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What Is Task-Based Learning? A Guide to the Popular Teaching Method

Johanna kawasaki.

• April 6, 2021

As global language teachers who want to stay up to date with recent developments in education (and also stay competitive when it comes to getting that dream job), we have to constantly evolve as educators and include modern ways of teaching in our lesson planning and our teaching methods. One such method that all ESL teachers should know about is task-based learning (TBL), also referred to as task-based language teaching. What is task-based learning? Read on if you’re interested in learning about this rewarding and fun teaching method!

If you’re new to teaching, you’ll want to get initial training and qualification with a TEFL certificate . You can explore our online TEFL courses to get started!

Why is task-based learning important?

• During task-based learning, students solve tasks that are relevant and interesting to them. In order to solve the task, they need to use the target language they’re learning to communicate with their peers. They use authentic language instead of answering grammar or vocabulary questions about the language. Students — especially younger learners — don’t actually feel that they’re studying a language at that moment because they’re engrossed in the task they’re working on.
• Task-based learning is especially conducive to group learning. Learning a language as a group is also a very important contributor to effective retention. Collaborating with others and becoming confident with the language within a group is a key step in acquiring that language. Also, receiving positive feedback from peers and teachers increases confidence and motivation to learn and to communicate with others.
• Students’ understanding of the language also deepens because the realistic context in which they’re learning the language is relevant to their personal lives. It’s a good idea to ask your students about their hobbies and preferences at the beginning of a course so that you can include their interests in the tasks you set.
• In addition to the benefits for students, solid knowledge of this method will also increase your job prospects as a teacher. Some job ads specifically ask for task-based language teaching experience!

What is the task-based method?

The task-based teaching approach is one of many modern ESL teaching methods and focuses on setting a goal for students — this could be a report, a video, or a presentation — and then following three main steps to achieve that goal.

1. The pre-task

During this stage, which can take up a whole lesson if needed, the teacher introduces the task to the students and gets them motivated to solve it. Once everyone is engaged, the teacher should explain what is expected for the task.

Verbal explanations can be supported by an example from the teacher or by showing a previous student’s work. The teacher can then give further instructions if needed and offer advice on how to approach the task.

2. The task

This is the main stage of task-based learning, where students start working on the task, usually in groups or pairs. This stage is done in the target language so that students feel the need to use the language they want to learn in order to solve the task.

The teacher doesn’t usually join in the work process. Instead, he or she will monitor the students and offer hints if students really need support.

Find out about teaching English online to groups.

3. The review (or post-task)

Once the students have completed the task and have something to present, the review stage, also known as the post-task, starts.

It’s a good idea to let students evaluate each other’s work and only offer a teacher review of frequently-made errors during the task. Peer correction could be carried out in the form of comments, feedback discussions, or a checklist with additional room for free commentary.

The review stage offers students the opportunity to reflect on their work and analyze it in order to improve their skills for the future.

What is a task (vs. an activity)?

Task-based learning uses a lesson structure that incorporates different activities to solve a task. The task can span the length of an entire lesson or, if it’s project-based learning, it can take up several lessons to complete.

Essentially, the task is the big-picture assignment that students are trying to complete or solve, and the activities are the individual steps or exercises they take to achieve the task.

Examples of tasks include:

• Creating a presentation
• Making a video or short movie
• Writing a piece of text, such as a newsletter article
• Acting out a skit
• Creating an original game that includes writing down the game rules, playing the game, and evaluating the game
• Working out the solution to a practical problem, such as planning an upcoming trip or gathering missing information, like working out who started a rumor at school
• Participating in a group debate or discussion, like arguing for a favorite competitor in a TV show

You can develop some great tasks using these fun ESL games and activities for young learners and teens.

What is a task-based activity?

A task-based activity is a procedure in which students have to use the target language in order to achieve a specific outcome. The best TBL activities reflect real-life situations, so the students can see that the lesson is relevant to their own lives.

One of the main task-based learning advantages is that the activities allow students to use the language they know freely and exploratively as long as they are able to complete the overall task. Error correction can be done at the end of the lesson if necessary but not during the activity, so you encourage fluency and motivate students to use the language.

Learn more about correcting students’ mistakes with the Micro-credential Course in Error Correction in the EFL Classroom.

An example of a task-based activity could be to have each student draw a comic picture and explain the content and the inspiration behind it to the group. They then have to collaborate to put together a comic strip that includes each student’s picture, which is the main task (to create an original comic strip).

• You can also use task-based language teaching and task-based activities in the online classroom. You can have students submit their work and you can share the results with the group. Then, everyone can work together on the main task that you previously set.

Learn more about creating materials for the EFL classroom!

How can you apply a task-based approach to your teaching?

As an English teacher, you will not get around the “boring stuff,” such as grammar drills and vocabulary work. You also have to keep in mind that your students need to practice all four skills: writing, reading, speaking, and listening.

However, keeping the drills and language exercises to a necessary minimum and including more task-based learning in your curriculum can help students use the target language immediately and retain words and grammar points more effectively.

Here are two examples of task-based lesson plans:

In the physical classroom (with a group of 10-15 teenagers)

• Greeting and warm-up: While the students are settling in, you can play a song that’s popular among your students. You can let them sing along if they know the song well!
• Assign the task and give instructions: “Create your own music video in groups of 4-5 students using a song of your choice. Everybody has to have a role, from managing the camera to coming up with choreography to performing in the video. You have this lesson for planning and the next lesson for filming. We will watch all of the videos in the third lesson and give feedback to each other.”
• Do the task: Let students gather in groups and start planning their video. Monitor their language and teamwork, and take notes. Make sure that everybody is engaged and involved and that there are no students who are just standing by.
• Review: Before the lesson ends, give brief and motivating feedback to the students, and praise them for their efforts and their use of the language. Remind the students to be ready to start filming during the next lesson.

In the online classroom (with around 5 young learners)

• Greeting and warm-up: Call out each student’s name and show each of them a card with a different word on it. It could be “dog,” “play,” “boy,” “girl,” “sunny,” etc. Have each student read their word out loud.
• Assign the task and give instructions: “Create a short story that includes all of the words I gave you just now. You can decide the order of the words and how you use them in your story. You can add as many words and plot twists as you like. Each student has to contribute at least one sentence. Please start.”
• Do the task: Watch the students on camera and take notes. If communication between them comes to a standstill, you can provide some support by asking questions, such as “What do you think could happen next?” or “Who can come up with the next idea?” or “Who wants to include their word next?” Your support should encourage the students to participate without giving them an idea straight away. Finally, have the students write down the story that they created. They can then take turns reading it out loud, one sentence at a time.
• Review: Praise your students for their effort and teamwork, and applaud their story. Let the students have time for self-reflection and respond to questions such as “What did you do especially well today?” or “What would you like to improve for next time?”

If you’re not comfortable with task-based language teaching just yet, don’t let that discourage you. You can envision using this teaching method as your personal task. Set yourself a goal, try TBL out in your next lesson, and review your class afterward to reflect on what to improve and what went well!

In a teaching pinch? Try one of these last-minute ESL lesson plans that can be adapted to any class!

After backpacking Australia on a Working Holiday visa, Bridge graduate Johanna traveled to Japan for a year to teach English. She then moved to New Zealand for another two years before returning to her chosen home country, Japan, where she currently lives. Now, with more than eight years of professional English teaching experience, Johanna enjoys her expat life in Japan teaching teenagers at a private junior and senior high school, where she recently received tenure after only two years. When she’s not teaching, Johanna continues to travel regionally and explore new places.

• Getting Started
• Introduction
• The Teacher
• The Learner

Foreign Language Teaching Methods: Speaking

Lesson 3: designing communicative tasks.

• What is a Task?
• Design Principles
• Unsuccessful Tasks
• Analyzing Tasks
• Review and Reflect

What Is a Task?

Defining a "task."

Duration: 01:31

This lesson focuses on defining what a task is. And actually there's been a lot written on this in the literature on task-based language teaching. Some people say that a task is not really a language unit at all, that it's really a unit of activity. But how we're going to define a task in this lesson is: a human activity (that is, you are going to be doing something) that is goal-directed (that is, you're doing something to accomplish a particular goal). But the real crux here is it's going to require interaction -- interaction between two people -- partners -- or a small group.

So for example, say you want to hire a job candidate. You have an opening in your company and you need to hire somebody. That's a task. And, if you break it down, the first thing you are going to do you might review some resumes, you might post the job, you go over the resumes that you get from the applicants. You then have to match their qualifications to the actual job. And then as a group you're going to have to have that difficult decision-making process and come to some kind of agreement. So that's a pretty good example of what I mean here by task. There is an activity, you're hiring somebody, and the activity is goal-oriented and it requires interaction among a small group.

A task is (1) a classroom activity or exercise that has (a) an objective attainable only by the interaction among participants, (b) a mechanism for structuring and sequencing interaction, and (c) a focus on meaning exchange; (2) a language learning endeavor that requires learners to comprehend, manipulate, and/or produce the target language as they perform some set of workplans. (Lee 2000:32)

Lee, J. 2000. Tasks and Communicating in Language Classrooms . New York: McGraw-Hill.

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Teaching Students About If Christians are Catholic

Teaching students about jean arthur: an enlightening journey through the life of a hollywood icon, teaching students about reefer madness: understanding the history and dispelling the myths, teaching students about the meaning of “culminated” in a sentence, teaching students about mug shots: a valuable lesson in civics and law enforcement, teaching students about family words list, thank you messages for gift, teaching students about the downton abbey film: bringing history to life, teaching students about the league cup: a comprehensive guide, teaching students about negative heat in endothermic and exothermic reactions, what are the 4 components of task analysis.

Task analysis is a process in which broad goals are broken down into small objectives or parts and sequenced for instruction. Task analysis is the process of developing a training sequence by breaking down a task into small steps that a child can master more easily. Tasks, skills, assignments, or jobs in the classroom become manageable for all children, which allows them to participate fully in the teaching and learning process.

In early childhood settings, teachers focus task analysis on activities necessary for successful participation in the environment. Four ways to develop the steps needed for a task analysis include watching a master, self-monitoring, brainstorming, and goal analysis. Early childhood teachers can use each of these approaches to identify and record the 4 incremental steps:

–Watching a master: To know how to help children walk the balance beam, watch someone who is doing this task well.

–Self-monitoring: To know how to help children make a paper-mache turkey, review the steps that you follow in accomplishing the task.

–Brainstorming: To know how to help children plan a garden in a school plot, ask all the children to give you ideas

–Goal analysis: To know how to help children develop conflict resolution strategies, review the observable and nonobservable aspects of this task, and identify ways to see how it is accomplished.

It is important to remember that the number of steps in a task analysis depends upon the functioning level of the child as well as the nature of the task. I hope you enjoyed this brief explanation of task analysis and its 4 components. If you have anything that you would add to the article, please leave it in the comments below.

To help teachers further understand the components of task analysis and how it can be used in the classroom, below we have an included an informational video that was compiled by professors at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Concepts and Strategies for Serving the Whole ...

12 activities that teachers can use to ....

Matthew Lynch

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Learning Tasks: Turning a Dry Subject into an Engaging Experience

H ow do you teach a dry subject effectively, particularly in the workplace? In what ways can you engage your students when your content has a high level of abstraction? What strategies are most effective to bring “learning to task”?

In the next pages, I provide some practical tips and advice about the design and use of learning tasks — experiential, hands-on activities — based on my 15 years of experience as an adult educator and leaning heavily on the contributions of Jane Vella in this field. In Taking Learning to Task: Creative Strategies for Teaching Adults (Jossey-Bass, 2000), Vella describes “a different approach, where teaching and learning are integrated and where the learning task is the overall design.” These learning tasks introduce learners to the intricacies of applying what they have learned to their daily work. Despite some disadvantages (they can take a little longer than lectures and can be messier to handle), I believe that learning tasks are an effective way to teach for results. This article will discuss:

Use the learning tasks ideas outlined in this article to design workplace training sessions that foster collaborative learning and “unlearning.”

1. What “mind shift” is necessary to be able to teach with learning tasks;

2. What is a learning task;

3. What are the four types of learning tasks that, properly sequenced, can generate engagement and fun, no matter what the content you teach;

4. How to debrief a learning task to maximize its learning potential for your students.

So-called “domain knowledge” (concepts, facts, and procedures), while often necessary, seems largely insufficient to empower people to solve problems at work.

Why Learning Tasks

I am biased! My personal way to train in the workplace emphasizes results through group work, learners’ autonomy, and a new role for the trainer as a facilitator of learning rather than a conveyer of content. My biases bring me to see collaboration/diversity and hands-on experiences/action as necessary conditions for learning to take place.

