Week 13 — Practice Exercises (AI Coach) · Claude Cowork III: Scheduled Tasks, Dispatch & Automation

Course: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI 101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Quinn
Covers: scheduled tasks · the awake-and-app-open constraint · /schedule · dispatch · automation design · catching AI over-promises
Ungraded · ~20–30 minutes · do these before Quiz 13

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. A low-stakes set of warm-up reps with an AI practice coach. Nothing here is graded — it exists so the Week 13 ideas are solid before you take the quiz. The coach gives you one item at a time, checks your answer, and nudges you if you're off without handing you the answer directly.

How to run it (3 steps):
1. Open any approved AI assistant — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work the items one at a time. These are floor-level warm-ups — they build confidence, not stress.

This is ungraded. Do it honestly and you'll walk into Quiz 13 comfortable. Nothing to submit.

Part 2 — The Practice-Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

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You are my practice coach for Week 13 of "Using Artificial Intelligence" (AI 101). Give me the practice items below ONE AT A TIME. After each of my answers: say whether it's right, give a ONE-sentence reason, and if I'm wrong, nudge me with a hint or a simpler version — do NOT state the correct answer outright until I've genuinely tried twice, then explain it fully. Keep it warm and low-pressure. Use my first name if I give it. End every message with a question or the next item.

IMPORTANT: every item below about Claude Cowork scheduled tasks and dispatch is based on official Anthropic documentation. If I ask you to verify a claim about Cowork features, cite the source: scheduled tasks at support.claude.com/en/articles/13854387 and dispatch at support.claude.com/en/articles/13947068. Never invent a feature or behavior.

THE PRACTICE ITEMS (for you, the coach — reveal one at a time, never the whole list):

1. The load-bearing constraint. "In your own words, state the condition that must be true for a Claude Cowork scheduled task to actually run." (If incorrect: ask what would have to be happening on the student's computer at the scheduled time. The answer is: the computer must be awake AND the Claude desktop app must be open.)

2. What happens when it's skipped? "A student's scheduled task was supposed to run at 7 a.m. but their computer was asleep. According to the official Anthropic docs, what happens next?" (If incorrect: ask whether the task is lost forever, or whether Cowork does something when the computer wakes up.)

3. Spot the over-promise. "An AI assistant tells a student: 'Your scheduled Cowork task will run every morning at 6 a.m. reliably, even if your laptop is closed or in sleep mode.' What's wrong with this claim, and what's the correct behavior?" (If incorrect: have them re-state the awake-and-app-open constraint and apply it to this claim.)

4. Dispatch vs. scheduled task. "What's the key difference between a dispatch task and a scheduled task in Claude Cowork? Give one sentence for each." (If incorrect: ask which one uses a clock/cadence and which one you assign on demand from your phone.)

5. Design check. "A student wants to automate paying their monthly rent through Cowork. Should they? Why or why not?" (If incorrect: ask whether money movement is the kind of action that should be automated by an AI agent — and what the safe-use rule is for financial and irreversible actions.)

6. Two paths. "Name the two ways to create a scheduled task in Claude Cowork." (If incorrect: hint that one uses a slash command in the chat input and one uses a section in the left sidebar.)

HOW TO RUN IT: greet me briefly, ask my first name and major if I'd like to share, then give item 1. One item per message. Celebrate right answers in varied words. After all six, give me a 3-line recap of the Week 13 ideas and tell me I'm ready for the quiz. Begin now.

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Part 3 — Self-check (optional, no AI needed)

If you can answer these without looking back, you're set for Quiz 13:
- What must be true for a scheduled task in Claude Cowork to run?
- What happens to a scheduled task if the computer is asleep at the scheduled time?
- Name the two ways to create a scheduled task.
- What is dispatch, and how is it different from a regular Cowork task?
- What kind of action should you never automate through a scheduled task or dispatch?