What are learning paths?

As Chief Happiness Officer with Velsoft, my core role is to train each new customer on the use of the znanja Learning Management System.

I talk with customers daily about their use of the LMS and help them troubleshoot any processes and functions that they may not be familiar with. By doing this I have learned how to explain the LMS to customers who may not have much experience with eLearning development.

With the release of our Learning Paths in 2018, I immediately recognized how this function could help both students and managers, and it’s become one of my favorite features.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering, “What is a Learning Path?”

The Learning path is a visual representation of an organization’s or trainee’s direction for their training program. It’s comprised of three levels: Learning Path, Competency, and Courses. The Learning path consists of competencies required for proficiency in a certain role or position. For example: time management skills, giving feedback skills, supervising skills. Finally, the necessary courses are matched to the competency and assigned for completion. Example: time management course, feedback course, ABC’s of Supervising course. Students have the added convenience of being able to launch their courses directly from this page.

This feature benefits both learner and trainer through providing clarity. As a student, when you log in to the LMS and take your training, you can clearly see the direction you’re heading. You can see the path laid out from where you are to where you need to be.

Take the Supervisor Learning path, for example. The learner has asked management what they can do to earn a promotion, and they’ve been advised that one step in the process is to complete the Supervisor Learning Path training in their online learning platform. The student logs into the LMS, and sees the learning path, the competencies needed to complete the supervisor training and the courses that once complete, will enable them to become proficient in the competency. Everyone involved has clarity in direction and knows how to qualify for advancement.

Now, you may be wondering how to set up a Learning Path for your students within the znanja LMS. Rather than bore you with tedious step-by-step instructions, you can watch the process by launching our tutorial video.

Training students is what you do. Helping our trainers achieve those goals is what we do at Velsoft. Learning paths are a sure-fire way to ensure learners and management both understand the journey of training. Whether the goal is to obtain a promotion, satisfy the needs of a current role, or simply to give someone computer skills knowledge, learning paths give everyone the clarity needed to succeed. And that’s a powerful tool to have.

If you enjoyed this article, please let me know why in the comments. If you would like to see the Learning Path feature in action through a private demonstration, please contact Velsoft at support@znanja.com, and we’ll arrange a time that works best for you. Thanks for learning!

Michael Harding is the Chief Happiness Officer at Velsoft Training Materials.