These biases come from my direct observation. So-called “domain knowledge” (concepts, facts, and procedures), while often necessary, seems largely insufficient to empower people to solve problems at work. Adult learners generally are not interested in formal knowledge — the “knowing about” the entire background behind what they are learning. Rather, they are focused on “knowing how,”, “knowing when,” and “knowing if in order to improve their own ability to solve problems, often with limited time and incomplete information, in the context of their day-to-day tasks. The result of this focus is the creation of new meanings, new connections, and new expertise with the qualities of immediate returns, clear transferability, and evident usefulness. Learning tasks support this kind of integration.

In addition, I have noticed that by using learning tasks, aside from helping trainees acquire the necessary skills on the subject at hand, we build a true organizational ability to learn through action and reflection. This kind of learning involves the creation of knowledge rather than the consumption of data. Learning tasks thus nurture students’ capacity for actively integrating new concepts into their existing work practice on a given subject.

Building Blocks for Creating Expertise

Learning tasks are not just fun games and activities that supplement lectures or exercises to practice the content. They are a different way to teach altogether, where the tasks themselves are the whole shebang. According to Vella, “A learning task is a way to structure dialogue. It is an open question put to members of a small group who have been given all the resources they need to respond.” She also says, “A learning task is a way of ensuring engagement of learners with the new content.”

Learning tasks are based on the assumption that new expertise is built through experiences. They expose learners to situations where they can safely practice the content they are learning and collaboratively nurture their own ability to solve problems with their new skills. The work of designing learning tasks is turning content elements into problem-solving experiences set to resemble the learners’ work context. Three key moments make up a learning task: instructions, task, and debrief.

1. The Instructions (5 percent of the total time for the lesson) are given by the trainers to present the activity, demonstrate its basic components, and provide guidance on how to perform it (see “Learning Task Instructions”). So, for example, for a task I assign in my “Emotional Intelligence of Team Results” workshop, I say to students:

• Introduction, Goal, and Reason: “Have you ever thought about what the one thing is that gets you going? Self-awareness is a key skill to build your emotional intelligence. In the next task, we are focusing on your self-knowledge, which the ancients Greeks considered the source of all wisdom. By doing this, we are gaining the clarity required to start building your emotional IQ.”
• Instructions 1: “I invite you to read the poem on page 23 and individually write in your learning journals the responses to the three questions that you find there. I will then ask you to share your thoughts with a person you have never worked with before.”
• Instructions 2:, “Again, Step 1: Read the poem on page 23. Step 2: Write down your answers to the three questions in your learning journals. Step 3: When I ring the bell, please turn to a person you normally do not work with and share your answers. You have 15 minutes for this task.”
• Question:, “Any questions?”

LEARNING TASK INSTRUCTIONS

• INTRODUCTION, GOAL, REASON
• INSTRUCTIONS 1 (what to do, how much time, what happened in the end, and so on)
• INSTRUCTIONS 2 (repeat)

There is an art in giving good, specific, clear instructions. Instructors present the activity and the materials and check people’s understanding of how to proceed. They clearly state why they selected the activity and what they hope it will accomplish. It is imperative to provide clear goals for the exercise (for example, “We are doing this task for these reasons . . .”), because the smallest omission or lack of clarity will make people practice the wrong way, will thwart their chances of success, and will undermine their learning. Trainers also need to state what the reward is for the activity, that is, what positive outcome will come from doing it right.

2. The Task is the actual exercise (55 percent of the total time for the lesson). Participants work on solving a problem to practice the content to be learned. The task always comes with written resources and materials. For instance, in the previous example, I ask people to go to page 23 to read a poem. The task is about reading, reflecting, and sharing as a way to experientially build self-awareness.

3. The Debrief is the review/ debriefing phase (40 percent of the total time of the lesson). The instructors facilitate a conversation after the activity has taken place that outlines key questions to drive the group’s learning. For instance, in the same example, we can ask students if they liked the poem or not, whether the exercise came easy or not, if it holds some meaning, what they discovered in conversations, and so on. I can share my observations (, “I notice a kind of relief in the room, am I right?”) or my experience (, “I selected this poem because . . .”). The reflection is the critical “harvesting” moment of the learning; below, we will look at strategies that can help maximize its effectiveness.

Four Kinds of Tasks

Jane Vella talks about four kinds of learning tasks and how they should be sequenced to build an effective learning experience:

1. We start with an INDUCTIVE learning task. With this kind of task, we “invite learners to qualify where they are at present in terms of the content, where they begin their study, and what the present conception of the topic includes.” An inductive learning task can be used as a warm-up, but it is never an icebreaker. My inductive learning tasks start the work of learning and demonstrate that I care about how the learners’ backgrounds and knowledge inform their work in the class. By showing this interest right from the start — in the crucial first three minutes that shape people’s perceptions of the entire program — I establish a level of respect for them and for the rich experience they bring.

For example, in a class on effective time management, I opened the session by having participants fill out a form that included the following questions: “What do you hope to learn from this class? What are your time wasters? What situations do you hope to improve with more effective time management skills?” In a customer service workshop, I asked the trainees: “Tell me about your experience with bad customer service.” In an online train-the-trainer course, I requested that attendees send in advance the name of an instructor who made a difference in their lives and why. This step creates a climate that is conducive to learning.

2. We create opportunities for learners to experience the content with an INPUT learning task , in which they meet the new materials hands-on. For example, I once taught a class on federal records management (talk about a dry subject!). Rather than present records management definitions and concepts with a PowerPoint slideshow, I broke the group into teams and gave each team a set of cards with 20 key concepts in federal records management. I encouraged them to sort the ones they were familiar with from the ones that they didn’t know. I told them that in 15 minutes, we would hear the “provisional definition” of the concepts and asked them to pass the cards with concepts they were not familiar with to the other tables. We invited the agency’s Records Management Officer to provide guidance. We only needed his expertise for five key concepts, as the groups pooled their knowledge and managed to come up with the correct definitions for most of the terms on their own.

3. With an IMPLEMENTATION learning task, we invite participants to do something with the new content. This kind of task solicits the learners’ participation, asking them to “wear” the learning and run with it for their own purposes, from their own perspectives. For learners, it is a great chance to bring the content into their own lives; for trainers, it is an opportunity to verify that students have really absorbed the material.

In my “Dialogue as Facilitative Leadership” workshop, I ask trainees to write their own list of possible questions to ask someone with whom they disagree. The questions are based on the concept of open versus closed; the challenge is to ask open questions in response to aggressive statements like “No way” or “This is totally wrong!” The simulation that follows requires trainees to respond to interruptions and defensive statements only with the questions they have designed. In a class about supervisory skills, I created five brief stories that illustrated dilemmas for the main characters similar to the ones the learners were facing in supervising their own staffs. Each case finished with key questions; participants then chose either A or B as a course of action.

4. With an INTEGRATION learning task , we move into the actual use of the skill in the workplace. In a class about a new performance system, for example, I encouraged learners to write the three things they learned in the class, their own plan with dates for implementing it, and the factors they anticipated could derail their efforts, including the potential for routine to take over and cause them to return to their set ways. The conversation about implementation also raised the idea of “enablers,” such as 30- and 60-day follow- ups by web conference and plans for involving the learners’ supervisors in defining and ensuring the ongoing use of the class content.

The Learning Task Debrief

“There was a person constantly talking and disrupting the class. Unfortunately, that person was the instructor.”

Task-based learning is grounded in the assumption that the quality of the learning process depends largely on the quality of the questions we as trainers ask during the dialogue that follows the action. According to World Café founders Juanita Brown and David Isaacs, learning questions “enable us to challenge our underlying assumptions in constructive ways. With a simple and consistent focus on questions that matter, casual conversations are transformed into collective inquiry.” Indeed, learning takes place even after the task has been executed, through a dialogue in which powerful questions unleash the team’s ability to reflect.

The rule is simple. After performing any learning task, always involve students in a learning dialogue, because it is only through conversation that the experience is distilled in usable learning.

The dialogue that follows a learning task allows people to “talk the learning out,” to express it, to verbalize it, to give it words, to reflect on it. Here we make learning visible through several iterations in order to produce an output, an actual shareable product. No matter how imperfect or partial this product is, it is nevertheless “owned” and serves as a basis for further learning.

For example, in a class on systems thinking, I introduce causal loop diagrams through a learning dialogue. Without explaining the concepts of reinforcing and balancing loops, I distribute a document called “Peter Russell’s Credit Report,” explaining that this fictional gentleman’s poor credit rating can be traced back to the interplay of two variables: the amount of debt and the number of credit-card transactions. I draw a reinforcing loop of those two variables and explain that this is another way to describe his situation. I then distribute other sample artifacts that illustrate similar situations and ask them to read them at their tables (for example, “Jenny’s Diet” is about the interplay of variables in weight-loss decisions; “Mark Is Always Late!” focuses on the interplay between people’s perceptions of others and reality, and so on). After students have read the stories, I ask them to jot down the variables they see in action, identifying the loops similar to the one I have written on the wall. The focus is on getting them to verbalize their understanding in order to introduce the new ideas “balancing loop” and “reinforcing loop.”

For each kind of task (inductive, input, implementation, or integration), I have identified four partial sets of questions (see “Questions for Prompting Learning Dialogues” on p. 5). You can use these questions in the dialogue that debriefs the learning tasks to ensure a rich and productive conversation around the task experience.

• After an INDUCTIVE learning task (one that starts the training session and evokes previous learning), the trainers’ focus is on listening and clarifying, while probing the rich experience participants bring to the class. The instructor ensures that trainees fully participate in the activity and prepare them for plunging into the content. By conducting a learning dialogue right after an inductive learning activity, trainers establish a safe space for everyone to speak. The conversation also gives people a chance to articulate what they already know about the content and review their experience with it.
• After an INPUT learning task (one that presents new content), trainees ask a lot of questions. In this phase, instructors clarify the concepts presented as new content and invite participants to describe what happened during the activity, to explain the content or their thinking about it, and to extract meaning and knowledge from the experience. Depending on the content or context of the task, much of the dialogue after these input activities involves clarifying the input and ensuring understanding. Instructors focus on articulating the content, making sure that people participate, and tolerating a few mistakes.
• After an IMPLEMENTATION learning task (one that centers on applying what participants have learned in their own context), the dialogue meets the content in its most challenging aspect: application. This conversation normally raises a lot of questions, comments, opinions, and disagreements, allowing for multiple perspectives to emerge. In my experience, after an implementation task, you can expect a learning dialogue to go anywhere most likely to disputing the key learning ideas and assumptions. For example, in our class “The Virtual Trainer,” which is about teaching using web-conferencing technologies, when we ask participants to structure a lesson plan that makes for effective online engagement, the conversation often goes back to the benefits of doing face-to-face sessions and to the importance of understanding the audience’s needs in order to select the right training media. By allowing trainees to express these different perspectives, which normally enrich the perspective of everyone involved, we honor the freedom of the learning process. In these situations, instructors need to use their emotional intelligence, negotiation skills, and conflict management abilities to ensure that group members give fair consideration to the concepts being taught and that they do their share of work or analysis.
• After an INTEGRATION learning task (one that brings the learning into the trainees’ work life), the dialogue normally addresses the future. In this phase, the conversation should clearly identify two or three specific actions that students can implement immediately, individually or as a group, as a follow-up after the class.The rule is simple. After performing any learning task, always involve students in a learning dialogue, because it is only through conversation that the experience is distilled in usable learning.

QUESTIONS FOR PROMPTING LEARNING DIALOGUES

After inductive learning tasks:.

To get learners ready to learn by evoking past experience, hopes, and expectations

• What was the theme of your past experience in one word?
• What is your attitude on the subject based on your past experience?
• What behaviors have worked/have not worked for you in the past in this area?
• What do you hope to learn about this subject that you know is important?
• What do you know about this subject that you know is true?
• What would you like to explore about the subject?
• What will you need to forget in order to learn this?
• Why are you excited/not excited about being here?
• Where will you be using what you learn about the subject?
• What do you hope to change as a result of your learning?

After Input Learning Tasks

To get learners to describe or interpret what happened during the activity

• How was it? (easy or difficult, etc.)
• What happened during the activity? I noticed . . .
• Who was really into it? How did you like this part?

To get learners to verbalize content or thinking

• Can you summarize . . . ? How would you describe . . . ?
• What happened as you did . . . ?
• I noticed you took this action. Why did you decide to do it?
• How would you describe the problem you were dealing with?
• How close do you think you have come to achieving what you wanted to achieve?
• How successful do you think you were?
• How do you see your role in this activity?
• How does this part relate to you?
• Why were there differences between what happened during the activity and your expectations?
• What actions will you take as a result of . . . ?
• What will you do differently next time?

