What is a learning track and how to create one

With so many learning possibilities available nowadays, everyone can see how each person has his or her own way of absorbing knowledge and developing skills.

In order to meet the needs of your target audience and teach in a way that works for each student, the learning track becomes a great option for delivering personalized and optimized learning.

It can also be incorporated into a team of employees and ensure better business results.

What is a learning track?

A learning track is a sequence of activities to achieve certain knowledge and develop certain skills.

These tracks can go far beyond a course’s classic video lessons by providing tools, such as books, audios, images, and theoretical and practical assignments that involve the chosen learning topic.

A very important point in these tracks is how each student can benefit by building the best teaching methodology according to the available materials. Soe, each person will take a different path to receive the same knowledge.

What are the types of learning tracks?

Two types of learning tracks can be developed for your students and employees. They are either general or specific.

General Learning track

The general learning track works on broader skills that involve many different industries. This is a basic track that provides the necessary knowledge that the organization wants to share with its entire staff.

Specific Learning track

The specific learning track, on the other hand, is much more segmented and for a specific audience of students who want to develop in-depth competencies and skills in a certain area of study.

What is the difference between a learning track and a training course?

A learning track and a training course have a few differences, although their main objective is to convey certain knowledge to students.

While training courses have a curriculum of activities and subjects that must be completed by all students, the learning track is much freer, since it allows each student to choose which study methods to use throughout the process.

Another point is that training courses don’t allow working on the individual competencies and skills of each student, while tracks allow this personalized learning, motivating students to study in the way they find best.

What are the advantages of the learning track?

Autonomy for the participants

Students gain more freedom to choose the best teaching method. They define which tools they will use in the process, and they do so at their own pace and with the necessary quality for the level of learning they already have.

When talking about online learning this is even more important, because the learning track participants will feel more engaged in finishing it because they know they have more power over the entire track.

Everyone is on the same page

With employees developing their skills and competencies the way it works best for them, it becomes easier to align to companies’ expectations, as employees feel more motivated to apply what they know and have learned without limitations.

Customized teaching

Everyone will learn in the way that is most convenient for them. This will increase the effectiveness of the knowledge taught, students and employees will be more satisfied, and they’ll be able to put what they have learned into practice more easily.

Different formats 

You can incorporate various channels and content formats into a single learning track by sharing information through videos, text, audio, and images. 

This will better exploit each person’s learning through the stimulus that favors them most, and will make the process much more interesting.

Creating a learning track

Now that you have seen the advantages of a learning track, whether general or specific, it’s time to create your own! So let’s get started, shall we?

Know your target audience

To develop a learning track that truly meets your target audience’s goals and values their abilities, you need to know them well. This means that you need to study your audience (whether internal or external, depending on who is the focus of the track you create).

Choose the model that will be used

Decide whether the learning track will be general or specific. Understanding the audience will give you an insight into the best model, but it all depends on the end goal: conveying general and applicable knowledge for various industries, or in-depth knowledge for a specific segment.

Define the most suitable teaching methodologies

This is where you will determine which tools, channels, and content formats will be part of the track. 

Investing in platforms and tools in online learning (including mobile versions) is a great option for both the external audience and for corporate education.

Organize and create the content and educational materials

In order to have a good learning track, you need to get organized for the content creation stage.

Whether you use scripts, e-books, audios or images, any content will need to be carefully researched in order to achieve the learning process’ goal.

Deliver different formats so that individual students can choose the one that works best for their study routine.

Include storytelling in your learning track

Storytelling is an amazing element to hold your students’ attention during the track and ensure that they will understand the content more easily.

Develop a story, include a character, and trace a trajectory together with the proposed steps and activities. Mix fiction elements with the teaching material presented.

Invest in gamification

Gamification increases student and employee engagement who use the learning track, because the content is presented in a fun and interactive manner.

The material becomes more didactic and students feel more motivated and challenged to continue on their learning track.

There are specific platforms and companies that incorporate gamification into educational projects, and they have been growing in the field of online education.

Determine the metrics to measure results

Select metrics that will facilitate the analysis of your business’ learning track performance. These metrics will serve as a thermometer to understand if the knowledge developed has met expectations or if it needs to be improved.

Certain metrics that ascertain the effectiveness of the track can be measured by applying tests after completed stages, by observing the productivity of theoretical and practical tasks, and by analyzing numbers of rejected materials or learning steps, for example.

Develop an implementation schedule

Every project needs planning and a schedule. Set deadlines for delivering the research, development, and outcome measurement steps of the learning track in question.

Have an objective and get organized to deliver something more effective to employees and students. Respect dates and rules established during the process.

Trekking along with Learning Tracks

Delivering knowledge that really adds to an audience with its individualities and needs isn’t easy.

However, understanding that teaching needs to move from following a single structure to embracing a variety of structures, which complement each other and serve different people with different needs and goals, has become critical.

A corporate environment that better exploits the skills and competencies of its employees can also encourage, as much as possible, that these skills and competencies are used to improve business results.

The learning track provides a new perspective for teaching and manages to provide more autonomy for students to do their best with the material available. This will create benefits inside and outside your business.

Delivering quality content that exceeds your audience’s expectations is essential to stand out in the marketplace. So we have full content to help you create a lesson plan for your courses and learning tracks.