How Time-on-Task is Calculated
Teachers are able to view reports that show time-on-task for students. Find out how Ellii calculates it in this help document.
Time on task is tracked per task. We start the timer when the student hits the blue Start button.
We stop it when they land on the results page:
If they minimize the window or open a new tab, we pause, and resume when they come back. We save time spent on all tasks, and add it all up to calculate the overall lesson total time. For example:
We do not track the time spent navigating the site, or looking at results (e.g. if the student opens the Review answers button on the green Results screen). We only track the time when they are answering questions.
What happens if the student closes the browser?
They lose progress on the current task. If they just finished Vocabulary Preview B, and have been working on Read & Listen A for 30 seconds, they will lose the last 30 seconds. We do save pending answers for Open Ended questions, but not the timer 'state'.
What happens if they lose internet connection?
The timer will continue to run, and students won't be able to submit answers. If the connection is established again before their authentication session expires (2 hours), then they can submit their answers.
What happens if they leave the window open and don't do anything?
After 2 hours, their authentication session will expire on the server. They may be able to navigate between questions, however their progress will already be lost (everything after their last completed task). When trying to submit their answers, the system will let them know they have been logged out and will need to log in again.
We hope this helps and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.