What is a Learning Path?
A Complete Guide on Learning Paths and How to Create One on PlayAblo

Learning Paths are a series of courses strapped together to enable learners to understand the topic at hand or a specific program fully. It allows you to register multiple profiles in various courses in one go, saving you valuable time. It's an easy yet powerful functionality you should have in your LMS.

How Do Learning Paths Appear?

We can consider Learning Paths as a road trip. The perfect long drives begin with directions. However, the driver should be capable of adapting to driving conditions roughly comparable to the map. They use mileposts, exit signages, as well as a compass to get to their vacation spot.

Maybe, there are other ways of taking a road trip. You could mindlessly drive around checking out different stuff to do or be so dependent on your formalized GPS that any change in its construction might result in you getting lost!

A great learning path looks quite a bit like the first long drive. An eLearning developer will determine and create explicit training goals and order them in a logical sequence. The trainee can choose which route they should take – that shall help them in their career development.

Learning paths must include previous knowledge, perception, and software prompts. Without all of these, the learner will likely complete micro modules to understand the content but won't be capable of connecting the material to the core reason for wrapping up those modules. A learning path fosters an ecosystem to incorporate these design details.

Adaptable, multifaceted, and individualized learning paths are highlighted. If there are over two micro modules, a learning path is necessary. It brings together necessary details into a long, thorough learning opportunity.

Seeing Learning Paths in operation is the best way to better understand how you can use them. Let's do that with two everyday examples:

Learning Paths for Staff Members

Induction programs for new employees generally take weeks or months. Usually, employees must take numerous lessons in an LMS to finish staff training.

Conventionally, you had to enlist trainees in each class separately. With the help of Learning Paths, you can bypass this laborious step. Since lessons are organized together, you need only to register trainees once.

Then, they will be automatically entered into all the lessons, one after the other, until they complete their orientation and training objectives. Even better would be if you can merge your LMS and your HR platform.

When new employees join, they are automatically added to the LMS and registered in the orientation and training Learning Path. It's incredibly efficient for your company.

Illustratio -

For your better understanding, here is an example of a Learning Path for onboarding a sales representative:

Learning Paths for Partners and Stakeholders

Learning Paths for staff members isn't the only scenario where you can implement this framework. They also serve as a great tool for training your stakeholders and partners.

You can link courses that explain using your service or product. You can give a walkthrough to learners regarding common support enquires, up-selling, or describing advanced functionalities ... the list continues.

Like staff training, if you link to your software for external partners, trainees are automatically added to your LMS and Learning Paths.

Learning Paths for Customer Education

A learning path also can be used to enhance consumer training by bringing clients on a planned trip. With the correct learning path, you can move clients smoothly from understanding your products to reaching an informed purchase decision and ultimately assisting them to get the maximum value out of your offerings.

For enterprises, creating a learning route in your consumer training process can enable you to:

● Drive leads down your sales cycle

● Provide a concentrated strategy to know about your products

● Help consumers to better comprehend the value of your products

● Support with purchase intention

● Provide continual instruction for consumers

● Enhance their brand loyalty

Learning Paths for Online Business Courses

If you’re developing an online learning program for your business, a learning path can help you build customized solutions that stay.

As an instructor, you already have an in-depth experience in your field of study, but you do need to find a means to communicate that information with a non-expert community. With only a learning path, one can break down the skills into readily absorbed chunks that enable learners to advance through the course material.

Step-by-step instructions improve learners' odds of success and academic development.

An illustration of a learning journey:

Magic lessons -

Imagine you're a magician who wants to train others. Consider your knowledge as an entire academy, not simply 'how to be a great magician'. This may involve card tricks, disappearing stunts, floating techniques, etc.

Describe the abilities trainees need to attain the educational objective inside each theme. For card tricks, these abilities may include card management, presentation, and more.

Specify the methods you are using to teach each ability; these will become sections and sessions in each class. A learning route simplifies the learner journey instead of discharging all your expert information at once.

