Performance supports two methods to provide learners with formal sets of course requirements to achieve the required level of training or program completion in an area of expertise. Learning programs are called a certification or curriculum.
Certifications and curricula are similar in that they both track the progress as a learner completes each component in a group of learning requirements, while providing the learner with his or her current completion status.
Some organizations offer special recognition to those who have earned a certification. For example, they may have the right to add certain letters after their name. A person who completes a certification in Performance can print a certificate suitable for displaying that demonstrates their status.
To remain valid, many certifications, such as those on products that have new models annually, need to be renewed with additional training. To accommodate this requirement, a certification created on Performance can have an expiry period. Except for the certification expiry, creating the two programs is essentially the same.
The list of learning requirements is not contained within the curriculum or certification but is instead contained in a requirement group. The requirement group is then linked to a curriculum or certification. This approach provides flexibility when managing learning requirements and facilitates the sharing of requirements among curricula and certifications.
There are three major steps involved in setting up a certification or curriculum.
- Create the certification or curriculum.
- Create a new requirement group or identify an appropriate existing group.
- Assign the requirement group to the certification.
The three steps outlined above and detailed in this section are the same when configuring a certification or a curriculum.
Depending on training needs, from the Admin menu, select Training > Manage Certifications or Training > Manage Curricula to begin the process. The examples in this section deal with certifications, but again, the process is the same for either a Curriculum or Certification.
To reiterate: Certifications and Curricula are basically identical with one key difference being that a Certification can utilize expiration options.