After Implementation Learning Tasks

• How was it? (easy, difficult, etc.)
• What do you need to consider when using this approach?
• What can you do right now to ensure you apply this tool?
• How are your current skills/information/knowledge/attitude giving you the results you want?
• What data make you say that this approach is difficult to use in real life?
• What would you need to see to agree with this idea?
• What is needed for you to change your mind?

After Integration Learning Tasks

• What do you think will simplify the application process for you?
• What obstacles might you encounter as you apply this approach?
• What problems do you anticipate?
• What could be a quick victory in doing this work?
• How can we support you in implementing this learning?
• Who do you need to enlist to make sure this really happens?
• What specific actions can you take to have a greater chance of success?
• How will you know if you have succeeded?

In conclusion, when we design a class using learning tasks, our lesson plan looks like an accordion. The basic sequence “Instructions–Task–Debrief is the building block of the program; as such, it is repeated several times. First, we position an “Instructions–Inductive Task–Debrief block, then an “Instructions–Input Task–Debrief.” An “Instructions–Implementation Task–Debrief follows, and we close with “Instructions–Integration Task– Debrief.” Organized and assembled in various fashions, those elements create powerful learning programs.

A Learning Community

“Learning cannot be designed. Ultimately it belongs to the realm of experience and practice . . . It slips through the cracks; it creates its own cracks. Learning happens, design or no design.”

We know that telling is the least effective way to teach. In these pages, I have provided an alternative practice through the use of learning tasks. Our basic assumption is that trainers don’t need to spoon-feed concepts to trainees. Trainers should become experts in finding great, creative, new ways to have people learn something, rather than being experts in what people learn. Yes, the trainer needs to know about the content. But that’s not enough.

By shifting focus from conveying content to creating a learning experience, the job of a trainer becomes:

• Setting up learning tasks that allow trainees to experience the content first-hand;
• Giving clear instructions about the tasks to be performed;
• Being a resource during the actual tasks as well as sitting back and letting trainees do the work;
• Facilitating learning conversations by debriefing the task through the use of great questions.

Trainers who use a task-centered approach play yet another role they support the creation of a community of learners.

Trainers who use a task-centered approach play yet another role — they support the creation of a community of learners. A key element is building a sense of openness and trust in the group. A well-executed debrief after a learning task is essentially an exercise in community building.

When trainers see knowledge as book knowledge — facts and trivia — and individuals as lonely learners mandated to absorb something, then they don’t perceive the need for dedicating time to building a learning community. With this mindset, it is not surprising that community-building work is often ignored and dropped in favor of more “meaningful” activities. But the fact is that learning communities are the very engine that makes learning turn into change for organizations. Without it, the organizations we work with can’t reap the full benefits of new approaches.

Training adults by using learning tasks embraces the action/reflection paradigm, develops real-world learning as situated expertise, and builds communities of learners. Besides, by spreading the joy of learning, training professionals can have a profound, positive impact on organizational change. And, isn’t that what our work is all about?

• Start turning your own materials from “things learners need to know” into “things learners need to do” by using the examples provided in the article.
• Create mini-scripts for giving instructions on your learning tasks so you can provide learners with unequivocal understanding of what they are supposed to do.
• Select a few of the questions provided for designing your own learning dialogues.
• Give up control in your classes and enjoy the ride.
• Take the content of this article and come up with your own ideas.

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Using Metacognitive Strategies in Education: The Complete Guide

Understanding Metacognition is essential for teachers guiding their students to a deeper understanding of the topics taught and their own understanding of how they learn, but what is it and how does it work?

What is Metacognition? Metacognition pertains to a student’s ability to self-critique their approach to a task and adapt their thinking to improve their understanding. The metacognition cycle guides students to improve the way they learn; 1. Assess the task. 2. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses. 3. Plan the approach. 4. Apply strategies. 5. Reflect.

What is Metacognition?

How often do you reflect on your own thoughts and behaviors?

As a colleague of mine recently put it to a group of assembled teachers:

Think about how you got here today. Have you been here before? How did you choose which way to get here – method, route etc?

Metacognition is often simply referred to as thinking about your thinking.

Teaching metacognitive strategies to students improves their higher-order thinking and increases their ability to make maximum progress.

Effective teaching is the best way to improve outcomes, especially for disadvantaged students.

The best teachers need a working knowledge and understanding of the most effective strategies in order to maximize the efficiency of their classrooms and the quality of the teaching and learning interactions therein.

By the end of this article, you may feel that you are “the converted” and you have been preached at; hopefully, no conversion is necessary if we all want to be effective teachers!

A lot of strategies that are now huddled under the umbrella of Metacognition and Self-Regulation are the same strategies many effective teachers have been employing, possibly in different guises or without conscious awareness in their classrooms for many years.

What Is the Research Behind Metacognition?

The term metacognition has been used to describe our own understanding of how we perceive, remember, think, and act, that is, what we know about what we know. ( Metacognition: Knowing about Knowing edited by Janet Metcalfe and Arthur P. Shimamura (1994)).

Thinking About Thinking

Metacognitive knowledge is the knowledge of yourself as a learner – how you learn best; the strategies you have at your disposal; the tasks you have to complete and how you complete them.

Metacognitive strategies help us plan, monitor, and evaluate our learning.

Metacognition as a concept is nothing new, the term itself was first coined in the 1970s by John Flavell. Over the years there has been much debate around the precise definition and the component parts.

Piaget’s Influence

In 1963, Flavell was the first to publish in English a study on the research and work of Piaget ( The Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaget ), from this, the science of cognitive development was born.

Looking back with the perspective we now have; the work of Lev Vygotsky on his Zone of Proximal Development , specifically the transition from a learner being directed by a “more knowledgeable other” to the learner becoming capable of understanding their own cognitive abilities would be considered metacognitive development.

Essentially, Metacognition is the ability we have to use our existing knowledge to plan strategies for approaching tasks, take necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results, and modify our approaches as required.

In an excellent article in the most recent copy of Impact Magazine for the CCT James Mannion defines it as ‘monitoring and controlling your thought processes’.

Mannion also urges us to be careful around the over-simplification of the concept; however, we can distil the basics.

Metacognitive Strategies in Education

Metacognition is one of the aspects students need in order to become self-regulated learners; it is important to remember that developing the former does not automatically create the latter.

Before setting off on anything classroom-based that you call a ‘metacognitive strategy’ you must have a basic grasp of the ways students develop their own metacognitive skills as a learner, and you must model these in your own practice.

Don’t fall into the trap of designing generic or explicit ‘metacognition’ lessons or ‘Study Skills’ sequences.

Embed the concepts more deeply in your subject-specific practice and focus on wanting the students to be more effective independent learners, reflecting on their approaches and regulating their behavior appropriately to ensure maximum success and optimized outcomes.

Why Is Metacognition Important?

One of the key conclusions drawn by the National Academy of Sciences in their “ How People Learn II ” report from 2018 is that:

“Successful learning requires coordination of multiple cognitive processes that involve different networks in the brain. In order to coordinate these processes, an individual needs to be able to monitor and regulate his own learning. The ability to monitor and regulate learning changes over the life span and can be improved through interventions”.

The EEF Guidance Report tells us that evidence and research suggest 7 months+ of progress “when used well” and that there is a lot of potential, “particularly for disadvantaged students”.

“When used well” is key, as is “potential”; we need to ensure that strategies and interventions designed to promote metacognitive awareness in students are supported by professional development for teachers.

Teachers should be guided in how best to embed these strategies into their classroom environments and day-to-day teaching and learning interactions.

These ideas around appropriate implementation are explored Joke vanVelzenin in “ Metacognitive Learning; Advancing Learning by Developing General Knowledge of the Learning Process “.

“In today’s schools, most students are taught how to summarize, take notes, and read for understanding, though mostly without specifically being taught how to figure out by themselves when and why these learning techniques can be most effective.

Without obtaining a thorough understanding of the reasons behind the effectiveness of learning techniques, in that general knowledge of the learning process is being developed, learning can be hindered and become unnecessarily difficult, particularly, where new and unfamiliar learning tasks are concerned.

This makes the development of general knowledge of the learning process essential for lifelong learning.”

Metacognition in the Classroom

The EEF report is keen to point out to us that much less is known about effective implementation of metacognitive strategies in the classroom.

However, we can group together a range of approaches and opportunities that relate well to encouraging students to develop their metacognitive awareness.

One area where we can have immediate success is in the creation and management of appropriate resources. Encouraging students to use them effectively, thoughtfully and productively; this latter phrase encapsulates the metacognitive approach nicely.

So, what can we try?

Retrieval Practice

When done well and used appropriately retrieval practices help activate prior knowledge, ascertain prior knowledge and also give students practice at using previously learnt material effectively.

Thus speeding up the cognitive transfer from long-term to working memory and therefore embedding the learning more deeply.

Problem Solving

Worked examples and problem pairs are just a couple of examples of how modelling and articulating the process of using knowledge helps students better understand how to apply the range of metacognitive strategies.

We can also, as teachers make sure that we use questions to allow students to develop their reasoning and explain their answers. We can stimulate debate, press for depth and ‘design better conversations’ for learning.

Backwards Fading and Progressive Modelling

Both of these strategies can help students to the correct process by holding their hand through it in the first instance then gradually removing the level of support until the process becomes more natural and ‘automatic’.

Does this remind you of anyone?

Vygotsky perhaps!

If we adopt Rosenshine’s suggestions around introducing new material in small steps we ensure that we do not overload student working memory and we, therefore, do not hinder performance.

The end goal as a teacher is to fade ourselves and the resources away at an appropriate speed until students reach the level of performance that allows for proper independence.

This cannot and should not be done too quickly!

As well as the tools required to complete the task we can (and should) also teach the management of the task and which strategies are most effective in which situations.

In order to further the support that moves students towards independent and ‘self-regulated’ learning, we should ensure that we are designing those appropriate resources.

Resources that are streamlined, efficient and uncomplicated; ones that show an understanding of cognitive load and student working memory.

7 Examples of Metacognitive Questions Students Should ask Themselves

• What should I do first?
• Is something confusing me?
• Could I explain this to someone else?
• Do I need help to understand this?
• Where did I go wrong?
• Does this relate to other situations or prior knowledge?
• How can I do it better?

Metacognition Strategies

We can try getting students to reflect and evaluate their own learning experiences more with simple prompts :

-What concepts from today’s class did you find difficult to understand?

-Specifically, what will you do to improve your understanding of the concepts that were difficult?

We can also support students with their resource management. We can give them a range of well-taught and modeled study strategies that they can choose from when revising, for example; flashcards, MCQs, elaboration, self-quizzing and concept maps.

Giving them a well-structured study guide, they can work on what strategies work best for them.

Metacognition in action!

We can then ask them to articulate the success (or not) of their independent study to help them identify those strategies that are working and those that are not.

By setting goals and monitoring progress towards them, students become more aware of their own thinking and learning.

Perkins’ four levels of Metacognitive Learner (1992) can be a really useful template for not only identifying the different needs of students but also then enabling more focused and targeted intervention and support.

The Metacognition Cycle

• Assess the task.
• Evaluate strengths and weaknesses.
• Plan the approach.
• Apply strategies.

Metacognition in CPD (Continuing Professional Development)

As mentioned earlier, institutions themselves need to recognize the potential of appropriately designed interventions to support metacognition.

In my view, this starts at the top and with the teachers themselves.

Focused, evidence-informed professional learning opportunities that are iterative and delivered by those with the appropriate knowledge, supported by frameworks and discussion models that help coach and develop staff delivery.

Simply ascribing a school’s ‘metacognitive approach’ to the creation of a one-off generic Study Skills program will not be effective.

The approach needs to be outward-facing and collegiate, with staff collaborating on the delivery of strategy as well as assessing its impact, perhaps in small focused Learning Groups.

When embarking on any form of action research in this way it will be key to ensure that the parameters are clear and precise and that there is a concrete idea of what ‘success’ looks like i.e. how its impact can be measured otherwise.

As with all CPD, be aware of the needs of those in the room and their own skills. How ‘novice’ are they? What support do they need? If teachers can develop and improve their own metacognition then they are better equipped to help develop it in others.

We need to distil the complexity of metacognition into steps that students and teachers can understand; as novice learners, we are initially poor in making judgements about our own learning, and as with anything our expertise increases over time and through experience.

If we want students to be able to become truly independent learners and to be able to think for themselves, we must teach them to think in a metacognitive way.

We don’t need to make huge changes to what we do, just tweak our teaching to set them up with the self-reflective questioning techniques.

What are your thoughts on metacognition in education? Comment below and let me know.

Similar Posts:

• Discover Your Learning Style – Comprehensive Guide on Different Learning Styles
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• > Task-Based Language Teaching
• > What is task-based language teaching?