Learning Paths and the Employee Lifecycle

Below is an illustration of what a typical employee lifecycle looks like:

Learning Paths determine an employee’s present status along the employment cycle based on when the most recent training module began, finished, and evaluated. Then it immediately provides them with the upcoming sets of training and evaluation modules.

After your user wraps up all the training courses in the existing Learning Path, your LMS signals to the L&D team that an employee has now become ready to take on new challenges. Based on the findings from the Learning Path as well as other necessary components, the L&D department has a better knowledge of whom to promote and the physical proof to justify this.

From end to finish, the Learning Path for a certain role can span anywhere from Three months to one year. The timeframe keeps going up as additional training courses are introduced to the Learning Path for a certain work type.

Once generated, learning pathways are permanently stored on your LMS. The learning path functionality instantly recognizes whenever somebody joins your company with that precise line of work. It then activates your new worker and commences their learning journey.

When you’re speaking of more than a bunch of people joining your firm periodically, this becomes a valuable tool for an L&D. It spares them from undertaking the recurring work of establishing a personal growth strategy for each employee.

The best aspect, though, is that the learning path component of an LMS plots out a thorough visual blueprint for the new hire, telling them exactly everything they have to do in order to excel inside the firm. It is arguably one of the finest ways of showing your staff how they may increase their likelihood of succeeding, providing they keep learning.

Not all learning management systems are made equal. Each has a possibly a bit separate route. To help you out, let us go through the major types of Learning Paths so that you can choose the apt ones for your organization.

Sequenced Learning Paths

With the help of Sequenced Learning Paths, a learner takes courses in a specified sequence. As the trainee wraps up each class, they're allowed to have access to the subsequent module.

The moderator chooses to grant access to another course instantly or following a set time frame. In Sequenced Learning Paths, the trainee must finish all courses. Companies utilize Learning Paths to merge classes on the same topic.

If the coursework increase in context or mastery stage, we recommend a Sequential Path. If a trainee can only advance to another module if they pass a test, you can make sure they only have access to the curriculum at their understanding and knowledge level.

Let's check out an example of how to create a Sequenced Learning Path comprising three courses:

Learners are enlisted in a certain Learning Path, which gives them access to the first module — An Intro to Sales. Once finished, they'll automatically receive access to the next module — Enablement of Sales.

Once they've accomplished the same with the second and third modules, they will have finished the entire Learning Path. As we already stated before, Sequential Learning Paths are best suited for the above illustration due to the increasing difficulty levels.

A Sequential Learning Path need not only be about a subject. It is also perfect for companies that desire to establish formalized training programs for a selection of coursework to be completed in a certain amount of time, like new employee onboarding.

The above Learning Path will include classes a new hire must take. Each course will be pushed out in a coherent way, inclusive of Orientation – Company Procedures and Policies – Health, Wellness, and Safety, and so on.

Learning Paths With Learner Choice

Alternately, Learning Paths, coupled with Learner Choice, are more flexible. In this particular instance, the learner must finish a specific number of classes.

Assume the learner has six modules to pick from, and his/her goal is to complete four. S/he will select the four modules s/he wishes to do and the sequence in which to do them. You choose the number of total courses that must be completed.

You can fix it so the trainee must complete all classes, leaving the sequence of finishes as the only option. A choice-based Learning Path is good when a sequence isn't essential. This edition of Learning Paths allows students to gain more control.

Learning Paths With Time Restrictions

Not all classes should be finished in rapid succession. It's why Learning Paths have managed timelines. It lets you set a schedule for when each course is accessible to the trainee.

If you don't want trainees to have instant access to another module in a Learning Path, you can make guidelines to determine when the class is made available, irrespective of when they registered. Let us return to our onboarding example.

You can fix a course to be finished during the first week. You can either let your new hire instantly take the second module or delay it. You make it mandatory, so the subsequent module is only accessible after the first class is finished + three days.

This enables you to move slowly through the collection of courses, inhibits the trainee from speeding through, and provides them time to reflect on their knowledge.

Alternative Learning Paths

The alternate learning path is like a short-cut route you take to avoid the freeway for a while, then return to finish your journey.

