Skip to main content
Course Release Patterns

Decide the order/method your Courses will become available to learners!

Ania Kwak avatar
Written by Ania Kwak
Updated over 2 years ago

How much of your content do you want to give your learners right away, and how much should be hidden until they're ready for it?

With the help of Triggers, there are several ways you can release Courses for your learners, from keeping it linear in a one-by-one release approach to giving them complete access to everything right away!

How would you like to introduce your Courses to your learners?

Pattern 1 - The Meal Plan

Diagram showing a one-by-one course trigger approach

The situation:

Learners must learn things in a particular order to ensure materials are introduced at appropriate intervals.

Make it happen:

  • PUBLISH a single Course to the instance

  • SET UP a Trigger that unlocks the second Course once the first Course is complete

  • SET UP another Trigger which unlocks a third Course once the second Course is complete

  • REPEAT as needed

The result:

As learners complete Courses one by one, each subsequent Course will unlock.

Why use it?:

Pros:

  • Learners follow the learning path you want them to follow, no deviation is possible

  • Learners cannot “skip ahead” to content they aren’t yet ready for

Cons:

  • Courses that only unlock one-by-one can feel somewhat monotonous

  • Learners won’t feel like they’re creating their own learning path

  • If a learner feels “stuck” in a particular course, they may lose focus as they cannot move forward unless they complete it

Pattern 2 - The Culinary Journey

Diagram showing two courses available with a third waiting to be unlocked

The situation:

Some content needs to be learned in a specific order, but you also want learners to feel as though they are choosing their own path.

Make it happen:

  • PUBLISH only a select few “appetizer” Courses to start

  • SET UP a Trigger that will unlock some new Courses once the initial "appetizer" Courses are completed

  • SET UP another Trigger that unlocks additional new Courses once the second set of Courses has been completed

  • REPEAT Trigger creation for subsequent group Course unlocks as needed

The result:

As learners complete Course groups, new Courses are unlocked, leading learners on a journey (somewhat) of their own making.

Why use it?:

Pros:

  • Ensures learners know preliminary content before introducing them to other subjects

  • Grows their Course library faster

  • Gives learners a sense that they’re creating their own learning path

Cons:

  • Learners may play newly-unlocked Course in an order you don’t like

  • Learners may delay finishing select Courses

--- Pattern 2 Variant: Group Lunch ---

The situation:

Everyone needs to learn the same content at first but, once the preliminary materials are learned, each group is assigned their own sets of Courses. This gives everyone a sense of choosing their own path while keeping them within their group's designated learning materials.

Make it happen:

  • PUBLISH only a select few “appetizer” Courses to start

  • SET UP a Trigger for group1 that will unlock some new group1-specific Courses once the initial "appetizer" Courses are completed

  • SET UP a Trigger for group2 that will unlock some new group2-specific Courses once the initial "appetizer" Courses are completed

  • REPEAT for each group as needed

The result:

Once learners finish the first Course(s), the group(s) they’re in determines which new Courses are unlocked for them. Each group unlocks their own unique Course(s).

Why use it?:

Pros:

  • Ensures all learners know preliminary content before introducing them to other group-specific subjects

  • Grows their Course library faster

  • Gives learners a sense that they’re creating their own learning path

  • Keeps groups learning content that’s relevant to them

Cons:

  • Learners may play newly-unlocked Course in an order you don’t like

  • Learners may delay finishing select Courses

  • Harder to gauge learners’ progress against each other once they no longer share the same Course material (due to differing group content)

Pattern 3 - The Bread Basket

Diagram showing two courses available with all remaining content waiting to be unlocked

The situation:

You want learners to complete introductory Course(s) before they can access every other Course on your instance.

Make it happen:

  • PUBLISH introductory Course(s) to start

  • SET UP a Trigger that will unlock all remaining Courses once the introductory Courses are completed

The result:

When learners finish their first Course(s), every other Course becomes available.

Why use it?:

Pros:

  • Learners must complete their introductory Course(s) first

  • Learners are given the freedom to choose their own learning path

  • Should they feel “stuck” in one Course, learners can try a different Course without an issue

Cons:

  • Can feel overwhelming for learners if there’s a lot of Courses to choose from

  • After the introductory Course(s) are completed, there’s no way to control what order of Courses learners will follow

  • Learners may land in advanced materials before they’re ready

  • Learners may proactively skip “easier” Courses because they believe they don’t need it

Pattern 4 - The Buffet

Diagram showing all content immediately available

The situation:

You want learners to have access to everything right away so they can create their own learning path.

Make it happen:

  • PUBLISH all your Courses to all learners from the get-go!

The result:

Learners can fill up with whatever content they want in whatever order they wish, as often as they need!

Did this answer your question?