Book contents

• Frontmatter
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 What is task-based language teaching?
• Chapter 2 A framework for task-based language teaching
• Chapter 3 Task components
• Chapter 4 An empirical basis for task-based language teaching
• Chapter 5 Focus on form in task-based language teaching
• Chapter 6 Grading, sequencing and integrating tasks
• Chapter 7 Assessing task-based language teaching
• Chapter 8 Tasks and teacher development
• Appendix A Approaches and methods – an overview
• Appendix B A unit of work based on the six-step procedure presented in Chapter 2
• Appendix C A unit of work based on the task/exercise typology in Chapter 5
• Appendix D Graded activities for the four macroskills
• Appendix E Common reference levels: self-assessment grid

Chapter 1 - What is task-based language teaching?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2010

Introduction and overview

The concept of ‘task’ has become an important element in syllabus design, classroom teaching and learner assessment. It underpins several significant research agendas, and it has influenced educational policymaking in both ESL and EFL settings.

Pedagogically, task-based language teaching has strengthened the following principles and practices:

A needs-based approach to content selection.

An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.

The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.

The provision of opportunities for learners to focus not only on language but also on the learning process itself.

An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning.

The linking of classroom language learning with language use outside the classroom.

In this chapter, I will map out the terrain for the rest of the book. I will firstly define ‘task’ and illustrate the ways in which it will be used. I will then relate it to communicative language teaching and set it within a broader curriculum framework, as well as spelling out the assumptions about pedagogy drawn on by the concept. In the final part of the chapter I will look at the impact of the concept on the learner, on one hand, and on institutional policy and practice on the other.

Defining ‘task’

Before doing anything else, I need to define the central concept behind this book.

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• What is task-based language teaching?
• David Nunan , The University of Hong Kong
• Book: Task-Based Language Teaching
• Online publication: 16 February 2010
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667336.002

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Dave Stuart Jr.

Teaching Simplified.

Learning vs. Task-Completing

February 20, 2020 By Dave Stuart Jr. 3 Comments

Many of my students, when pressed, struggle to say just what learning is. They can tell you about completing tasks, checking grades, keeping track of emergency passes, and so on. In other words, they are aware of schoolish behaviors. But they can't tell you exactly what's happening when they learn or how one goes about actually doing this learning thing.

I can hardly blame them. If we're honest, most of us teachers aren't much better at communicating the difference. We tend to think of lessons and units in terms of the tasks students will complete. We have a rough time summarizing how science suggests the brain learns, how motivation works in learning and why it matters, and how one can teach students to motivate themselves and attend to whether or not they're learning.

There are actually some amazing weaknesses in our understanding of learning. For example, over 90% of educators worldwide believe that students learn best when material is presented in their individual learning style. (Source: an article from Scientific American .) And you might think, “Dang right! Differentiate for those styles, baby.” But this 90% stat is actually a big bummer because science can't prove that we learn best when we're taught according to our “learning style.” Heck, there's not even agreement on what the learning style list should include! And yet we teach the theory to our students, to our parents, in our schools of education, in our professional development.

But I'm digressing. The point of this post is that in each of our classrooms there is an infinite nuclear power plant of motivation sitting beneath us all. Doing the schoolish behaviors isn't all that fulfilling for all that many people. But learning is amazing. Learning can be emancipatory. Learning can open whole universes (for that's what disciplines are). Learning can deepen and shape our very identity.

So relentlessly teach students this difference. Guide your own professional development toward this difference. Ask hard, philosophical questions during the same hour that you ask hard, pragmatic ones. Think big and small at the same time, day by day, and the slow change will be that both you and your students will think more sharply about what school is for.

This isn't overnight success stuff; it's long, steady hiking in the same direction, upward and onward toward the peak.

Thank you to Laura Hoffman , whose brilliant question got me thinking about this important duality.

Reader Interactions

Rachel Wasserman says

February 20, 2020 at 7:38 am

Most experienced teachers feel they can identify when “real learning” is taking place — we call this the “aha!” moment. And when our kids pick up on an idea or concept we’ve shared and then build on it, extend it, and apply it to other circumstances. . .well that is the all the applause we need as teachers, and the responses we thrive on professionally. And unfortunately, despite the wishes of school boards, state departments of education, and many of our administrators, there’s no magic bullet for achieving this wondrous state.

Deb Schiano says

February 20, 2020 at 7:46 am

Hi Dave. I agree emphatically and see it predominantly as a change in mindset. Along that line, here are some “Moves that Matter” I’ve identified:

Requirements _______________Strategies Recipe ____________________Thinking Process Extracting from the Text________Transacting with the text Reports ____________________Innovations, Arguments Right answer questions________Discussable answer questions How ______________________How + Why: Making Thinking Visible To/For_____________________ By/With Product____________________ Process

valuesthefrontieroflearning says

February 20, 2020 at 12:10 pm

I loved this Blog post Dave Stuart Jr.! I’d like to share a definition of learning that I think about at least once a day for the past year after I was introduced to it by my math professor Jeffrey Anderson, at Foothill College.

From the book “How Learning Works – 7 Research Based Principles to Smart Teaching” by Susan Ambrose, et al:

1. Learning is a process, not a product. However, because this process takes place in the mind, we can only infer that it has occurred from students’ products or performances.

2. Learning involves change in knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, or attitudes. This change unfolds over time; it is not fleeting but rather has a lasting impact on how students think and act.

3. Learning is not something done to students, but rather some- thing students themselves do. It is the direct result of how students interpret and respond to their experiences—conscious and unconscious, past and present.

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Task Analysis: The Foundation for Successfully Teaching Life Skills

A Well Written Task Analysis Will Help Students Gain Independence

• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Behavior Management
• Lesson Plans
• Math Strategies
• Reading & Writing
• Social Skills
• Inclusion Strategies
• Individual Education Plans
• Becoming A Teacher
• Assessments & Tests
• Elementary Education
• Secondary Education
• Homeschooling
• M.Ed., Special Education, West Chester University
• B.A., Elementary Education, University of Pittsburgh

A task analysis is a fundamental tool for teaching life skills.  It is how a specific life skill task will be introduced and taught. The choice of forward or backward chaining will depend on how the task analysis is written.

A good task analysis consists of a written list of the discrete steps required to complete a task, such as brushing teeth, mopping a floor, or setting a table. The task analysis is not meant to be given to the child but is used by the teacher and staff supporting the student in learning the task in question.

Customize Task Analysis for Student Needs

Students with strong language and cognitive skills will need fewer steps in a task analysis than a student with a more disabling condition. Students with good skills could respond to the step "Pull pants up," while a student without strong language skills may need that task broken down into steps: 1) Grasp pants on the sides at the student's knees with thumbs inside the waistband. 2) Pull the elastic out so that it will go over the student's hips. 3) Remove thumbs from waistband. 4) Adjust if necessary.

A task analysis is also helpful as well for writing an IEP goal. When stating how performance will be measured, you can write: When given a task analysis of 10 steps for sweeping the floor, Robert will complete 8 of 10 steps (80%) with two or fewer prompts per step.

A task analysis needs to be written in a way that many adults, not just teachers but parents, classroom aides , and even typical peers, can understand it. It need not be great literature, but it does need to be explicit and use terms that will easily be understood by multiple people.   

Example Task Analysis: Brushing Teeth

• Student removes toothbrush from toothbrush case
• Student turns on water and wets bristles.
• Student unscrews toothpaste and squeezes 3/4 inches of paste onto bristles.
• Student opens mouth and brushes up and down on upper teeth.
• Student rinses his teeth with water from a cup.
• Student opens mouth and brushes up and down on lower teeth.
• Student brushes the tongue vigorously with toothpaste.
• Student replaces toothpaste cap and places toothpaste and brush in toothbrush case.

Example Task Analysis: Putting on a Tee Shirt

• Student chooses a shirt from the drawer. Student checks to be sure the label is inside.
• Student lays the shirt on the bed with the front down. Students checks to see that the label is near the student.
• Student slips hands into the two sides of the shirt to the shoulders.
• Student pulls head through the collar.  
• Student slides right and then left arm through the armholes.  

Keep in mind that, prior to setting goals for the task to be completed, it is advisable to test this task analysis using the child, to see if he or she is physically able to perform each part of the task. Different students have different skills. 

• Chaining Forward and Chaining Backwards
• Hand Over Hand Prompting for Children With Disabilities
• Ideas for Teaching Life Skills in and out of the Classroom
• Teaching Life Skills in the Classroom
• A Dental Health Activity With Eggshells and Soda
• Personal Hygiene in Space: How it Works
• How to Successfully Teach English One-to-One
• Gradual Release of Responsibility Creates Independent Learners
• Chunking: Breaking Tasks into Manageable Parts
• Dental Health Printables
• Functional Skills: Skills to Help Special Education Students Gain Independence
• IEP Goals for Progress Monitoring
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Independent Practice
• How to Set Up Classroom Learning Centers
• Egg in Vinegar: A Dental Health Activity
• Teacher Survival Kit: 10 Essential Items

• Request a Demo

Educators Blog

What is a Performance Task?

By Jay McTighe,

A performance task is any learning activity or assessment that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency. Performance tasks yield a tangible product and/or performance that serve as evidence of learning. Unlike a selected-response item (e.g., multiple-choice or matching) that asks students to select from given alternatives, a performance task presents a situation that calls for learners to apply their learning in context.

Performance tasks are routinely used in certain disciplines, such as visual and performing arts, physical education, and career-technology where performance is the natural focus of instruction. However, such tasks can (and should) be used in every subject area and at all grade levels.

 Performance tasks can be used to engage students in meaningful learning. Since rich performance tasks establish authentic contexts that reflect genuine applications of knowledge, students are often motivated and engaged by such “real world” challenges.

When used as assessments, performance tasks enable teachers to gauge student understanding and proficiency with complex processes (e.g., research, problem-solving, and writing), not just measure discrete knowledge. They are well suited to integrating subject areas and linking content knowledge with the 21st Century Skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, and technology use.   New research shows that such performance tasks lead to deeper understanding and can improve student achievement up +39%.

To learn how educators can create and implement effective performance tasks that drive student achievement, visit www.PerformanceTask.com .

  Jay McTighe is a nationally recognized educator and author of the award-winning and best-selling Understanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins.

Editors Note: This is an excerpt from the article " What is a Performance Task ( Part  1)" published on the PerformanceTask.com blog. 

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One Step at a Time: Using Task Analyses to Teach Skills

• Published: 03 February 2017
• Volume 45 , pages 855–862, ( 2017 )

Cite this article

• Melinda R. Snodgrass 1 ,
• Hedda Meadan 2 ,
• Michaelene M. Ostrosky 2 &
• W. Catherine Cheung 2  

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Task analyses are useful when teaching children how to complete tasks by breaking the tasks into small steps, particularly when children struggle to learn a skill during typical classroom instruction. We describe how to create a task analysis by identifying the steps a child needs to independently perform the task, how to assess what steps a child is able to do without adult support, and then decide how to teach the steps the child still needs to learn. Using task analyses can be the key to helping a young child become more independent.

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Snodgrass, M.R., Meadan, H., Ostrosky, M.M. et al. One Step at a Time: Using Task Analyses to Teach Skills. Early Childhood Educ J 45 , 855–862 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0838-x

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What Is Education For?

Read an excerpt from a new book by Sir Ken Robinson and Kate Robinson, which calls for redesigning education for the future.

What is education for? As it happens, people differ sharply on this question. It is what is known as an “essentially contested concept.” Like “democracy” and “justice,” “education” means different things to different people. Various factors can contribute to a person’s understanding of the purpose of education, including their background and circumstances. It is also inflected by how they view related issues such as ethnicity, gender, and social class. Still, not having an agreed-upon definition of education doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it or do anything about it.

We just need to be clear on terms. There are a few terms that are often confused or used interchangeably—“learning,” “education,” “training,” and “school”—but there are important differences between them. Learning is the process of acquiring new skills and understanding. Education is an organized system of learning. Training is a type of education that is focused on learning specific skills. A school is a community of learners: a group that comes together to learn with and from each other. It is vital that we differentiate these terms: children love to learn, they do it naturally; many have a hard time with education, and some have big problems with school.

There are many assumptions of compulsory education. One is that young people need to know, understand, and be able to do certain things that they most likely would not if they were left to their own devices. What these things are and how best to ensure students learn them are complicated and often controversial issues. Another assumption is that compulsory education is a preparation for what will come afterward, like getting a good job or going on to higher education.

So, what does it mean to be educated now? Well, I believe that education should expand our consciousness, capabilities, sensitivities, and cultural understanding. It should enlarge our worldview. As we all live in two worlds—the world within you that exists only because you do, and the world around you—the core purpose of education is to enable students to understand both worlds. In today’s climate, there is also a new and urgent challenge: to provide forms of education that engage young people with the global-economic issues of environmental well-being.

