OnTask Instructor Guide

Request an OnTask account

1. Access our LT Hub contact form.
2. Under "Support Requested", select OnTask.
3. Fill out the rest of the required fields and click Submit.
4. Once your OnTask account is created, we will email you. Then you can begin setting up OnTask in your requested Canvas course(s).

Enable OnTask in Canvas

You will need to request an OnTask account from us first, by filling in the LT Hub request form. You will also need to request access to any new Canvas courses using the same request form.

1. Once we have set up your OnTask account, log in to your Canvas course and click Settings in the Course Navigation.
2. Click the Navigation tab.
3. Find the OnTask menu item, click the options menu (the 3 vertical dots), and choose Enable.
4. Save your setting changes.
5. The OnTask menu item will now be available in the Course Navigation for you and will only be visible to you.

Transfer initial learning analytics data from Canvas to OnTask

To get started giving personalized feedback based on your Canvas course, you'll need to manually transfer learning analytics data from your Canvas Gradebook to what's called a workflow in OnTask. Workflows contain the data and steps needed to send your messages.

1. Log in to your Canvas course and click Grades in the Course Navigation.
2. Click Export and select Export Entire Gradebook.
3. Once the export is complete, a file will be downloaded to your computer. To make sure it can be imported correctly into OnTask, open this file in a spreadsheet software like Excel, and do the following:
   • Check that the first row is a header by ensuring that the row contains titles for each column (e.g., Student, ID, Assignment 1, etc.). Add missing column names and rename any to what you would like them to be called in OnTask.
   • Remove any non-heading rows that do not contain student names (e.g., in the example below, rows one and two).
   • Shorten any column names to less than 64 characters; otherwise, there will be an error when importing the file into OnTask.
   • Check that the first column contains the student names. If it doesn't, copy and paste the column with student names to the first column.
4. Save the file as a "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)" type. In Excel, you can click File, select Save As, and choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited).

5. Connect to a UBC internet connection or network. If you are off campus, connect to the UBC VPN.
6. Back in your Canvas course, click OnTask in the Course Navigation.
7. Click + New workflow.
8. Create a name and description for your workflow, then click Create workflow.
9. Click + CSV.
10. Click Choose File or Browse (depending on your browser), select the file to import, and click Next.
11. Leave the lines to skip set at zero, and click Next.
12. You can optionally rename or deselect columns at this stage. When you are ready, click Finish.
13. The imported data will show in a new table. You can edit the data and add new columns or rows on this table, if you have additional information to add.
14. Now that you've created your workflow, you can add more data to it and create messages to send to students following the steps in the sections below.

Add preferred student name data to OnTask

These optional steps will walk you through adding preferred student names by transferring data from the Faculty Services Centre (FSC) to OnTask. Using students' preferred names can help the messages that they receive from OnTask feel more personal.

1. Log in to the FSC using your UBC CWL.
2. Under "Assigned Sections", click the current term then click your course to find its classlist.
3. Click Download/Print Classlist.
4. Under “Select the format…”, select Table, make sure to check the Preferred name box from the list, and click Download.
5. Once the classlist downloads, open this file in a spreadsheet software like Excel.
6. Save the file as a "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)" type. In Excel, you can click File, select Save As, and choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited).
7. Connect to a UBC internet connection or network. If you are off campus, connect to the UBC VPN.
8. Log in to your Canvas course and click OnTask in the Course Navigation.
9. In OnTask, click the workflow you want to add this classlist to.
   • If you don't have a workflow, follow the steps in the section above for transferring initial learning analytics data to create one.
10. In the top bar, click the Table drop-down, and select Upload or merge data.
11. Click + CSV.
12. Click Choose File or Browse (depending on your browser) and select the file to import.
13. Leave the lines to skip set at zero, and click Next.
14. You can optionally rename or deselect columns to import at this stage. When you are ready, click Next.
15. Select Student Number as the key column for the existing table and the new table. Key columns are important, because they identify what column to use for matching the two sets of data (i.e., your Canvas Gradebook and FSC classlist) together.
16. Choose 2) Select only the rows with keys present in both the existing and new table as the merge method, and click Next.
17. Review your changes and click Finish. You will see a message either confirming the merge or highlighting any issues.

Update learning analytics data in OnTask

Once you've set up a workflow by transferring initial learning analytics data from Canvas, you can add further data to it. For example, you can update with new outcomes after students have completed more assignments or assessments in Canvas.

