Recorded Practice Questions

Help employees practice job skills by creating realistic task simulations

Hannah Walt avatar
Written by Hannah Walt
Updated over a week ago

In This Article


About Recorded Practice

Recorded practice questions create realistic, low-risk training scenarios in which learners can hone essential job skills, such as delivering a sales pitch or facilitating a needs-discovery process. By reviewing these recordings, trainers can identify growth opportunities: performance areas in which learners excel, and areas that require additional coaching.


Add Recorded Practice Questions to a Lesson

Recorded practice questions are located in the Add Element > Practice menu of the lesson builder.


Webcam Recording

When lesson creators select Webcam Recording in the Lesson Builder, they're prompted to pose a question they'd like learners to answer. Creators can optionally add feedback criteria to provide learners with additional guidance, helping them craft high-quality responses.

Users can record their answers within Learning or upload video files from their computers. If users select the former option, Learning will access the user's webcam and microphone. The following browsers are supported:

Note: Before users advance to the next section of a lesson or select Finish, the user should wait for the video to fully process and upload successfully.


Audio Recording

Similar to webcam recordings, after adding an audio recording question it prompts the user to input a question and adds any feedback criteria to help the user navigate their response.

Audio recordings use the user's internal mic to record.

Once assigned, the user selects "Record Audio," and the recording functionality prompts the user to begin answering the question. After completing their response select "Finish Recording."

The user needs to be sure to wait until the recording is fully uploaded for it to process correctly.


Screen Recording

Similar to the other practice recording questions, after adding the screen recording question to the lesson it prompts the user to input a question and any feedback criteria to help the user with their response.

Screen recording is accomplished through a Chrome Extension. This means all screen recording questions need to be answered in Google Chrome.

Note: Screen recording is only available on a desktop.

If a user is logged in through another browser other than Chrome, they will only see the option to upload a pre-recorded video for Screen recordings. The recording button will be disabled, but it will feature a tooltip to help prompt the user in the right direction.


Graded vs. Ungraded Questions

By default, learner responses will be sent to the grading station for evaluation. To make a question ungraded, uncheck the Graded box in the upper-right corner of the element.

Graded Practice Recording Questions

Graded practice questions sport an Evaluation label and a blue badge that reads "Your response will be graded."

Check out this article to see what a completed assignment looks like from the grader's point of view.

💡Note: If a retake score has been added to a lesson, and a learner fails to meet the minimum score, the lesson will be reassigned and the learner will be required to re-record responses for each practice element regardless of their original quality.

Ungraded Practice Question

When a practice question is not graded learners can upload a response and solicit feedback from peers or managers, but the question won't be formally graded. Non-graded practice questions sport a label that reads "Let’s Practice!"

Ask for Feedback

After submitting a response to a non-graded practice question, learners will be given an opportunity to copy a link to their response. They can share the link with co-workers and solicit feedback on their performance.


Mobile/iPad Device Functionality

Webcam and audio recordings are available on mobile devices using their native mobile recorder. When recording either webcam or audio on an iPad, by default the functionality is set to a 10-minute recording limit. This is not customizable.

Check out this article for more information on audio recordings through your phone.

Screen recordings are not available on a mobile device.


Install the Screen Recording Chrome Extension

When users arrive at a screen recording question and select Start Recording, a window prompts them to install a screen recording Chrome extension (formerly known as the Lessonly Recording Chrome extension).

Select Install Extension. This opens the Chrome Web Store. On the extension's listing page, select Add to Chrome.

The extension is designed to capture screen recordings and is not required for video or audio recordings. If you utilize screen recording, there are two options to ensure that users take the most secure route for your instance:​

  1. Instead of using the extension, learners can record the screen using their own screen recording tool of choice and upload the resulting video.

  2. Use the extension, but manually limit access to specific sites. For example, to limit it to just Learning, go to "Extensions" > select "Learning Recording" > select "Site Access" > choose “On Specific Sites” > enter the Learning URL.

After the user has recorded their response, they will be given the option to listen back and either submit their answer or they can cancel and redo it. They can also edit the content if they wish (cropping, adding text, etc.).


Screen Recording Features

Features while in screen recording include a mark-up tool.

  • Select Exploding

  • Zoom In and Out

  • Writing

Based on how the user decides to share their screen while answering a screen recording question, the mark-up tools act differently.

  • Choose a Single Application Window to Record: The markup tools are only available for the selected Chrome window.

  • Choose a Full Screen to Record: The markup tools are available on all the chrome windows or tabs being recorded.

Important Note: The markup tools are not available to non-Chrome browsers.


Mute Your Computer's Internal Mic While Screen Recording

While recording a screen recording question to mute background noise, the desktop's internal mic needs to be muted. There are a few steps to take to achieve this:

1. Select System Preferences.
2. Select Sound.

3. Select Input.

4. Check the Mute box and lower the Input Volume to the left-hand side.


Add Highlighted Examples

Providing example videos can help users understand which responses satisfy the prompt. Highlighted examples can be recorded, uploaded, or embedded via URL.

When an example is provided, users see the video in the Tips section under the heading Highlighted Example.


Allow Users to Skip Recorded Practice Questions

By default allowing users to skip practice recording questions when they are running into technical difficulties is enabled.

Users with company setting permissions can disable this feature by selecting the gear icon > select Settings > select Training Content Settings > uncheck Allow learners to skip media practice questions...

When this box is checked, users are able to complete lessons even if they did not answer the question. The question shows as "skipped" by the grader.


Manage Uploaded Recordings

🚨 Important! If you delete a Practice Recording element with completed submissions, those submissions (i.e., learners' audio and video recordings) will be deleted too. These recordings cannot be retrieved from Learning's backend.

Should you wish to delete a Practice Recording question, please contact Support beforehand and ask that learner submissions be downloaded and shared with you for safekeeping.


Questions? Contact the Support team at support@lessonly.com

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