This core purpose of education can be broken down into four basic purposes.

Education should enable young people to engage with the world within them as well as the world around them. In Western cultures, there is a firm distinction between the two worlds, between thinking and feeling, objectivity and subjectivity. This distinction is misguided. There is a deep correlation between our experience of the world around us and how we feel. As we explored in the previous chapters, all individuals have unique strengths and weaknesses, outlooks and personalities. Students do not come in standard physical shapes, nor do their abilities and personalities. They all have their own aptitudes and dispositions and different ways of understanding things. Education is therefore deeply personal. It is about cultivating the minds and hearts of living people. Engaging them as individuals is at the heart of raising achievement.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and that “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Many of the deepest problems in current systems of education result from losing sight of this basic principle.

Schools should enable students to understand their own cultures and to respect the diversity of others. There are various definitions of culture, but in this context the most appropriate is “the values and forms of behavior that characterize different social groups.” To put it more bluntly, it is “the way we do things around here.” Education is one of the ways that communities pass on their values from one generation to the next. For some, education is a way of preserving a culture against outside influences. For others, it is a way of promoting cultural tolerance. As the world becomes more crowded and connected, it is becoming more complex culturally. Living respectfully with diversity is not just an ethical choice, it is a practical imperative.

There should be three cultural priorities for schools: to help students understand their own cultures, to understand other cultures, and to promote a sense of cultural tolerance and coexistence. The lives of all communities can be hugely enriched by celebrating their own cultures and the practices and traditions of other cultures.

Education should enable students to become economically responsible and independent. This is one of the reasons governments take such a keen interest in education: they know that an educated workforce is essential to creating economic prosperity. Leaders of the Industrial Revolution knew that education was critical to creating the types of workforce they required, too. But the world of work has changed so profoundly since then, and continues to do so at an ever-quickening pace. We know that many of the jobs of previous decades are disappearing and being rapidly replaced by contemporary counterparts. It is almost impossible to predict the direction of advancing technologies, and where they will take us.

How can schools prepare students to navigate this ever-changing economic landscape? They must connect students with their unique talents and interests, dissolve the division between academic and vocational programs, and foster practical partnerships between schools and the world of work, so that young people can experience working environments as part of their education, not simply when it is time for them to enter the labor market.

Education should enable young people to become active and compassionate citizens. We live in densely woven social systems. The benefits we derive from them depend on our working together to sustain them. The empowerment of individuals has to be balanced by practicing the values and responsibilities of collective life, and of democracy in particular. Our freedoms in democratic societies are not automatic. They come from centuries of struggle against tyranny and autocracy and those who foment sectarianism, hatred, and fear. Those struggles are far from over. As John Dewey observed, “Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.”

For a democratic society to function, it depends upon the majority of its people to be active within the democratic process. In many democracies, this is increasingly not the case. Schools should engage students in becoming active, and proactive, democratic participants. An academic civics course will scratch the surface, but to nurture a deeply rooted respect for democracy, it is essential to give young people real-life democratic experiences long before they come of age to vote.

Eight Core Competencies

The conventional curriculum is based on a collection of separate subjects. These are prioritized according to beliefs around the limited understanding of intelligence we discussed in the previous chapter, as well as what is deemed to be important later in life. The idea of “subjects” suggests that each subject, whether mathematics, science, art, or language, stands completely separate from all the other subjects. This is problematic. Mathematics, for example, is not defined only by propositional knowledge; it is a combination of types of knowledge, including concepts, processes, and methods as well as propositional knowledge. This is also true of science, art, and languages, and of all other subjects. It is therefore much more useful to focus on the concept of disciplines rather than subjects.

Disciplines are fluid; they constantly merge and collaborate. In focusing on disciplines rather than subjects we can also explore the concept of interdisciplinary learning. This is a much more holistic approach that mirrors real life more closely—it is rare that activities outside of school are as clearly segregated as conventional curriculums suggest. A journalist writing an article, for example, must be able to call upon skills of conversation, deductive reasoning, literacy, and social sciences. A surgeon must understand the academic concept of the patient’s condition, as well as the practical application of the appropriate procedure. At least, we would certainly hope this is the case should we find ourselves being wheeled into surgery.

The concept of disciplines brings us to a better starting point when planning the curriculum, which is to ask what students should know and be able to do as a result of their education. The four purposes above suggest eight core competencies that, if properly integrated into education, will equip students who leave school to engage in the economic, cultural, social, and personal challenges they will inevitably face in their lives. These competencies are curiosity, creativity, criticism, communication, collaboration, compassion, composure, and citizenship. Rather than be triggered by age, they should be interwoven from the beginning of a student’s educational journey and nurtured throughout.

From Imagine If: Creating a Future for Us All by Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D and Kate Robinson, published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2022 by the Estate of Sir Kenneth Robinson and Kate Robinson.

Task Analysis Examples for Use in the Classroom to Help Students Reach Goals

• Carol Lee McCulloch
• Categories : Inclusion strategies for mainstreamed classrooms
• Tags : Special ed information for teachers & parents

Task Analysis Examples

Make It Simple

Classrooms from pre-school to high school can utilize the task analysis process by using routine rules and learning skills. For example, in the kindergarten and lower elementary setting, the daily routine laid out for students to follow can provide opportunities for sub-tasking. If a teacher posts rules of conduct, or expectations in a given subject area, a checklist can be provided to monitor behavioral and academic progress. If rules or procedures are too general for young children to grasp completely, a listing of “how-to’s” can be charted for clarity. Here’s a simple task analysis example - If the general rule or procedure is “Be Respectful To Your Fellow Classmates,” it may be more helpful to list step by step the ways this can be accomplished; a) Ask different classmates to play with you on the playground, b) Speak kindly to each classmate, c) Do not make fun of anyone, d) Be a helper, not a troublemaker, and so on. The young student can then check off the steps he or she has accomplished, and as a result, good classroom habits will be developed and the general concept will be fully understood.

Strategies and Skills

For high school and college instructors, task analysis may be best utilized through the use of charting strategies and skills that are required to accomplish the task. In other words, the instructor needs to know if the student’s prerequisite skills are in place before designing the course of study. In English class, for example, a task analysis on how to write a simple research paper can prove very useful. The procedures and strategies approach is highly successful in teaching a how-to lesson. STRATEGIES are listed on one side of the chart with SKILLS REQUIRED directly across. Each section is sub-divided to best explain what is expected and what a student should know in order to accomplish the goal. Another analysis approach lists sequential (boxed) steps which must be followed to complete a specific task. Long division in upper elementary, as well as organizing thoughts and processes in science and social studies class, have proven much easier to digest using this method of task analysis.

Positive Benefits

According to an article on “Linking Task Analysis to Student Learning,” from the Educational Resource Information Center, there are many perspectives and approaches to task analysis. But the one point that all theorists agree on is that “task analysis, at a minimum, assists the instructor or designer to understand the content to be taught. This alone is sufficient reason for recommending it.” Task analysis activities have definitely been useful in helping teachers, students, employers and employees stay on track throughout a specific learning process. Goals are more easily understood and accomplished if the expected outcome is presented in pieces. Let us know in the comments if you have any task analysis examples you wish to share!

What’s the Purpose of Task Analysis ERIC Education Resources Information Center “Linking Task Analysis with Student Learning” Image by Aline Dassel from Pixabay

This post is part of the series: Special Education Activities

With many innovative approaches to teaching children with disabilities, educators, coaches, and volunteers alike can find exciting, rewarding ways to share expertise with the special needs population!

• Task Analysis Activities: Teaching Students to Complete Tasks
• Incorporating Music Into Teaching Students With Special Needs
• Sports Activities for the Disabled
• How the School Based Support Team Works

What Is a Rich Task?

Criteria for rich tasks, enriching the humanities, the brisbane river project, assessing a rich task, teaching in depth.

Education standards and curriculum guidelines throughout the world are challenging teachers to make school-based learning relate to the world beyond the classroom (Costa & Kallick, 2000; Marzano et al., 1997; Queensland Studies Authority, 2001). In Australia, the Queensland Studies Authority syllabus for preschool through year 12 (2001) emphasizes learning key concepts in real-world contexts, and Education Queensland (2001) recommends the use of rich tasks to invigorate such learning, defining a rich task as a culminating performance or demonstration or product that is purposeful and models a life role. It presents substantive, real problems to solve and engages learners in forms of pragmatic social action that have real value in the world. The problems require identification, analysis, and resolution and require students to analyze, theorize, and engage intellectually with the world. In this way, tasks connect to the world outside the classroom. (p. 5)

• Present the rich task and learning experiences leading up to it in a clear, logical sequence.
• Model precise communication, flexible thinking, and complex reasoning processes for understanding important concepts.
• Align classroom learning with the assessment task by providing students with opportunities throughout the unit to develop the thinking processes required to engage in the final task.
• Incorporate reflective activities that encourage students to question their understanding and thinking throughout the unit.
• Develop assessment procedures that emphasize students' understanding of important concepts and demonstration of complex thinking processes.

Anderson, R. D., Anderson, B. L., Varanka-Martin, M. A., Romagnano, L., Bielenberg, J., Flory, M., Mieras, B., & Whitworth, J. (1994). Issues of curriculum reform in science, mathematics, and higher-order thinking across the disciplines . Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

Costa, A., & Kallick, B. (2000). Discovering and exploring habits of mind . Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Education Queensland. (2001). New basics: The why, what, how, and when of rich tasks [Online document]. Available: www.education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics

Fensham, P. J. (1994). Science education. In K. Wiltshire, M. McMeniman, & J. Tolhurst (Eds.), Shaping the future: Review of the Queensland school curriculum (Vol. 2.). Brisbane, Australia: State Government of Queensland.

Marzano, R. J. (1992). A different kind of classroom: Teaching with dimensions of learning . Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., Arredondo, D., Blackburn, G., Brandt, R., Moffett, C., Paynter, D., Pollock, J., & Whisler, J. (1997). Dimensions of learning: Teacher's manual . Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Perkins, D. N. (1992). Smart schools: From training memories to educating minds . New York: Free Press.

Perkins, D. N. (2002). Wilding knowledge . Paper presented at the Project Zero Summer Institute, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.

Queensland Studies Authority. (2001). Chemistry trial pilot senior syllabus . Brisbane, Australia: Author.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

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What Is Task Analysis in Special Education?

Have you ever had difficulty doing a task that others thought was straightforward? Perhaps you had problems tying your shoes or writing simple sentences—some children in special education deal with these challenges regularly. However, task analysis is a helpful tool for teachers and other adults to help students. Students can succeed and develop their talents by breaking down challenging tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. In this blog post, we’ll examine the benefits of task analysis in special education and provide some sound ideas for implementing it in the classroom. So grab a seat and get ready to learn what task analysis is in special education and how task analysis could help all students reach their full potential!

What is Task Analysis in Special Education?

I’ll go into more detail about task analysis in education and how it’s applied to special education .

As a teaching strategy, task analysis entails dissecting difficult activities into simpler, more doable pieces. As it enables children who struggle with executive functioning , attention, and other learning challenges to learn and complete activities successfully, it is a widely utilized instructional method in special education.

When a teacher or therapist uses task analysis, they determine the task’s ultimate objective and then examine each step necessary to achieve that result. To better understand and identify problematic behaviors and their functions, they might conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment . For the student to use as a reference while working on the assignment, they can make a written or visual list of these steps. This list might assist the student in keeping track of their progress and self-evaluate their work.

For several reasons, task analysis is advantageous for special education pupils. First, it assists pupils in breaking down difficult activities into smaller, easier-to-follow steps, which lessens emotions of frustration and overwhelm. Students can more readily comprehend and finish the assignment by concentrating on one step at a time. Task analysis also encourages independence and self-confidence, allowing pupils to complete more tasks independently.

Task analysis can be utilized in various educational contexts, including academic tasks like writing a paragraph or solving a math problem, social skills like making eye contact or asking for help, and self-care chores like taking care of oneself (dressing or preparing a meal). In many cases, teachers may use task boxes for special education to facilitate this learning.

Overall, task analysis is a useful tool for special education instructors and caregivers to assist students to develop their skills and succeed in all facets of life. It aligns with the principles of Universal Design for Learning , which emphasize the customization of teaching to individual learning needs.