You can also construct a learning route where individuals can bypass one or two modules (optional) but must complete the others (required). Here, you provide learners with a choice without sacrificing goals.

The alternative educational path emphasizes outcomes and adaptability above sequence. As a manager, you can mix required and elective courses.

Learning Paths With Levels

Here, Learning Paths have levels. Each level can have compulsory or optional courses, including choice-based instruction. Your learner masters a level when they finish it.

Level learning blends sequential and alternative learning. You can choose the number of stages and goals for this course. Each of these learning paths can have a time limit. Context matters.

Completing the Learning Path

Clustering classes with a Learning Path is a time-saving way to organize training programs. It tends to work well with an automated method, and trainees applaud the guidance. Pairing it with the other prevalent LMS functionalities such as Gamification and Credentials makes learning management more efficient.

Individuals want to see a route to progress. This is correct regardless of the context. They may be advancing in their professional life, but they may also want to grow in a passion or expertise.

In our contemporary academic world, a Learning Path can help with development. In fact, it is said that Learning Pathways offer conditionality and tails. Simply put, they allow learners to see where they've arrived from and where they're headed.

In the workplace, an optimal learning path puts emphasis on the user's needs, where they want to go in their profession, and what talents and abilities the company wants them to grasp now.

Constructing constructive learning paths needs the eLearning designer to offer some authority to the trainee. They should develop targets and pick from an array of choices to achieve them.

An eLearning developer within a learning path framework must be a designer and conduit of knowledge. A key part of the eLearning designer's job is to avert a "one-size-fits-all" methodology – where all students devour the same material in the very same sequence, in a uniform manner, to a strategy where information is arranged in adaptable and individualized "Learning Paths".

Each worker getting involved in career development can have their own Learning Path. They are interdisciplinary since our jobs are multifactorial, and individuals need to be competent in multiple areas.

They are comprehensive and end-to-end frameworks; therefore, trainees end up spending more hours on a Learning Path than on a module.

Ultimately, they are highly complicated and customized to bring the trainee from a beginner level to an advanced stage. Their primary feature is learner control

Employees can start from just about any point along the educational journey. This authority over the learning process improves people's cognitive capacity, as everybody begins from the track segment that best fits their level of experience and skill sets.

What Are the Benefits of Using Learning Paths in Your Company?

Learning Paths offer numerous benefits for your firm and your employees, resulting in the convenient delivery of training courses.

Sets Up a More Organized Training plan

Learning Paths enable the addition of a formalized structure to educational programs. While rolling out learning materials to your employees, you can regulate both the sequence in which lessons are delegated and the timeline within which they become accessible.

Saves the Time of Administrators

As an administrator, it's common for a Learning Path to be established well ahead of time for learners enrolling to reduce implementation time. When you assign the learner to a certain path, they're pretty much self-sufficient. Your trainee completes one course and is automatically added to the subsequent module — without much effort from your end.

Facilitates Self-Paced Learning

Staff members vary in their capacity to learn, comprehend, and then use knowledge. In the absence of learning paths, they would be forced to conform to a particular speed, making it more difficult to keep up.

Learner paths make the learning process self-paced, which is a huge benefit. Trainees get to select the time, location, and knowledge they want to acquire through your L&D programs. In fact, the control of preference transitions from the admin to the trainees.

Learning Paths With Levels

Here, Learning Paths have levels. Each level can have compulsory or optional courses, including choice-based instruction. Your learner masters a level when they finish it.

Level learning blends sequential and alternative learning. You can choose the number of stages and goals for this course. Each of these learning paths can have a time limit. Context matters.

Makes it Possible to Specify and Achieve Objectives

One possible explanation behind why training programs underperform would be that they lack an objective. Learner paths completely eradicate disparities and give purpose to the process of learning with well-defined targets.

As training becomes purpose-driven, workers are able to get a feeling of accomplishment and motives for registering for and completing the program. With instantaneous and perceptible roadmaps, trainees will be encouraged to finish the training and will know how much further they are from attaining their goals.

Helps Expedite L&D Goals

Employee training aims to upskill people and align their abilities with the organization's evolution, growth, and needs. This is, in fact, the definition and end goal of any L&D practice, which is crucial for a firm's success in the long run.

