• IT Skills for Students

    Using Planner

    Planner is part of Microsoft's Office 365 and is a task-tracking app for managing collaborative projects.

    It lets users create plans, organise and assign tasks, share files, and get updates on progress. It is particularly useful for student group work.

    This module explores what Planner is and how it can be used to improve your group productivity.

    • Activity

      Using Planner

      Allow 120 minutes

      Work through the tasks that follow to explore Planner and its features.


      Task 1: Introduction to Planner

      Watch this video to see what Microsoft Planner can do.


      Having trouble watching the video? Try this direct link.


      Task 2: Exploring Planner

      Download the Planner Instructions and work through them to find and add yourself to the Succeeding with Groups Planner.

      Link: Planner Instructions

      If you can't find Planner on the Office 365 apps it may be that it is the first time you have been to your Office 365 home page, in which case Planner may not have loaded itself yet. Leave your screen open on the page which shows all of your apps and wait to see if it loads - this may take as long as 10 minutes.

      Challenge:

      Experiment with these functions available in Planner:

      • Add a task
      • Assign yourself to the task
      • Move the task to the other bucket
      • Click on the Charts option
      • Find the files associated with this Planner
      • Investigate the other options available
      • Add a comment to the Word document Learning about Planner Task saved in the project files section
      • Revisit the Planner at a later date to see what else has been added or to remove yourself from the group

      Task 3: Have a Go

      Create a plan for yourself to keep track of your study.

      Challenge:

      • Click 'New plan'
      • Add tasks for each paper you need to complete
      • Create new Buckets for Current Papers and Finished Papers
      • Move the tasks for each paper to the appropriate Bucket
      • Add events to the calendar related to each paper, e.g. assignment and exam dates (if you're not sure how to do this, check out the Outlook section of this course first)

          • Checkpoint

            Planner Self-Assessment

            Now that you've completed the activities in this module, take the time to complete this self-assessment of how competent you think you are in using Planner.

            Follow the instructions by clicking the link below.

          • Planner Self-Assessment Quiz
            You have to add at least one completion condition.

          • Discussion

            Planner Forum

            Using the forum below, click the 'Add a new discussion topic' button and perform the following tasks.

            1. Using a PNI format (Positive, Negative and Interesting) post something that you found useful, something that you found difficult or confusing, and something that you would like to find out more about relating  to the activities in this part of the module.
            2. Share at least one additional resource (web link, video etc.) that you think would help any other students working through this module.
          • Planner Forum