Content Definitions

Tips:

1. You do not need to wait for a learner to redeem a license before assigning them a learning plan. You can create their learning plan in advance so that when they log in the first time, they'll be ready to get started.
   
2. You can create a single learning plan for users and add content to that learning plan at any time. Or, you can create a learning plan each time you have a specific training "cycle" or plan for a learner (i.e. when they onboard, when they are training for a promotion, etc.). 

Creating a Learning Plan

1. Log in to the system (https://pma.metalformedu.org/login/index.php).
   
2. Go to Manage My Organization > Manage Users.
   
   
   Your list of users displays.
   
   
3. Click on the name of the user for whom you wish to create a learning plan. The user's profile displays.
   
   
4. Click Learning plans in the Miscellaneous section in the top right. The Learning plans page for that user displays. If the user has an existing learning plan, it will appear here. 
   
   
5. To create a new learning plan, click Create plan. The Create plan dialog displays.
   
   
6. In the dialog:
   
1. Give the learning plan a name (e.g. Sam's Onboarding Plan, Sam's Learning Plan, etc.).
   
2. You can assign the learning plan a start date, due date, and end date.
   Note that within a learning plan, you can also assign due dates for specific courses or programs. If you plan to use a single learning plan for a user's entire training history, you may not want to assign the plan a due date/end date - just the content within it.
3. Optionally, enter a description.
   
4. Then click Save draft. The shell for your learning plan is created but is in draft mode. You will need to later activate it (see below).
   
7. Now, you need to add items to the plan. As previously noted, a plan item can be a:
   
1. Course: A discrete module for the learner to take (typically 20min-1.5 hours in length)
   
2. Program: A series of courses that PMA has created as a curriculum. Enrolling a user in a program automatically enrolls them in all courses in that program. This is an easy way to enroll users in a series of courses at once.
   
3. Milestone: A goal you wish for them to achieve. Note that milestones will need to be manually marked as complete in the learning plan, while courses and programs are automatically tracked by the system.
   
8. To add content to their learning plan, click Add plan item grey button. The Add plan item dialog displays.
   
   
9. To add a course:
   
1. Select Course from the Item type drop-down, and click Continue. The dialog expands to include additional fields
   
   
2. Search for a course to add by entering a text string for the course (e.g. PMA-, HYD-). The courses with that text string will display in the drop-down.
   
   
3. Click on the course you wish to assign, and it will appear above the drop-down.
   
   
4. Optionally assign a priority and/or due date for the course.
   
5. Then click Add plan item. 
   
6. Repeat for any additional courses you wish to assign. The courses are added to the user's learning plan:
   
   
10. To add a program:
    
1. Click Add plan item. The Add plan item dialog displays.
   
2. Select Program from the Item type drop-down, and click Continue. The dialog expands to include additional fields.
   
   
3. Search for a program to add by entering a text string for the course (e.g. metalform). The courses with that text string will display in the drop-down.
   
   
4. Click on the program you wish to assign, and it will appear above the drop-down.
   
5. Optionally assign a priority and/or due date for the program.
   
6. Then click Add plan item. 
   
7. Repeat for any additional programs you wish to assign. The program is added to the user's learning plan, which will also automatically enroll that learner in all the courses of that program.
   
   
8. From here, you can click on the program to see all courses in the program.
11. Milestones are added similar to courses and programs.
12. The last step in building your learner's learning plan is to activate it. To do so:
    
1. Click the Update plan button in the top right corner of the Learning Plan page.
   
2. Click the Activate plan button.
   
   The plan is now active for the user.

Notes and Tips:

1. The most common mistake in creating a learning plan for the first time is forgetting to activate it. Make sure not to forget this important step! You only need to activate a plan once; if you update the plan at a later time with additional content, you will not need to reactivate it.
   
2. You can also send your employee comments through the plan by clicking Comments at the bottom of the page. These comments will both show on the learner's learning plan page and will also be sent to them as an email. Learners are able to reply to comments, as well as leave their own comments.
   
3. If you wish to assign a group of learners a set of courses that are not the same as a built-in PMA Skill Set, you can create your own programs in the system and assign them to users. Click here for instructions on doing so.

Updating an Existing Learning Plan

1. Go to the user's profile page (repeat steps 1-3 above). 
   
2. Click Learning Plans. The user's learning plan(s) display.
   
3. Click on the learning plan you wish to update (or alternatively click Create plan to create an all new plan).
   
4. Click Add plan item to add more items to the plan.
   
5. Alternatively, click Update plan to edit the plan name, description, start/end/due date.
   
6. From the Update plan page, you can also select to archive a plan, if desired.