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The ordering task

Authors can create ordering tasks which let learners to arrange items in a list.

Christine Nicholls avatar
Written by Christine Nicholls
Updated over a week ago

This article covers the ordering task type.

For a general overview of tasks and what they can do, see An introduction to tasks and for general instructions on how to add them to your course, see How to add a task to your course.

Overview of the ordering task

The ordering task lets learners arrange items into the correct order by dragging and dropping items within a list.

Example ordering task where learners order the planets starting from the nearest to the Sun.

When should I use an ordering task?

We won't surprise you by saying that ordering suits any concepts or processes involving steps or hierarchy. 

Let's take a look at some examples.  

Example 1: Structure of a report

Example ordering task where learners order the parts of a typical report e.g. Discussion, Introduction, Executive summary.

Example 2: Stages in tendering


Example 3: Plotline of Macbeth

Example ordering task where learners order statements of the plotline of Macbeth to make a short re-telling of the plot.

Example 4: Ordering images of planets

You can also use images in the ordering options.

Example ordering task where learners order images of stages of the stellar lifecycle (e.g. a white dwarf) to show the life-cycle of a sun-like star.

How do I create an ordering task?

All tasks load with an example task to give an idea of what each field is for. To add your own task details, you can type over the existing content in the fields or select Clear task content, to start completely fresh.

Clear task content button on right of task element below task type choice.

Standard fields

This task has the standard fields/options that all tasks have.

At the top:

  • Question: Where you set the main question/task which tells learners what to answer or do.

And at the bottom:

  • Hint: Add a hint to give pointers or clues to give learners extra guidance to complete the task. Learners can choose to See hint so it allows them to get this help “on demand”.

  • Feedback: Add feedback to give learners an automated response when they submit the task. See Writing feedback for tasks for pointers and ideas.

In between the top and bottom standard fields we have the following areas and fields.

How to set the correct answer(s)

Under Correct, drag your items into the correct order to allow the task to be automarked.

If there are more correct answers, use the + to add alternative answers.

Other options

  • Shuffle options displays the response options in a different order each time the question is shown.

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