When you have completed all the details required on the form, click 'Publish'. Your flexible task will be set live on the issue date.
💡Top tip: Started but don't have time to finish your flexible task? Click 'Save as draft' to come back to it later. You can find it again in Homework → Resources → More filters → Select state → Drafts.