Course progress
The course progress indicator is a coloured marker in both the course menu and the content area of various course elements. The user-specific processing status of the course element is displayed as soon as the element has been opened by the user for the first time. The marker is independent of any possible assessment of the course element, since it solely shows the processing status.
The following colours are used in the default layout:
Colour | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
Light grey | Open | The course element has been viewed by the user but not yet started. |
Light blue | Partially processed | The course element has been started by the user but not yet completed. |
Dark blue | Completed | The course element was completed by the user or manually marked as "done". |
| No marker | The course element has not yet been viewed by the user, or there is no progress indicator available for this type of course element. |
The colours used depend on the configuration of the learning platform and can be customised via an individual course layout.
Usage from the Learners' Perspective
The progress indicator is enabled by the course author for the entire course. As soon as you have viewed a course module for which a progress indicator is available, the completion status is set to ‘Open’ (light grey). Depending on the type of course module, the progress is either updated automatically or must be set manually.
Automatic progress indicator
As soon as an attempt has been made on one of these course elements, the status is set to Completed (dark blue). Attempts that have already been started but not yet completed have the status Partially completed (light blue).
For a SCORM course module, the return value `cmi.core.lesson_status` is used to display course progress. The status values ‘passed’, ‘completed’ and ‘failed’ are shown as ‘Completed’ (dark blue), ‘incomplete’ and ‘browsed’ as ‘Partially completed’, and ‘not attempted’ as ‘Open’.
Manual progress indicator
You decide when the course element is considered completed. To mark content as such, click on Done in the upper right corner of the page. The status will change to Completed (dark blue). You can also manually undo any changes made to the progress To do this, open the context menu next to the Done icon and click Reset.
No progress indicator
Not all course elements have a progress indicator.
| Course Element | Automatic progress indicator | Manual progress indicator | No progress indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Task | x | ||
| From another course | ||||
 | Assessment | x | ||
 | Blog | x | ||
 | Checklist | x | ||
 | CP learning content | x | ||
 | File discussion | x | ||
 | Enrolment | x | ||
 | Single page | x | ||
 | ||||
 | Forum | x | ||
 | Survey | x | ||
 | Calendar | x | ||
 | Course | x | ||
 | Flashcard Set | x | ||
 | Link list | x | ||
 | Bibliography | x | ||
 | LTI-Tool | x | ||
 | Media centre | x | ||
 | Messages | x | ||
 | Folder | x | ||
 | Podcast | x | ||
 | Portfolio task | x | ||
 | x | |||
 | Test & Self-test | x | ||
 | Profile | x | ||
 | Structure | x | ||
 | Date allocation | x | ||
 | Topic assignment | x | ||
 | Virtual classroom | x | ||
 | Wiki | x |
Usage from the Authors' Perspective
The progress indicator is an advanced configuration option that can be optionally set in the course editor for each course. You will find this option in the Overview tab of the top course node.
Proceed as follows:
- Open the course and switch to the course editor.
- In the menu on the left, click on the top course element with the title of your course.
- Switch to the Overview tab.
- Enable the option Display progress in course menu.
The progress indicator is independent of the actual assessment of the course element. However, it can be used to link the course navigation to the processing status. As an example, you can make course elements visible as soon as other elements have been marked as completed by assigning expert rules. For more information on how to use and configure expert rules, see the help page Publishing courses and course content.
Examples of Use
As a guide
Help your learners to find their way around a learning programme with colour-coded markers and to spot any outstanding tasks right away. This way, even in larger courses, your learners can quickly find their way to the next task, even if they have paused the course in the meantime.
Awareness of key content
Ensure that your participants confirm they have read important information, such as privacy notices, which they are required to acknowledge, by marking these modules as ‘completed’.
Control of the learning path
Set out a learning path for your participants that they must follow step by step. Only allow access to further content once participants have marked previous modules as ‘completed’, by using expert rules and linking them to their progress.