In this article, you will learn more about the challenges. All components of a challenge, such as the real-life business case, the question, the Challenge Question File, the Challenge Solution File, giving the answer, the Discovery, giving feedback and saving as favourite will be discussed here.

The challenges are key learning with 5miles. Each challenge is structured the same way. First, a realistic business situation is sketched in which something needs to be solved in the chosen tool that you want to learn more about. Then, you get to work with a question, give an answer and receive an explanation of how you could have answered the question and the solution. You decide for yourself within which subject you want to complete challenges and how often you want to do this.

Do you want to change the amount of challenge emails you receive? Read this article.

You can start a challenge in two different ways: from the challenge e-mail and from the Dashboard.

In your Mail preferences you chose on which day and at what time you receive an email with a new challenge. In the example, you can see the title of the challenge (Level up (or down)), which track you are currently learning (Intermediate PowerPoint 1), how many challenges the track contains (20), how many challenge you’ve completed (14) and how many challenges are still waiting for you (2). Click the orange button ‘Start the challenge’ to go 5miles and start a challenge.

A challenge that is ‘Waiting for you’ means that you received a challenge email about it in your mailbox. This does not mean that you can complete only 1 challenge a day. You can do as many challenges as you prefer.

It is possible to start a challenge by going to the Dashboard and click on the orange button ‘Do’.

First, in each challenge a real-life business situation is outlined. These cases are always something that needs to be solved. The used real-life situations are comparable to situations that you may encounter in your own work. In this way, you can immediately apply what you learn in your job.

Below the business case, you find the question and the Challenge Question file. This is a file of the Office-tool in which you’re learning, for example an Excel file or a PowerPoint presentation.

Within the Teams-tracks and Outlook-tracks there are no Challenges Question Files. In those tracks you must open the programme and find the answer in it.

The Challenge Question file contains the data that you will use to answer the question. You practice with figures and data of existing companies, so real data that you can use to practice effectively.

Have you found the answer? Then go back to 5miles and click 'Ready to answer'.

After you have worked with the data in the Challenge Question file, you are able to fill in the answer. Click on the orange button ‘Ready to answer’. An open field or multiple-choice answers will appear.

Having troubles with finding the answer? Then click on ‘I’d like some help’. You will be given a tip, some answers will be crossed out or the correct answer will be given directly sometimes.

After answering the question, you will receive feedback on the answer. You will get feedback if you have the answer (partly) right or wrong. For answering the question, you will always receive 10 XP, regardless of whether you got the answer right or wrong.

After answering the question, the theory part of the challenge is revealed: the Discovery. This explains what you have just practiced with the data and how you could have done this in the most efficient way. A Discovery is often a combination of text, images and/or videos.

Beneath the title of the Discovery, the estimated reading time is indicated. This is usually between 2 and 5 minutes. This shows that you are not spending more than a few minutes in total on completing a challenge.

A small table of contents is shown on the left side of the Discovery. By clicking on the headings, the page jumps directly to that paragraph.

You can download the Challenge Solution File at the bottom of the Discovery. This file is a copy of the data in the Question File, showing the explanation of the Discovery and the correct answer.

Finally, there is the possibility to give feedback. You get Experience Points (XP) for giving feedback. We recommend that you give this feedback honestly because it can help you in the learning process. For example, if you tell several times in a row that you find a challenge too easy, our algorithm will recognise this and advise you to start a track at a higher level.

You can always choose from 4 options:

Your feedback helps us in continuing to improve the training materials.

During or after completing a challenge, you can add it to your favourites. This is useful because it easily allows you to find the challenges that are most relevant for you in the Archive. You can do this in two different ways. For both ways it is important that the question has already been answered. You cannot save a challenge if you have not yet answered the question.

The first way to add a challenge to your favourite is within the Discovery menu. If you click on 'Add challenge to Favourites', the challenge is saved as a favourite and the star turns orange.

The second way to add a challenge to your favourites is while you are giving feedback. A button appears that allows you to save the challenge as a favourite. When you click on the star "Add this challenge to your Favourites", it turns orange. This means that the challenge has been saved to your favourites.