What are course sets?
Course sets allow learners (and facilitators) to view their courses in sets on their dashboard.
The order within a group will default to being sorted by Name (0-9, A-Z) but learners can also choose to sort by progress.
How do I give a course a course set?
As an author when editing a course
As an author, when you're setting up a course you'll have extra information you can add under Classification. One of these is Course set.
When you add a label for a course set, this enables the course to be grouped within that set on a learners' dashboard.
Course sets apply across current, upcoming and past courses.
As a manager editing an activation
Course sets can also be added or edited when creating or editing an activation. Look for Course set under the Details tab.
Why should I use course sets?
It may seem like a small thing, adding a label. But putting courses into sets allows you, as an author, to set up courses in a way that can help learners motivation.
Let's take a look at an example Business programme.
Say it usually consists of 4 "papers" that would usually be 150 hours each.
Learners will wait a long time to see the progress in each of those courses go up.
We could use course sets to break up those papers into shorter, focused courses. Where you enrol learners in only a few courses for a few papers at each time.
In the image below we've broken up one course, Business 101, into three courses with the same course set.
With more granular courses:
Learners see their progress rise more quickly, which can help motivation.
Learners are able to navigate the courses more easily as they have fewer sections and subsections.
Tasks lists are shorter and easier to manage/search (for learners and facilitators)
Course length (in terms of open and close dates) can be shorter, which can mean it's easier for facilitators and learners themselves to know if they're on track.
You can set up auto enrollment to enrol learners in the next course only after completion of the previous course using our API.
Tips
If your courses have a set progression, make sure the names of the courses are in alphanumeric order (0-9, A-Z) to allow them to display in the progression you want for learners.
Think about the different courses/programmes learners are likely to be enrolled in and design your course sets to suit those learner profiles. For instance...
If you're working with other authors across an organisation, make sure you're using the exact same label for the set (if you want courses to be in that same set). And for similar, but different sets, make sure your set label is distinct.
We're big fans of also using the cover image to visually associate courses that are in the same set/qualification.
Other articles you might be interested in
An overview of badges - Find out more about our open badges and how micro-credentialling can motivate and reward your learners.
How to customise your badge design - Account owners can choose a background image and icon for badges.
Introduction to using our API - As an account owner you can use the API to connect with other systems or access detailed data.