If you want to make changes to one (or more) variations of a task and there are learners currently using the course, you can republish. But… republishing can get a little complex when you're dealing with task variations as you might be editing/removing a variation a learner has or hasn't started.
In this article, we’ll explain the two options you have for republishing changes to a task variation(s) and look at some detailed example cases.
When you are editing a variation within a task and there are current class activations, when you save the task you will get the option to either:
Only show these variations to learners who have not yet seen or started the current task (the “soft” republish).
All learners who have not completed the task will receive a new variation at random. Any work in progress will be lost (the “hard” republish).
Option 1 - The “soft” republish
This option means that only learners who haven’t visited the page yet will see your new updates. Everyone else sees the old task and variations.
That is, learners who have visited the page (and been allocated one of the original variations at random) will still see the original version of whatever variation they saw when they first visited the page. And any learners who have saved a draft (against any variation) will also still see their saved draft for this task (within the task itself).
Option 2 - The “hard” republish
This option “clears” and “refreshes” all the variations (and any saved drafts) for all learners who haven’t yet submitted the task. So all learners who haven’t submitted the task yet will see your new updates.
Only learners who have already submitted a variation will see the original variations (they only see whichever variation they submitted against). They can also still see whatever it was they submitted.
In summary for option 2, if learners have already submitted, we'll save their submission and show the variation they submitted against. For all other learners (haven't seen, seen, or saved draft), they'll be shown an updated variation at random.
Example scenarios - Editing a variation
Let's say you've got a task with variations A(1), B and C. But you realise variation A(1) needs an update.
So you edit A(1) to create variation A(2).
Learner scenario | Option 1 (soft republish) | Option 2 (hard republish) |
Hannah hasn't interacted with the page and task at all (hasn't visited the page the task is on, so has never seen any variations at all)
When Hannah visits the page and task… | Hannah sees one of variation A(2), B or C
| Hannah sees one of variation A(2), B or C |
Flloyd has already seen/started variation A(1)
When Flloyd revisits the page and task… | Flloyd still sees variation A(1) (and their saved draft)
| Flloyd sees one of variation A(2), B or C
They cannot see variation A(1) or their saved draft |
Amy has already seen/started variation B (similarly if Amy had started variation C)
When Amy revisits the page and task… | Amy still sees variation B (and their saved draft)
| Amy sees one of variation A(2), B or C
They cannot see their saved draft
|
Callum has already submitted variation A(1)
When Callum revisits the page and task… | Callum still sees variation A(1) (and their submission)
*Callum will see A(1) if the task is reopened, but if the task is reset a facilitator will need to choose which of the variations - A(2), B or C - to allocate. | Callum still sees variation A(1) (and their submission)
*Callum will see A(1) if the task is reopened, but if the task is reset a facilitator will need to choose which of the variations - A(2), B or C - to allocate. |
Gabby has already submitted variation B (similarly if Gabby had submitted for variation C)
When Gabby revisits the page and task… | Gabby still sees variation B (and their submission) | Gabby still sees variation B (and their submission) |
Re-opening and resetting
Unless otherwise mentioned:
If a learner has their submission re-opened, their task is put back into a “draft” state so they still see their original variation (that they submitted against).
If a learner has their submission re-set, and their task variation was changed, a facilitator will need to choose which of the variations they should be allocated for their next attempt.
Deleting a variation
If you instead need to delete a variation, it works the same as described above (just without the variation of A(2)).