Planning Tool

The planning Tool is now a subscription service, but we have significantly reduced the prices. Existing users have had their subscriptions extended accordingly.
Click here for prices.

Due to popular demand, the tool will be enabled for the Early level and the Third level, although the data for these levels may take a bit longer to produce.

Launch the Planning Tool

Planning Tool Walkthrough

Click on the screenshot below to watch a quick demonstration on how to use the planning tool.

Launch the Planning Tool

Planning Tool Quickstart Guide

Download this guide as a word document - Planning Toolkit Quick Start Guide.doc

General Tips

1. You don't need to fill in all the details - only add what you think is helpful or necessary.
2. Save often.
3. Some people prefer to plan by clicking the Hide Details button first and just adding the titles for each task before adding further details later on.

Your First Plan

1. Click the Add new button to create a new planning unit.
2. Click in the Title field and change the title to something informative.
3. Click in the Outline field and type in a broad description of this unit.
4. At this point it is probably worth saving your plan by clicking on the Save button in the left-hand column.
5. Move down to the Task (there is only one so far) and give your first task a title.
6. Either type in the shared learning intentions (SLIs) or you can choose from the database of SLIs. To choose SLIs from the database click on the + button beside the field.
   1. Click on a subject.
   2. Click on an organiser.
   3. Click on each SLI you wish to add to your plan. You may need to scroll down to see them all. To add your selected SLIs to your plan click the + Add selection button. If you decide you want to go back to your plan without adding any SLIs then click on the red cross up to the right.
   4. You can edit any added SLIs to tailor them to your needs.
7. Type in the activities that will make up this task or search for tasks or use the chooser to navigate through the experiences and outcomes to find a possible task.
8. To search for activities click on the Search button near the Activities field.
   1. Use the check boxes to select which subject areas and which levels you are interested in searching.
   2. Type a word or phrase into the search entry field.
   3. Click on the Search button.
   4. If no results are found you can search again or click on the red cross to go back to the plan.
   5. Otherwise you will see a list of experiences and outcomes that might have relevant activities. Click on one of the experiences and outcomes to see the activities in the database.
   6. Select one or more activities and then click the + Add selected button to add them to your plan.
9. To use the Chooser to find activities click on the + button next to the Activities field.
   1. Click on a subject.
   2. Click on an organiser.
   3. Click on a line of development if this area has them.
   4. Click  on an experience and outcome
   5. Select one or more activities and then click the + Add selected button to add them to your plan.
10. Type in how much time this task might take (could be 1 hour, or 20 minutes per day etc).
11. Type in any assessment opportunities associated with this task or click the + button to select from a list of standard assessment types.
12. Type in the learning environments used in this task or click the + button to select from the list of standard learning environments.
13. If you added any activities from the database you will already see the corresponding Experiences and outcomes relating to those activities. But often an activity will also relate to a separate experience and outcome which you will need to add. Also, you may have added your own activities. Adding experiences and outcomes is exactly the same as adding activities from the database - either search or navigate through the chooser - but this time you are selecting experiences and outcomes themselves.
14. Add other information such as preparation, success criteria, differentiation, extension work and progression.
15. This is a good time to save your plan again by clicking on the Save button on the left-hand side.
16. Add your next task by clicking on the Add Another Task button on the left-hand side and fill in the details as above.
17. You can reorder tasks by using the Move Task Up and Move Task Down buttons. This is often easier when you have hidden the task details by clicking the Hide Details button on the left-hand side. Clicking Show Details will show the details again.
18. When you have finished adding tasks you can select/deselect how the unit as a whole meets the four capacities of a Curriculum for Excellence.
19. After saving again you can generate a PDF for Printing and saving by clicking on the create PDF button on the left-hand side.
20. When you are finished click on the My Plans button on the left -hand side.