With the help of learner paths, businesses can correlate courses to recognize and resolve immediate needs. Since several modules, working in tandem, make a contribution to the end objective, workers can quickly and easily enforce their skill sets — acquired from the learning modules.

Helps Promote Constant Feedback

Learning alone won't enable learners to acquire knowledge and skills. Rather, they should regularly receive ongoing and meaningful feedback to ensure they're on the correct path.

A learning path, accompanied by a gamut of assessments and methodologies to implement the knowledge gained, will assist the organization and its employees in evaluating whether the initiatives are beneficial from a corporate perspective.

Because a learning path contains various modules, administrators can supervise how each worker interacts with each lesson and introduce tweaks to the curriculum as required. Since feedback would be almost instant, professionals will get the chance to rectify themselves.

Makes the Learning Process Continuous

In contrast to the last ten years, employees are now much more familiar with the concept of upskilling and eager to learn. The "eagerness" to gain knowledge varies depending on how immersive and pertinent the lessons are.

Employees are more willing to remain in organizations that are extremely passionate about professional growth. With the help of learning paths, companies can regularly upgrade their training courses and are flexible enough to add modules and functionalities in between.

Mini Bites Are Best for Knowledge Absorption and Retention

Learning paths make it much easier to convey information in a structured manner over time effectively. This is particularly essential to engage and keep talent, as training can't be done once and abandoned.

To make the knowledge gained useful and financially beneficial for the company, it should be repetitively delivered through various networks in an interactive way.

Since learning paths implement the concept of bite-sized learning, aka microlearning, there'll be minimal clutter and cognitive stress on employees. Small bits can also enhance knowledge retention because education is more comprehensible with fewer key takeaways but additional time to digest.

Fosters a Learning Atmosphere

As discussed, employees generally stick with companies, which invest in developing their skills. With the help of learning paths, enterprises can foster an educational atmosphere that sees skills training as ongoing and vital.

As companies spend more on learning, they can identify neglected skill gap areas in employee development, which, once addressed, can enhance efficiency. Beginning with new employee orientation, learning paths make it possible for employees to grow professionally when a solid route is set.

When learning turns into a routine, companies can significantly reduce the costs incurred while holding pricey seminars or recurring talent hunts. As staff members hone their skill sets, meeting the demands for skills from different departments will become smooth.

Furthermore, learning will be less daunting because staff members can forecast the amount of time needed and the effort required to gain mastery of a topic.

If you are an eLearning design engineer responsible for creating learning paths, here are the top best practices to keep in mind.

Utilize your Assets: Allocate and Arrange Modules Throughout Various Instructional Paths

eLearning content is innately flexible and dynamic. You can consider incorporating modules into diverse learning paths so as to reach anybody who needs to be taught a particular concept or skill.

Illustration

A sales fundamentals lesson may be included in a learning path to onboard a new sales rep, but intermediate or advanced sales might go into a refresher course.

Such modules can be adaptively and spontaneously consolidated in as many instances as required to make the perfect academic plan for each member of the team, irrespective of their role.

Establish Links Between Breaks and Generate Milestones

The learner will learn at a detailed level. The links between various functions are unclear. The eLearning developer must check all the breaks on the academic path and establish contacts for the trainee.

Also, it's necessary to highlight the student recurrent benchmarks that display their headway and encourage them to stay on track.

You can design weekly worksheets for workers to stay on track within the recommended learning path. If you would like to give your participants more authority, compile a list of requisite modules, activities, evaluations, and other optional modules.

Always Establish Clear Learning Objectives

Learning Paths are an effective way of teaching skills/concepts by having a defined path that learners can pursue. A learning path is composed of objectives and goals, where each objective reflects a class or module trainees must take. You can also set time frames for these modules and an assessment within that period to evaluate their knowledge.

Illustration

If you would like your colleagues to learn the art of selling insurance in three months, the learning path could perhaps look like this:

● Month 1: Initiation to selling insurance

● Month 2: Kinds of insurance

● Month 3: Innovative insurance sales methods

Generally, that's how learning paths are formed.