Importance of Task Analysis in Education

Task analysis is an essential tool for teachers and students since it enables pupils to divide difficult activities into smaller, easier-to-manage parts. Several factors make task analysis crucial in education, including the following:

• Reduces Overwhelming and Frustration: Complex tasks frequently feel overwhelming and stressful for kids with learning disabilities. These tasks are broken down into smaller, more manageable parts using task analysis, which lessens these sentiments and enables pupils to concentrate on one step at a time.
• Enhances Understanding: By breaking down a task into its parts, pupils can better comprehend what is expected. An improvement in confidence and motivation might result from this understanding.
• Enhances Independence: Students’ self-esteem is raised, and independence is encouraged when they can perform activities alone. Students can develop the abilities they need to succeed by using task analysis. According to the American Psychological Association , fostering independence is key to promoting self-confidence and personal growth in students.
• Gives Students a Clear Plan: Students have a clear plan to follow when given a written or visual list of the steps necessary to finish a task. They can use this plan to self-monitor their work and remind them of their progress.
• Task analysis is adaptable and can be changed to fit the needs of each student. To help students more effectively accomplish their goals, educators might modify the steps based on their strengths and shortcomings.

Task analysis is an evidence-based method that has been proven successful in assisting children with learning issues to succeed in addition to these advantages. By utilizing this tool in the classroom, teachers may give their pupils the assistance and direction they require to reach their greatest potential.

How Do You Write a Task Analysis for Special Education?

Several important steps should be considered when drafting a task analysis for special education. Task Analysis steps are as follows:

• Identify the Task: Decide the task you wish to investigate. Depending on the student’s needs, this could be an academic task, a social skill, or a self-care task.
• Break down the work into smaller, easier-to-manage steps once the work has been determined. Consider the steps necessary to finish the work successfully. For instance, the instructions for tying a shoe might say to “take the laces and make an X,” “cross one lace over the other,” “tuck the lace underneath the other,” and other such things.
• After determining the stages, arrange them in the sequence they must be carried out. Make sure that each step is required and builds on the one before it by considering the logical order of the steps.
• Make it Visual: Use images to make the task analysis easier for the student to understand. This can entail listing the processes in writing or using images or a flowchart, or another visual aid to depict the steps.
• Practice with the student while watching them, using the task analysis as a guide. Follow their development and offer advice as required. Consider simplifying a step or offering more assistance if the student struggles.

These stages will help you build a task analysis tailored to the student’s needs and offer a clear strategy for success. Always be patient and adaptable, and modify the task analysis as necessary to meet the needs of each learner.

Click on the link to view an example of writing a task analysis. [Task Analysis in Special Education ppt]

Task Analysis Examples

Here are a few instances of task analysis in education and examples of action in the classroom:

Writing in Paragraph: Writing can be difficult for many pupils, especially those in special education. Task analysis can divide The writing process into simpler, more manageable parts. Choose a topic, brainstorm ideas, make an outline, write a draft, rewrite and edit, and proofread, for instance, could be the processes in writing a paragraph.

Solving a Math Problem: Some children find math to be a challenging subject. By dividing the problem-solving process into manageable parts, task analysis can assist in making it more approachable. To solve a math problem, for instance, you might follow these steps: read the problem, figure out what you’re solving for, pick a method, solve the problem, and then verify your result.

Developing Social Skills: Task analysis is also beneficial for developing social skills. To develop eye contact, for instance, a student might “stand or sit facing the individual,” “look at their eyes,” “remain to gaze for a few seconds,” “look away briefly,” and “repeat.”

Self-Care Tasks: Special education students could also require assistance with self-care activities like dressing or meal preparation. These jobs can be easier to manage if they are divided into smaller phases through task analysis. For instance, “take off pajamas,” “put on underwear,” “put on pants,” “put on a shirt,” “put on socks,” and “put on shoes” could be the steps to getting dressed.

These are just a few applications of task analysis in the classroom. Task analysis assists in making difficult tasks more approachable and achievable for children with special needs by breaking them down into smaller pieces.

Teach the Task to Autistic Students: Task Analysis Autism Sped Classroom

Task analysis is useful for helping autistic individuals in special education classes. Several instances of task analysis being utilized to assist autistic students are provided below:

• Daily Routines: Routines might be difficult for students with autism. These processes can be divided into smaller, easier-to-manage segments using task analysis. For instance, getting ready for school could involve the following steps: waking up, brushing your teeth, washing your face, dressing, eating breakfast, and packing a backpack.
• Social Skills: Students with autism may also suffer from social skills. Task analysis can simplify these abilities, making them simpler to learn and apply. Making eye contact, smiling, saying hello, asking questions, and paying attention to the answer are some examples of conversation starters.
• Classroom Assignments: Task analysis can help students with autism complete assignments in the classroom, such as worksheets or projects. To finish a worksheet, for instance, you might follow these steps: “Read the directions,” “Look at the example,” “Do the first problem,” “Check the solution,” and “Complete the rest of the problems.”
• Lifestyle Skills: Students with autism could also require assistance with everyday tasks like cooking or laundry. These jobs can be simplified by task analysis into more manageable chunks. For instance, “take out the bread,” “take out the meat,” “take out the cheese,” “place the bread together,” and “cut the sandwich in half” could be the stages of assembling a sandwich.

Task analysis is a flexible approach that may be applied in various ways to support autistic individuals in special education classrooms. Students with autism can develop their talents and succeed in a way that suits their particular requirements by breaking complex tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. I hope you learned and enjoyed our discussion on What Is Task Analysis in Special Education.

Jennifer Hanson is a dedicated and seasoned writer specializing in the field of special education. With a passion for advocating for the rights and needs of children with diverse learning abilities, Jennifer uses her pen to educate, inspire, and empower both educators and parents alike.

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SMART Goals in Education: Importance, Benefits, Limitations

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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The SMART Goals framework is an acronym-based framework used in education to help students set clear and structured goals related to their learning.

The framework stands for:

• Specific – The goal is clear and has a closed-ended statement of exactly what will be achieved.
• Measurable – The goal can be measured either quantitatively (e.g. earning 80% in an exam) or qualitatively (e.g. receiving positive feedback from a teacher).
• Achievable – The goal is not too hard and can reasonably be met with some effort and within the set timeframe.
• Relevant – The goal is relevant to the student’s learning and development.
• Time-Based – A clear timeframe is set to keep you on task.

(If you’re a teacher, you might prefer to read my article on goals for teachers ).

The SMART Goals Framework in Education

The framework has had multiple variations over time. However, the most common framework is in the format: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.

1. Specific

Your goal needs to be specific. This means that you need to note a clear target to aspire toward rather than something that is vague.

For students, this is important to clarify exactly what it is you’re aiming for.

Some strategies for making sure your goal is specific include:

• State what, when, where, why, and how your goals will be achieved
• State what the goal will look like when it is achieved
• Focus on the “vital few” [1] things that you want to see done to have your goal achieved

Sometimes, this may also be stated as “strategic” rather than “specific”.

See our in-depth article on examples of specific goals for students to get more ideas!

2. Measurable

Your goal needs to be measurable. This ensures that you can identify improvements from the baseline as well as know when the goal has been met.

Your objectives can be formative, summative, or a mix of both.

A formative assessment is an assessment that takes place part-way through the project. It assesses where you’re at and how much more you need to do. Formative assessments allow you to pivot and make small adjustments to your action to make sure you meet the final goal.

A summative assessment is an assessment at the end of the project to see if you met your goal. This is the final measure of success or failure.

A measurable goal may also be qualitative or quantitative.

A quantitative goal will have a grade or numerative evaluation, such as 80% on a test.

A qualitative goal will be based on a subjective evaluation, such as getting a positive report card from a mentor, or, attaining the confidence to do a public speech.

See our in-depth article on examples of measurable goals for students to get more ideas!

3. Attainable

Your goal needs to be attainable. This means that it can’t be something that’s impossible to achieve. You need to know you’ll be able to reach your goals in order to sustain motivation.

This could be compared to the goldilocks principle . Goldilocks didn’t like porridge that was too cold or too hot. It had to be just right.

In education, we use the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to explain how to promote student development and motivation. The ZPD refers to learnable content that is not too easy and not too hard.

In this zone, students can do tasks with the support of teachers and have the motivation to work because they know the content is attainable with some effort.

4. Relevant

Often also written as ‘realistic’, a relevant goal is one that makes sense to your situation. If you are setting goals in your class, your teacher would expect that the goal was about your education and not something irrelevant to class.

Your goal should also be one that is consistent with your life plan and will help you get to where you need to be. This will help you to sustain motivation and ensure the goal makes sense in the long term.

While having personal goals unrelated to your coursework is great, it’s not relevant to the lesson that you’re doing within the class on the day, so remember to set your goal so it’s related to your learning.

5. Time-Based

Setting a time by which you want to meet your goals helps to keep you on track and accountable to yourself. Without time-based end goals, you may delay your goals and lose momentum.

You can also set intermittent milestones to help keep yourself on track. This can ensure you don’t let other shorter-term and more pressing tasks get in the way and get you off track.

SMARTER Goals Add-On

Some scholars have provided additional steps to the framework. One common one is to add ‘ER’ [2] :

6. Exciting

You are more likely to achieve a goal if you make it exciting. This will motivate you to carry out your plan.

An example of excitement added to a goal would be to create some self-rewards if it is completed, like “If I complete the goal I will take myself out for dinner.”

The ‘E’ is also often added when the goals are for teachers or leaders who are setting goals for their students or staff. By making the goal exciting, they’ll be able to get buy-in from students and staff.

7. Recorded

The ‘R’ often stands for ‘Recorded’ and asks you to show how you are going to record progress.

This one is somewhat similar to ‘Measurable’ but expands on it by asking not only how you’re going to measure success, but how are you going to record progress. Keeping a journal, for example, can help you record progress and reflect on the process of chasing your coals.

The Importance of SMART Goals in Education

Goal setting helps students and teachers to develop a vision for self-improvement . Without clear goals, there is no clear and agreed-upon direction for learning.

For this reason, goals have been used extensively in education. Examples include:

• Curriculum outcomes
• Developmental milestones
• Standardized testing
• Summative and formative assessments

The SMART framework, however, tends to be a student-led way of setting goals. It enables students to reflect on what they want to achieve and plan how to achieve these goals.

As a result, the framework doesn’t just help students articulate what they want out of their education. It also provides a range of soft skills for students such as:

• Motivation for growth
• Reflective practice
• Self Evaluation
• Structured analytical thinking

Read Also: Examples of SMART Goals for Students

SMART Goals Advantages and Disadvantages

Benefits of smart goals.

The SMART framework is widely used because it helps students to clarify their goals and how they are going to go about achieving them. Often, students start with a vague statement of intention, but by the end of the session, they have fleshed out their goals using the SMART template.

Some benefits of the template include:

Limitations of SMART Goals

While the framework is easy to use and implement, it does face a few limitations. One major downside is that it doesn’t account for the importance of incrementalism in self-improvement. Students need to break down their goals into a series of milestones.

Some limitations of the template include:

SMART Goals Template

Get the Google Docs Template Here

SMART goals help students to reflect on what they want from their education and how to achieve it. They provide a template and framework for students to go into more depth about their goals so they are not simply vague statements, but rather actionable statements of intent.

A lesson where you get your students to set out their goals will often have students leaving the class with a much deeper understanding of what they want out of their education and how they might go about getting it.

Read Also: A List of Long-Term Goals for Students and A List of Short-Term Goals for Students

[1] O’Neil, J. and Conzemius, A. (2006). The Power of SMART Goals: Using Goals to Improve Student Learning . London: Solution Tree Press.

[2]  Yemm, G. (2013). Essential Guide to Leading Your Team: How to Set Goals, Measure Performance and Reward Talent . Melbourne: Pearson Education. pp. 37–39.

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 101 Class Group Name Ideas (for School Students)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 19 Top Cognitive Psychology Theories (Explained)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 119 Bloom’s Taxonomy Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ All 6 Levels of Understanding (on Bloom’s Taxonomy)

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• Cognitive Task Analysis

Get this awesome study skills guide for your school!

This amazing study skills resource is available for your school to use. Purchase a lifetime licence and distribute this guide to your students.

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Current position on John Hattie's list of student achievement influences: 4

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Definition of Cognitive Task Analysis

Cognitive Task Analysis means to teach students not just the content, but how to think about the content. For example, if a student is struggling in maths, rather than assigning more exercises you might teach the student to "see" the information through a drawing or manipulative. This will provide the student with a thinking strategy that can be applied to future problems.

References:

• Visible Learning by John Hattie Ranking Factors
• Collective Teacher Efficacy
• Self Reported Grades
• Teacher Estimates of Achievement
• Piagetian Programs
• Jigsaw Method
• Conceptual Change Programs

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What is Task Analysis in Teaching?

• November 2022
• Task Boxes , Academics , Life Skills

What is Task Analysis?

Task analysis in teaching means the process of breaking down a skill into smaller, more manageable components . It's a great way to teach students in special education (especially with Autism Syndrome Disorder) a skill that may be too challenging to teach all at once.

When Should I Use Task Analysis in Special Education?

