Open response

The open response activity is possibly the most common type of activity used in Open Polytechnic courses.

This activity type provides students with the ability to enter text, upload files and even record video in response to a question or task.

Given the open nature of this activity, there is no automated method to determine whether or not the student’s response was correct, so care must be taken when writing the feedback.

Creating an open response activity

Add an activity and choose Open response from the type drop-down list.

Add the question or task under 1. Question, including instructions to upload a file if appropriate.

Select 2. Learner's response

Here the length of the text response can be selected to give students an indication of how much they should write.

Note: All open response activities have a text box for the student’s response by default.

Select 3. Automatic feedback to add feedback to the student that will be displayed when the student has submitted their response. This is often an example answer that the student can compare to their own.

Select Hint (Optional) to add a hint that the student can access before submitting their response.

Save to complete the activity and exit edit mode.

Student’s response

Open response activities have a text box for the student to enter text into by default. This text box provides fairly minimal formatting options such as bold, italic, lists and links.

There is also an Add file button that extends this activity type beyond text, allowing a student to upload files from a variety of sources, take a photo, or even record video directly using an attached webcam.

When a student selects Add file they will be presented with the following dialog box.

Students can upload multiple files of any file type or even take a photo or record a video using their webcam.

These are attached to the student’s response when they select Submit.