They have a sequence of classes or modules with different levels of difficulty to guide trainees toward their goals. Whereas this method of learning journey can help learners develop and hone their abilities, they also can choose to do it non-linearly, wanting to take only a few blocks tailored to their needs.

It doesn't matter if the learning paths are customized for each worker; the important factor would be that they should always have a clear goal. The learning path must always make sure that students have a solid knowledge of the subject.

Suppose you have an extensive or long-term primary objective for your training program. In that case, it is suggested to break it up into relatively small benchmarks to keep learners motivated and engaged.

Facilitates Self-Paced Learning

Staff members vary in their capacity to learn, comprehend, and then use knowledge. In the absence of learning paths, they would be forced to conform to a particular speed, making it more difficult to keep up.

Learner paths make the learning process self-paced, which is a huge benefit. Trainees get to select the time, location, and knowledge they want to acquire through your L&D programs. In fact, the control of preference transitions from the admin to the trainees.

Create a Graphic Portrayal of Learning

Any learning path requires posts to keep students concentrated and on target. It thus helps them see their progress and what's left to do to finish a pathway.

Ready to Begin?

First, get an eLearning software that will be your best asset for creating personalized, modular learning experiences. By using an LMS, you can instantly comprehend the requirements of all your workers and assign them the correct path.

As a person uses the framework more, the platform recognizes their level of expertise in a certain subject. We suggest the best steps in the process.

When one of your staff members wants to study web applications, an eLearning tool will first undertake a skills gap assessment to find the present level of this talent and then recommend what the trainee needs to be taught.

Suggestions can be a wide range of types of content, such as watching videos using software, enrolling in a beginner's curriculum, joining a visual artist team, and more.

On the PlayAblo UCM, when you are a facilitator, here’s how you can set up a Learning Path

Step 1: Add the Learning Path

● Go to Manage Learning on the right-hand side, click on Manage Learning Path, and then Set Learning Path

● Next, click on Add Learning Path

● Here, start filling in the required information: Learning Path Name. Upload the Learning Path Image and Completion Certificate. ● You can enable the course to be self-subscribed.

Note: When you create a Learning Path using PlayAblo’s UCM, you have the choice of deciding if you want it to be self-subscribed. The learner can then opt for self-subscribing courses on LMS if s/he intends to acquire additional knowledge over the subjects that have already been assigned to him/her.

On the right side of this page, you can also assign learning objectives:

● Pre-shipped Learning Objectives: When an objective is for the course, it is automatically mapped when the user accesses the Learning Path.

● User-defined Learning Objectives: These are additional custom objectives for the Learning Path, which are defined for specific users. A supervisor can give feedback on those objectives. We will come to that later.

Step 2: Add Course Cluster

● The next step is to Add Course Cluster.

● Go to Manage Learning Path, then, Set Learning Path, and click on Add Course Cluster

● When you click on Add Course Cluster, the below screen will appear:

● Give a Cluster Name and start selecting courses to add here using the search bar.

● You can also enter Cluster Clearance Criteria – such as the minimum number of courses to be completed and the required courses needed to finish that cluster.

Step 3: Define Course Clearance Criteria

● You can define the clearance criteria for each course, included in a certain cluster, on the above screen.

● You additionally get an option to transfer course credits when a course is already completed by the user but is also present on the Learning Path. In this case, the user does not have to do the same course twice

● You can also add a time limit for course completion. This implies that the credit clause will be applicable if a learner had completed the course only within a certain time frame.

Once you are done with all of these updates, you can assign a Learning Path to learners.

Note: If course criteria are already set for a course (as an individual course criterion) then upon selecting the same course in a cluster, the criteria previously added will auto-populate.

Step 4: Give Feedback

A manager can give feedback to learners after completing a Learning Path by choosing any pathway he is responsible for.

How Does Everything Appear on the Dashboard from the Learner’s End?

The dashboard will show users Learning Paths and the number of days left to complete them

Once they open a Learning Path, they will see its clusters, further segmented into modules.