A lot of people tend to get mixed up between Discrete Trial Training (DTT) and task analysis. They can be similar but there are some major differences between DTT and task Analysis . (LINK the blog Kristina wrote that compares them) I typically like to use more of a task analysis for teaching certain life skills to my students that may be overwhelming. I use DTT as more of an Applied Behavior Analysis Approach.

Why is Task Analysis Important?

Using task analysis in teaching is important because it allows opportunities to teach our students a more challenging skill . The more challenging and functional skills that they can do, the more independent they can be! This is why using a task analysis approach in teaching is so important in special education!

What are Some Examples of Task Analysis?

A great example of a task analysis in teaching would be breaking down a life skill that some of our kids may find more difficult, such as brushing their teeth, washing hands or making a sandwich into smaller steps.

For example, when teaching students to brush their teeth , you teach them that it is an 11 step process:

• Get out toothbrush.
• Get out toothpaste.
• Open toothpaste lid.
• Squeeze a small amount of toothpaste on toothbrush.
• Brush your top teeth while counting in your head to 30.
• Brush your bottom teeth while counting in your head to 30.
• Spit out toothpaste into sink.
• Rinse toothbrush under running water.
• Rinse your mouth with a cup of water.
• Wipe your mouth with a towel.
• Put toothbrush and toothpaste away.

I would have these steps typed up on a sheet of paper for them to follow while in the bathroom (with visuals also). For some students, you may even want them to check off each step as they complete it to make sure that they don't miss anything. The more that they repeat this routine process, the more natural and less challenging the skill becomes for them. I hope this helps you better understand what a task analysis is.

CHECK OUT THESE LIFE SKILLS TASK BOXES FOR MORE IDEAS!

I am a High School, self-contained Autism teacher from Central New York, who is passionate about individualizing student learning. I am a mommy of three, lover of all things Disney, married to my best friend and addicted to chocolate!! I hope that you find great ideas and inspiration here, so welcome!!

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Task force recommends Columbus City Schools board close nine schools, realign four

The Columbus City Schools Superintendent's Community Facilities Task Force has recommended to the school board nine schools that it believes should be closed, as well as four other schools recommended for grade realignment.

The board voted unanimously Tuesday to accept the recommendations from the task force, but plans to take more time to get additional feedback from the community before voting to close any schools.

In a presentation during a Columbus City school board meeting Tuesday , the task force recommended that the board consider closing six elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school building. Last month, the task force presented options where up to 20 possible school buildings in the state's largest district could be closed under  nine different recommended scenarios .

Superintendent Angela Chapman told The Dispatch in an interview on Monday that the work of the task force "has and always will be about centering the work on the needs of our students."

"We know that these are difficult conversations to have in our community, but that doesn't mean that we should shy away from them," Chapman said. "Our kids are depending on us to lean in and have these difficult conversations —so that we can provide them with the best opportunities, the best learning spaces, best facilities that they need."

The group said that the decisions were not necessarily based off of any of the nine scenarios initially presented to the board.

Al Edmondson, chair of the task force, said Monday that the group was laser-focused on improving the quality of education for students in the district. He said he wants the community to know that "we heard them" about concerns regarding the proposals.

"And we hear loud and clear — and we want what's best for the kids," Edmondson said.

Nine schools recommended for closure

• Broadleigh Elementary School:  Students would be redistributed among the Eastgate, East Columbus, and Fairmoor elementary schools. The task force said the transition will maintain the quality of education and provide students with a broader range of academic and extracurricular opportunities.
• Buckeye Middle School:  Students would move to Marion-Franklin High School, creating a 6-12 grade site.
• Columbus City Preparatory School for Boys:  Students would join the Columbus City Preparatory School for Girls.
• Fairwood Elementary School:  Students would be moved to the Ohio Avenue or Livingston elementary schools.
• Lindbergh Elementary School:  Students would be redistributed among the Binns, Burroughs, and West Mound elementary schools.
• Moler Elementary School:  Students would be moved to the Lincoln Park or Livingston elementary schools.
• North Linden Elementary School:  Students would be redistributed among the Huy, Maize, Innis, or Northtowne elementary schools.
• West Broad Elementary School:  Students would be redistributed to the Westgate, Highland, or Valleyview elementary schools.
• McGuffey Road Facility:  Columbus Alternative High School would move its programming to East High School, which would remain open and CAHS would share space in the building.

East High School was one of the buildings initially recommended for closing because of its small student population base. There were only 50 graduating seniors from East High's Class of 2023.

Task force also proposing grade band realignment of four schools

The task force also recommended the district modify the grade bands of four schools, meaning that the ages served by the schools would change:

• Marion-Franklin High School:  Students from Buckeye Middle School will move to Marion-Franklin, creating a 6-12 grade site.
• Linden-McKinley STEM Academy:  Consolidate sixth-grade students from the feeder pattern, creating a 6-12 grade site.
• South 7-12:  Consolidate sixth-grade students from the South feeder pattern, creating a 6-12 grade site.
• Starling Pre-K -8:  Merge sixth through eighth-grade students into Westmoor and Hilltonia middle schools.

Task force also recommends closing Downtown district office

The task force also recommended closing the Columbus Education Center, located downtown at 270 E. State St., and relocate the administrators and staff working there to the district administrative building at 3700 S. High St., where most board meetings are currently held. The closure was not initially recommended by the task force.

The district said the task force recommendation is in response to the community requesting that the task force should also consider an administrative site for consolidation during the closure process. The closure of the Downtown location, however, would eliminate a central location for residents to attend school board meetings and leaves those living in the city's Northwest, Far North and Northeast sides driving a half-hour or more to the administrative building on the South Side, depending on traffic.

District says closures could save $90 million over 10 years

If the board approves the closures, the district could see up to $90 million in savings over a 10-year period, according to information the district presented this week.

The district could save as much as $7.4 million in permanent improvement savings, over $853,000 in maintenance costs and $788,000 in utility costs each year, according to its information.

District officials: mergers, redistricting could take years

District administrators told The Dispatch that even if closures are approved this year, closures and mergers could still be well over a year away. Chapman encouraged parents concerned about the future of their students' education "to take a deep breath" and recognize that the final recommendations have not been approved by the board.

The superintendent noted that the process could go beyond even when a parents' student is in a school slated for closure.

"You may have a student at Broadleigh Elementary School today, but you may not have a student at Broadleigh Elementary School by the time these decisions take effect," Chapman said.

Russell Brown, Columbus City Schools' chief of strategy and performance, said that even if the district closes schools, there would be a lengthy process of community engagement for determining the new boundaries of each school during the redistricting process.

Why didn't some schools get selected for closure?

Some schools initially recommended for closure like Cranbrook, Siebert and Lindbergh Elementary Schools, which all have high English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, were not put forward in the final recommendations because of the challenges presented with transitioning students.

Chapman said "that any transition for the school communities, it would be setting them up for success, and providing them with more opportunities."

"Therein lies the inherent challenge in us being able to really consider transition those schools at this time," Chapman said. "We would have to build — build — bigger and better facilities to make that happen. And we're not prepared to do that today."

Will any jobs be at risk?

Chapman said the district "is not anticipating" that any jobs will be directly lost across teaching, staff or administrative positions as a result of closures, although the district can choose whether to fill vacant teaching positions.

She said that the mergers could offer an opportunity to maximize the resources that the district does have, including offering more regular access to gym, art and other elective programs.

"Instead of spreading our resources out over more sites, we're spreading our resources out over fewer sites," Chapman said. "So we should have greater capacity to meet the existing staffing needs that we have."

What could happen to closed schools?

Chapman said she had a vision of shuttered CCS schools being potentially used as a space for a community partnership offering early childhood education to pre-kindergarten children. She said that expanding access to early childhood education would benefit the district and hopes the city could offer universal access to children.

"That's one of the ways that I think that we could truly be working together with our community, to support the needs in our community — as well as the needs of the district — because they go hand in hand," Chapman said.

However, if the board should choose to sell the school buildings, the district would be required to first offer those properties to charter schools .

Under Ohio law, when a district declares a property "surplus," or property a government body does not need, it must first solicit bids from high-performing community or charter schools if it has been unused for over a year. Declaring a property surplus is different than maintaining a vacant property. If the district receives a bid, it must sell to the charter school at market rate. If more than one applies, it goes to an auction.

If no "high-performing" charter schools solicit bids, all other charter, STEM or college preparatory schools will be permitted to bid on surplus schools. Only then, if there are no takers, does the property go to the public for sale.

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Lawrence Mella, Directorate for Engineering Sciences, and other staff will be participating in a virtual meeting with an ASTM F15.58 task group for self balancing scooters

Lawrence Mella, Directorate for Engineering Sciences, and other staff will be participating in a virtual meeting with an ASTM F15.58 task group for self balancing scooters on 7/9/2024 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (ET). This is a meeting to discuss requirements for the new draft self balancing scooter standard under F15.58 jurisdiction. This meeting was requested by ASTM. For additional information contact Lawrence Mella at [email protected] . Posted to the public calendar on 6/14/2024. 

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Newburgh board of education approves three administrators in special Sunday session

• June 30, 2024

NEWBURGH – Following debate on procedure and legality of conducting a special Sunday meeting, the Newburgh Board of Education approved three administration appointments without discussion.

The board approved the contract for Deputy Superintendent Onyx Peterson through June 30, 2027 at a salary of $230,000 through June 30, 2025 with three-percent per year increment in each of the remaining years of her contract.

The board also extended the contracts of Assistant Superintendent Natasha Freeman and Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Rohring through June 30, 2028. They were to expire on July 1, 2025.

Board Member Mark Levinstein said with a new board majority taking over on Tuesday, July 2, they could have appointed their own choices for those posts, and they may not have been sufficiently experienced to perform their duties.

New member Christine Bello challenged the legality of the special session claiming the legal notice announcing the meeting was illegal as it did not include appropriate language pertaining to one member participating remotely. That allegation was dismissed by board attorney David Shaw.

Orange County to purchase former school building for high-tech training

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Publish task lists to define and track work in your organization

As an operations manager or similar business leader, you can centrally create a list of tasks for many teams in your org and monitor for completion of work. This feature is designed to make task management easier for organizations with frontline workers distributed across many different geographic locations.

This capability is available to you in the Planner app in Microsoft Teams if your organization  enabled task publishing for you and your team.  

In this article

Before you get started

Create a publishable task list

Make changes to a list that hasn't been published yet

Publish a task list

Make changes to a published task list

View reporting for published tasks

With task publishing, your organization can centrally define tasks and distribute them to the teams who must perform the work. If enabled for you by your organization , you’ll find this functionality in the Planner app in Microsoft Teams.

In the task publishing experience, you start with a task list, which you can add tasks to. You have control over the details for each task in a list so you can add notes, set the priority, attach documents and photos, or apply requirements for completion. When you add at least one task to a task list, you can publish that list to the teams (locations) that you choose. After publishing a list, you’ll see a reporting view that reflects completion status of the work across locations, and:  

Frontline workers can see all tasks assigned to them in the Planner app in Teams on mobile, desktop, and web.

Frontline managers can use Planner to track task progress and completion for their locations.

Organization leaders can use Planner to see task progress across all locations.

Frontline workers and managers won’t be able to delete the tasks published to their team. The title, notes field, and checklist item fields are also protected for published tasks, so frontline employees can't change the details of the work.

Important:  You'll only see the Publishing page if your organization enabled task publishing by uploading a hierarchy and you're a member of a team in that hierarchy. If publishing is available for you, the Publishing page allows you to broadly publish to teams you're not a member of. The My Tasks & Plans page shows your individual tasks for yourself and the tasks you're working on directly with teammates (in your teams and channels). Plans in My Tasks & Plans can't be published.

Before you get started 

Learn about the types of lists you can create and publish .

There are two types of task lists in task publishing. You can create lists with tasks for each team  (known as standard task lists) and lists with tasks  for each team member . Here’s more information about each type of list and when to use them.

Get familiar with the Publishing page

Note:   Some users will also see a Received section where they see lists published to their team by teams higher up in the hierarchy. Most publishing users won’t see this section.

Create a new task list

For each team .   Use for tasks that need to be completed once per team, also referred to as a standard task list.

For each team member . Use for tasks that everyone on the team must complete, such as training or policy acknowledgement tasks.

Important:  After you create a list with tasks for each team , you can’t change it to a list for each team member and vice versa. You’ll need to create a new list.

Name your list.

If you belong to more than one team that can publish, select the team to publish from. The teams that receive the task list publication will be able to see which team the task list was published from.

Select  Create . The new list appears under  Drafts .

Under  Task title , give the first task a title, and select Enter .

Select the task title to open the task and add or edit any of the following.   

