January 4, 2013
The timer is one of the features in our online training management system we often hear about. The timer policy was instituted when TargetSolutions started providing continuing education credits to ensure users were spending an adequate amount of time in the courses for which they were receiving credit(s).
Many of the state approval agencies we work with require some mechanism to ensure users of online training are not just clicking through the course content. Because a certain course has been approved for continuing education credit, you must spend at least a minimum amount of time in the course content to obtain a valid certificate of completion.
“We take our accreditation with regulatory agencies very seriously, but at the same time we do not want to alienate users for the sake of compliance,” said Content Architect Jeremy Lynch. “Because of this, we walk a fine line of delivering the appropriate amount of accredited content that meets the minimum time required to get credit for the course.”
The system only records a certain amount of time per page and will stop recording time spent in the course if you stop actively navigating through the course. For example, if you get up and walk away from the computer, the system will not record time for that period. If you need to walk away from the course for any reason, you can click the “Quit” button at the bottom of the sidebar and the system will save your time and bookmark your page.
The completion timer will only log five minutes per slide before assuming the user is idle. If a user opens a course and then walks away, the time they left the course open will not be recorded. If a user quits a course, the system will remember how much time has been spent and start calculating from that amount the next time they log in. If the required amount of time is not reached, the system will prompt the user to spend additional time in the course.
Administrators also have the option to add a time requirement to a course, regardless of whether the course is approved for continuing education credit. If your administrator has chosen to require a certain amount of time for completion, you will be required to fulfill that requirement.