Unless a user finishes a cluster, s/he cannot access the next cluster.

However, learners can finish modules or courses in any order within one cluster.

Once a learner completes all the clusters in the Learning Path, this is what s/he will see:

They are now eligible to view their certificate and download it, rate the course, and the Learning Path. Well, that’s all!

● Month 1: Initiation to selling insurance

● Month 2: Kinds of insurance

● Month 3: Innovative insurance sales methods

Custom learning paths focus on students' goals, interests, and ambitions. Businesses might also gain from this approach. Some of its benefits are:

● Developing structured and personalized employee training programs

● Systematically pushing the learner toward his/her aim

● Individual requirements and particular learning styles can be addressed.

● Custom eLearning routes provide employees autonomy on their own eLearning experiences so they may learn and recall skills better.

6 Smart Tips to Create Customized Employee Learning Paths

Custom eLearning journeys are learner-centric, not one-size-fits-all. They offer employee-specific instructional strategies. This enables managers and supervisors to help each learner cover gaps in performance and realize their full potential.

1. Set learning objectives

Creating personalized learning paths for every employee or student should include the eLearning program's aims and outcomes.

First, create a plan that mixes the needs of the employees with eLearning course elements. Aside from individualized goals and objectives, the learning path must ensure that the students leave the course with strong subject knowledge.

These objectives can be business-wide, like a cultural or strategic shift, or unit-wide, like factory safety training. Establish a clear aim for a category like new recruits or underperforming staff.

Breaking a lengthy training project down into smaller benchmarks keeps learners motivated and engaged

2. Consider styles of learning

A good employee Learning Path must accommodate diverse learners. Your learning route has to be available on cellphones, computers, laptops, and tablets.

It should accommodate varied learners' requirements. Using webinars for oral presentations that offer work performance advice, drag-and-drop meaningful games for interactive learning, and engaging films for visual learners, your platform can efficiently distribute information, increasing employee engagement and productivity.

3. Create a skills matrix

A skills matrix identifies the knowledge and abilities needed for a job. A skills matrix helps you determine staff training needs and find related content.

4. Include personal anecdotes

Include meaningful personal tales in learning routes to excite employees and boost training engagement.

It enables them to interact with the material and use it professionally. Adding images, animations, and sound to these narratives helps tailor instruction for improved learning outcomes.

5. Solicit employee feedback

Personal eLearning pathways should always include participant comments and advice. Employers or training managers can boost a learning module's efficacy by aligning the material with employees’ needs.

Make sure that employees feel more in control of their personalized learning paths. Include a navigational design that allows learners to pick how to navigate through the program and take various classes out of order as per their needs.

6. Consider self-evaluation

Developing excellent eLearning pathways requires self-reflective evaluations. They allow individuals to ponder on their strengths and weaknesses.

You can create quizzes or exercises to measure students' progress and understanding. Include an answer key or self-grading standard to allow students to self-correct.

A Learning Path considers staff training to be a continual effort. It empowers employees to take control of their knowledge by becoming willing members of training.

They also help you foster a solid organizational learning culture, boosting employee happiness and talent management. Custom Learning Paths are an efficient approach for organizations to

ensure a well-trained, competent, and productive workplace. With the above tips, you can construct outstanding learning paths for your staff and build a thriving eLearning culture.

Learning paths will improve a firm's image and make it a desirable employer. Learner paths or tactics must match the company's priorities and workers' needs.

About PlayAblo

PlayAblo's Corporate Learning solution provides a lightweight, easy-to-deploy, mobile-first, and fun eLearning platform. Our solution provides a lightweight combination of integrated Learning, Content, and Knowledge Management features.

Built for today's learners who consume information in bite sizes and on the move, PlayAblo's award-winning solution helps the HR Leader in building a culture of learning within their organization.

Growing organizations today have an increasing number of employees that move laterally and are geographically spread out. PlayAblo works best in bringing teams up to speed with the needed knowledge and management in terms of tracking the consumption and the expected learning outcomes.

If this is intriguing, please connect with us, and we will be delighted to discuss how we might help you!