1. You will first need data saved as a "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)" file.
2. Connect to a UBC internet connection or network. If you are off campus, connect to the UBC VPN.
3. Log in to your Canvas course and click OnTask in the Course Navigation.
4. In OnTask, click the workflow you want to add data to.
5. In the top bar, click the Table drop-down and select Upload or merge data.
6. Click + CSV.
7. Click Choose File or Browse (depending on your browser) and select the file to import.
8. Leave the lines to skip set at zero, and click Next
9. You can optionally rename or deselect columns at this stage. When you are ready, click Next.
10. Select the key column for the existing table and the new table. Key columns are important, because they identify what column to use for matching the two sets of data together (with data downloaded from Canvas, select "Student Number").
11. We recommend choosing 3) Select only the rows with keys in the existing table as the merge method, which will add data from new assignments or assessments and update any changes to past grades.
    •  You can see a description of each merge option by selecting it, or you can view OnTask's merge method documentation.
12. Click Next.
13. Review your changes and click Finish. You will see a message either confirming the merge or highlighting any issues.

Create messages to send to students in OnTask

Before you draft messages for students, you will need to decide how you will distribute them. With OnTask, you can use filters for sending messages so that only certain students receive them. Or you can send one message to all students and conditionally display different text in it for different students. Both approaches are explained below and may be used in coordination.

1. Connect to a UBC internet connection or network. If you are off-campus, connect to the UBC VPN.
2. Log in to your Canvas course and click OnTask in the Course Navigation.
3. In OnTask, click the workflow you want to add messages to.
   • If you don't have a workflow, follow the steps in the section above for transferring initial learning analytics data to create one.
4. Click + Action.
   • If you don't see this button, click Actions at the top.
5. Give the action a meaningful name and description, and select Personalized Canvas Email as the action type.
6. Click Create action.
7. If you want to use filters:
   • Click the Select Learner (Empty) tab.
   • Click Add Filter and add a description for the filter.
   • In the first drop-down, select the variable the filter will use—that is, what specific information about each student you want to check (e.g., scores from a test).
   • In the second and third fields, set the parameters for sending the message. For example, choosing students who scored more than 50% on the test.
   • Click + Add rule to add additional filters, and use the "Not" (to exclude a condition), "And" (to meet multiple conditions), and "Or" (to meet one of a set of conditions) options to fine-tune the filter.
   • When you are done, click Create filter.
8. If you want to use conditionally displayed text:
   • Click the Text Conditions tab.
   • Click + Condition and type the name and description for the condition.
   • In the first drop-down, select the variable the condition will use—that is, what specific information about each student you want to check (e.g., scores from a test).
   • In the second and third fields, set the parameters for displaying the text. For example, choosing students who scored more than 50% on the test.
   • Click + Add rule, and use the "Not" (to exclude a condition), "And" (to meet multiple conditions), and "Or" (to meet one of a set of conditions) options to fine-tune the condition.
   • When you are done, click Create condition.
9. Now you are ready to draft the message. Click the Text tab and enter your message, keeping in mind any filters you are using.
10. Click Insert Column Value to choose and insert a variable (these will be the names of your data columns) from the drop-down. The variable will be included in double curly brackets in your message (e.g., {{ Name }}), but replaced with the individualized data when the message is sent.
    • If you do not see the variable from the first column in the drop-down, click Table at the top, and select Full view. Rearrange the columns so that your desired variable column is not the first column in your table.
11. If you made conditions:
    • Insert a condition by clicking Insert condition in text and choosing the condition.
    • Two pieces of bracketed code will appear in your text. Type the message you'd like conditionally displayed to students who meet the condition in between the code, e.g., {% if your condition name %} text you want shown here {% endif %}.
    • You can insert multiple conditions next to each other, e.g., students who got average or below average and students who got higher than average.
12. Click Preview to view the message as students will see it. You can move through specific students in your classlist to check your variables and conditions.
13. Once you are satisfied with the message, click Close to save the action and return to the workflow dashboard. You can continue to add messages to this workflow by adding more actions.

Send messages to students with OnTask

1. Connect to a UBC internet connection or network. If you are off campus, connect to the UBC VPN.
2. Log in to your Canvas course and click OnTask in the Course Navigation.
3. In OnTask, click the workflow you want to use to send messages.
4. To the left of the action containing the message(s), click the send icon.
   • If you don't have any actions, follow the steps in the section above for creating messages.
5. Select ID as the "Column with the Canvas ID".  This option is the only one that works for sending messages at UBC.
6. Type the email subject, and click Preview to review how the messages will look. When you are ready, click Next.
7. If prompted, click Authorize to allow OnTask to access Canvas.
8. You should see a confirmation page that says "Action scheduled for execution," which means your messages have been sent.
9. All students should receive the message in their Canvas inbox. Notifications will also be sent to the student’s email address that is associated with Canvas (unless this default is changed by the student).