Summary

Use a checklist as part of on the job (OTJ) training, to confirm that a learner completed required tasks for a course.

Checklists: overview

Checklists let observers verify that a learner has completed a series of required items for an on the job (OTJ) training course. The items are typically tasks that the learner completes while the observer watches and confirms the learner performed them correctly.

The process starts when a learner selects Request assessment from the checklist module. Safety Made Simple sends an assessment request notification to the course owner. Typically, the learner and observer then meet for a task or process demonstration.

The checklist contains individual items that form a list. An admin, an instructor or a manager with instructor permission can act as observer and verifier, by:

·        observing the learner completing the item on the list

·        completing the checklist as required

·        deciding if the learner completed the module successfully

Checklists are available by default as a module in courses.

Within Safety Made Simple, checklists look a lot like exams or surveys. The main difference is that checklists use only one type of text field, where exams and surveys have a variety of formats.

You can add as many items to the checklist as you need to confirm the learner has completed their training.

The following screenshot shows a sample learner's checklist with default settings before requesting assessment.

Checklist sources: create in a course vs create in the library

You can create as many checklists as you need for course requirements.

You can create checklists 1 of 2 ways:

·        create the checklist and its items within a course

·        create the checklist and its items through the library

When you create a checklist within a course, Safety Made Simple adds the checklist to the library after you publish it as part of the course. You won’t see it in the library, while the checklist is in Draft status.

You can edit checklists freely - change the item wording, change the item order, and delete items - while they are in Draft status.

After publishing a checklist in a course, you can’t edit it - either through the library, or within the course.

To change a published checklist in a course, you need to create a new checklist, re-version the course to replace the existing checklist with the new version, and publish the course again.

Checklist module settings

These settings decide what the learner sees during the observation and verification process. They’re available when the checklist is part of the course.

You can set:

·        Show items to learner: let learners see the items in the checklist that an instructor is assessing. If you decide not to show questions, the learner doesn’t know the length or detail of the checklist or its contents. Default setting is on.

·        Show status of items to learner: requires Show items to learner turned on. As the observer marks items as complete, the learner can see changes to the checklist in their own course as they happen. Default setting is off.

When you use multiple checklists in a course, you set each module's settings separately.

For example: for a course with 3 checklists, you can set 2 with Show items to learner turned on, so the learner can view the items when they request assessment. For a final checklist you can turn off Show items to learner, and learners go into the assessment without any "hints" about the checklist items.

Course settings for checklist content

In many courses, you put your modules in a specific order, and require learners to complete the modules in that order.

For checklists, you can optionally bypass that sequencing, so that verifying a checklist doesn’t hold up a learner’s progress on a course. They can continue with other modules, while waiting to meet their instructor for assessment.

These content options become available from the course’s Content page, after you add a checklist to your course.

The following screenshot shows Content options for a course that includes a checklist.

Checklist observation requests and notifications

When learners select Request assessment for their checklist, Safety Made Simple sends the observation requests to the people most involved with the course and learners. Typically, the person who enrolled the learners, or the course instructors, get the requests, based on the following conditions:

·        when someone enrolls learners on a course: all observation requests go to the person doing enrollments. Other admins and the course owner can access checklists and verify, but don’t get requests

·        if learners have assigned instructors: observation requests go to the assigned instructor only

·        if learners have no assigned instructor, observation requests go to all the instructors on the course

·        when someone who isn’t an instructor enrolls learners, or when learners enroll themselves: observation requests go to all instructors on the course

·        when someone enrolls learners, or learners self-enroll, but the course has no instructors: observation requests go to the admin and course owner

When the verifier approves the checklist, learners receive a confirmation that their checklist is Completed.

Access permissions

Admins, instructors who are course owners, and managers with instructor permissions can:

·        create checklists with their items and add them to courses

·        observe checklists and verify them for learners

Instructors who are not course owners can observe checklists and verify them for learners.

By default, the course owner - the person who created the course in Safety Made Simple - is the first course instructor, and the first checklist observer.

The course owner or a portal admin can always observe and verify checklists, as a backup option for instructors, but they don’t typically get observation requests.

Courses can have multiple instructors. Admins can assign 1 or more learners to a specific instructor.

When learners are assigned to an instructor, only the instructor receives the learners' observation requests, and can verify their learners' checklists. Other instructors no longer have access.

You can change the course owner through a course’s Additional Settings.

You can give instructors the optional permissions to create courses, and become course owners.

You can give managers the optional permissions to act as instructors, and become course owners.