Bucket. Use to categorize tasks. For example,  Warehouse  or  Sales Desk  buckets could be used to identify the work group who will perform the task.

Priority. Options are Urgent, Important, Medium, and Low.

Start date or due date

A checklist of up to 20 items. You control the items, order, and whether the  checklist is required for task completion . Task recipients control marking each item complete. 

An attachment 

Requirements for task completion. Task recipients must complete the requirements before they can mark the task complete. To learn more, see Set requirements for task completion in a task list . 

Required form : Link up to two forms that task recipients must fill out. You can create a new form or use an existing form.

Required approval : Add an approval requirement for task recipients to request and receive approval from a manager. This is only available for tasks lists created using the For each team option (also known as standard task lists). 

To add another task, enter a task name in the  New task  field.

Tip:  After you create tasks, you can bulk edit the priority, due date, or bucket for all the selected tasks. 

 If you created your list using the For each team option (also known as a standard task list), you can make it recurring so that it automatically publishes on a repeating schedule. To do so, select Does not repeat , choose the recurrence settings for the list, and then select Save . To learn more about working with recurring task lists, see Use recurring task lists . 

Duplicate a task list

You can create a copy of any task list using the Duplicate action. This action creates a new list with a copy of the tasks in the original list. You can choose the name of the new list and which team it should be created for. Then, you can edit the tasks in the new list to prepare it for publishing.

Name the list and select the Publish from team. If you belong to more than one team in your organization’s hierarchy, you'll see multiple choices. The teams that receive the task list publication will be able to see which team the task list was published from.

Select Duplicate . After the list is duplicated, it appears under Drafts . You can interact with the list just like other draft lists.  

Make changes to a task list that hasn't been published yet 

Edit tasks in a draft or scheduled list.

Under  Drafts or Scheduled , select the task list you want to edit. 

To change a task, select its title to open the task, and then do one of the following:

To change any of the task's fields, select the field and edit as needed. You can also add or remove attachments and requirements.  

Rename a list

You can rename a draft list before you publish it. 

Enter the new name in the Title box, and then select Save .

Delete a task list from Drafts or Unpublished

Important:  You can't delete a list in the Published state or a recurring list series in the Scheduled state. You must first unpublish the list or cancel the list series and then unpublish it, which deletes all tasks in the list or lists from all recipient teams. After unpublishing the list or list series, it appears under  Unpublished.

You can delete any task list under Drafts  or  Unpublished .

Under Drafts or Unpublished , go to the task list you want to delete.

Publish a task list 

Publish a task list .

When your task list is ready to go, publish it to the teams whose members will do the work. 

Note:  After you publish a list, you can  make changes to the tasks but you can't make changes to the teams selected to receive those tasks.

Under  Drafts , select a task list, and then in the upper-right corner, select  Publish  or Publish series (if it's a recurring task list ). 

Choose how to select the recipient teams. You can select the teams from a hierarchy or upload a custom list of teams. Learn more about these options . The following steps show selection from a hierarchy.

To select all the teams within a branch of the hierarchy, select the check box next to it. For example, selecting "North America" selects all the locations in that region. 

To publish to only locations with certain attributes, select a filter. For example, to select all locations with a large layout, select the "Large" filter. In the example image, the task list will be published to all large stores in North America.

Choose whether to notify recipient teams.

Select  Next , and then review your publication plan. To make changes, select  Back .  

Select the  Ready, everything looks good here check box, and then choose  Publish . 

As soon as the publishing process begins, the task list moves from Drafts to Published to indicate that tasks are being sent and becoming visible to recipients. 

Task publishing can take a little while if there are a large number of tasks in your task list or if you select a large number of recipient teams. It’s okay to leave the publishing screen and come back later— the tasks will continue publishing in the background. 

When publishing is done, you'll see a message at the top of the  Publishing page indicating your tasks were successfully delivered.

Important:  If alert icons appear, select  View details  to help resolve the issues.

Edit tasks in a published list

You can edit tasks in a published list by putting the list into edit mode. When the list is in edit mode, you can update tasks in the list, delete tasks from the list, or add new tasks to the list. Changes aren't published to recipient teams until you select the  Publish changes  and confirm the summary. 

When you publish changes to a task in a published list, the values in the task fields in the updated task will overwrite the values of those task fields in each recipient team, with the exception that the status of the task isn’t reset. For this reason, we recommend editing a task in a published list when you want to clarify what needs to be done. If there's a correction that requires the task to be completed again even if it was completed per the previous task details, we recommend deleting the original task and creating a new one.

Under  Published , select the list you want to edit, and then choose Edit list .

When you're ready to publish the changes, select Publish changes in the upper-right corner to publish the changes to all the original recipient teams.   Alternatively, you can choose to cancel the edits you made, and the list will revert back to its previously published state.

Unpublish a list 

Caution:  Unpublishing a task list removes all tasks in the list from all teams that received them. They will lose all comments and any attachments they added.

If you need to unpublish a task list, it's best to do so as soon as possible to reduce the assignment and completion of tasks that are wiped out. An unpublished list moves to the Unpublished  section and can be duplicated but can't itself be republished.   

Confirm you want to unpublish the list, and then choose Unpublis h.

After the list appears under  Unpublished , you can delete it or duplicate it, edit the copy, and publish the edited copy.

 View reporting for published tasks

Track assignment and completion of published tasks.

After you publish a task list, you'll likely want to track teams' progress in assigning and/or completing the tasks you sent them. Select a list in the Published section. From here, you can view details for the published tasks in a few different ways. 

Note:  Users in your organization can view reporting for any team they're a part of. For example, a user who is part of the Store 100 team can view reporting for that location. A user who is part of Region 1 can see reporting for all locations reporting up to Region 1 in the hierarchy.

In either view, you can select any branch of the hierarchy to expand it or select any team to see the status for that specific team. To return to a high-level view after looking at the details, select the task list name that appears above the team name.

Note:  Everyone to complete lists (lists created using the For each team member option) show the reports in a slightly different presentation. These tasks are automatically assigned at creation time, so the report focuses on completion status. 

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What is CRM?

Manage, track, and store information related to potential customers using a centralized, data-driven software solution.

Defining CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a set of integrated, data-driven software solutions that help manage, track, and store information related to your company’s current and potential customers. By keeping this information in a centralized system, business teams have access to the insights they need, the moment they need them.

Without the support of an integrated CRM solution, your company may miss growth opportunities and lose potential revenue because it’s not optimizing operating processes or making the most of customer relationships and sales leads.

What does a CRM do?

Not too long ago, companies tracked customer-related data with spreadsheets, email, address books, and other siloed, often paper-based CRM solutions. A lack of integration and automation prevented people within and across teams from quickly finding and sharing up-to-date information, slowing their ability to create marketing campaigns, pursue new sales leads, and service customers.

Fast forward to today. CRM systems automatically collect a wealth of information about existing and prospective customers. This data includes email addresses, phone numbers, company websites, social media posts, purchase histories, and service and support tickets. The system next integrates the data and generates consolidated profiles to be shared with appropriate teams.

CRM systems also connect with other business tools, including online chat and document sharing apps. In addition, they have built-in business intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that accelerate administrative tasks and provide actionable insights.

In other words, modern CRM tools give sales, marketing, commerce, field service, and customer service teams immediate visibility into—and access to—everything crucial to developing, improving, and retaining customer relationships.

Some ways you can use CRM capabilities to benefit your company are to:

• Monitor each opportunity through the sales funnel for better sales. CRM solutions help track lead-related data, accompanied with insights, so sales and marketing teams can stay organized, understand where each lead is in the sales process, and know who has worked on each opportunity.
• Use sales monitoring to get real-time performance data. Link sales data into your CRM solution to provide an immediate, accurate picture of sales. With a real-time view of your pipeline, you’ll be aware of any slowdowns and bottlenecks—or if your team won a major deal.
• Plan your next step with insight generation. Focus on what matters most using AI and built-in intelligence to identify the top priorities and how your team can make the most of their time and efforts. For example, sales teams can identify which leads are ready to hand off and which need follow-up.
• Optimize workflows with automation. Build sales quotes, gather customer feedback, and send email campaigns with task automation, which helps streamline marketing, sales, and customer service. Thus, helping eliminate repetitive tasks so your team can focus on high-impact activities.
• Track customer interactions for greater impact. CRM solutions include features that tap into customer behavior and surface opportunities for optimization to help you better understand engagement across various customer touchpoints.
• Connect across multiple platforms for superior customer engagement. Whether through live chat, calls, email, or social interactions, CRM solutions help you connect with customers where they are, helping build the trust and loyalty that keeps your customers coming back.
• Grow with agility and gain a competitive advantage. A scalable, integrated CRM solution built on a security-rich platform helps meet the ever-changing needs of your business and the marketplace. Quickly launch new marketing, e-commerce, and other initiatives and deliver rapid responses to consumer demands and marketplace conditions.

Why implement a CRM solution?

As you define your CRM strategy and evaluate customer relationship management solutions , look for one that provides a complete view of each customer relationship. You also need a solution that collects relevant data at every customer touchpoint, analyzes it, and surfaces the insights intelligently.

Learn how to choose the right CRM for your needs in The CRM Buyer’s Guide for Today’s Business . With the right CRM system, your company helps enhance communications and ensure excellent experiences at each stage of the customer journey, as outlined below:

• Identify and engage the right customers. Predictive insight and data-driven buyer behavior helps you learn how to identify, target, and attract the right leads—and then turn them into customers.
• Improve customer interaction. With a complete view of the customer, every member of the sales team will know a customer’s history, purchasing patterns, and any specific data that’ll help your team provide the most attentive service to each individual customer.
• Track progress across the customer journey. Knowing where a customer is in your overall sales lifecycle helps you target campaigns and opportunities for the highest engagement.
• Increase team productivity. Improved visibility and streamlined processes help increase productivity, helping your team focus on what matters most.

How can a CRM help your company?

Companies of all sizes benefit from CRM software. For small businesses seeking to grow, CRM helps automate business processes, freeing employees to focus on higher-value activities. For enterprises, CRM helps simplify and improve even the most complex customer engagements.

Take a closer look at how a CRM system helps benefit your individual business teams.

Marketing teams

Improve your customers’ journey. With the ability to generate multichannel marketing campaigns, nurture sales-ready leads with targeted buyer experiences, and align your teams with planning and real-time tracking tools, you’re able to present curated marketing strategies that’ll resonate with your customers.

As you gain insights into your brand reputation and market through customized dashboards of data analysis, you’re able to prioritize the leads that matter most to your business and adapt quickly with insights and business decisions fueled by the results of targeted, automated processes.

Sales teams

Empower sellers to engage with customers to truly understand their needs, and effectively win more deals. As the business grows, finding the right prospects and customers with targeted sales strategies becomes easier, resulting in a successful plan of action for the next step in your pipeline.

Building a smarter selling strategy with embedded insights helps foster relationships, boost productivity, accelerate sales performances, and innovate with a modern and adaptable platform. And by using AI capabilities that can measure past and present leading indicators, you can track customer relationships from start to finish and automate sales execution with contextual prompts that delivers a personalized experience and aligns with the buyer’s journey anytime, anywhere.

Customer service teams

Provide customers with an effortless omnichannel experience. With the use of service bots, your customer service teams will have the tools to be able to deliver value and improve engagement with every interaction. Offering personalized services, agents can upsell or cross-sell using relevant, contextual data, and based on feedback, surveys, and social listening, optimize their resources based on real-time service trends.

In delivering a guided, intelligent service supported on all channels, customers can connect with agents easily and quickly resolve their issues, resulting in a first-class customer experience.

Field service teams

Empower your agents to create a better in-person experience. By implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) into your operations, you’re able to detect problems faster—automate work orders, schedule, and dispatch technicians in just a few clicks. By streamlining scheduling and inventory management , you can boost onsite efficiency, deliver a more personalized service, and reduce costs.

By providing transparent communications with real-time technician location tracking, appointment reminders, quotes, contracts, and scheduling information, customers stay connected to your field agents and build trust with your business.

Project service automation teams

Improve your profitability with integrated planning tools and analytics that help build your customer-centric delivery model. By gaining transparency into costs and revenue using robust project planning capabilities and intuitive dashboards, you’re able to anticipate demands, determine resources capacity, and forecast project profitability.

And with the ability to measure utilization with real-time dashboards, you can empower your service professionals to apply those insights to their own workflows and optimize resources at any given time. With visibility into those insights, teams are more likely to simplify processes internally, seamlessly collaborate, and increase productivity.

Why use Dynamics 365 for your CRM solution?

With Dynamics 365 , you get a flexible and customizable solution suited to your business requirements. Choose a standalone application to meet the needs of a specific line of business or use multiple CRM applications that work together as a powerful, comprehensive solution.

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