PDF Estimated Time To Read This: 3 – 5 minutes
Over the last few months we have been approached, by a number of users, as to how to best utilize PD Place to address the following typical scenario:
“We would like to offer a program with a certificate of completion at the end. The program will be made up of twelve (12) courses which the user must complete 6 of the 12. Three of these are mandatory. ”
There a number of ways you can set this up in PD Place. The choice of which method to use basically comes down to the level of reporting and tracking you wish to have for both you and the participants and whether the program will be recurrent or a one time process.
The following are some suggestions on how to implement the above:
a) NTIP and Special Event ID
The simplest way is via the use of the “NTIP” checkbox field that appears on the course detail screen. For each of the courses associated with the NTIP program (12 courses), you would enable the NTIP box. You would then add in-services for each of these courses and your users would register in the normal process.
On the report menu there is an “NTIP Enrollment” report which will give you a list of everyone enrolled in each of these courses.
This report does not provide a consolidated list of what each individual has registered for, however, this can be overcome by also using the “Special Event ID” field in the in-service detail screen. Entry of a common code, like “Spc Program A” for each of these classes will allow you to also use the report call “Email Attendee List” which will give a consolidated list of attendees in “csv” attachment that can manipulate as required.
This option provides tools without having to enable the Learning Program and/or Qualifications.
Each registrant however does not have access to a consolidated list of the in-services they have registered for or completed relative to the program you have created. They can however see their individual registrations via the registration screen.
b) Learning Programs
The Learning Program feature was actually implemented to handle similar scenarios. It, however, expects that everyone has to attend all the courses you specify as part of the program. You could still use this module, the only difference would be that staff would need to complete a specified % of the courses offered in the learning program rather than 100%.
To set this up, you again indicate the courses (not in-services) associated with the learning program and if the user registers for an in-service associated with any of these courses they are credited for that. You can see on the Learning Plan screens their progress as a percentage. You can also indicate a time frame for completion. No email reminders go out to the user, but the program manager can review the screen and email individuals.
The individual registrants can also track their own process from the Learning Program link provided when they click on the main In-Service tab.
c) Qualifications
The last option would be to use the Qualifications module. This will track the hours or credits earned by taking the respective courses. You would set up a new qualification with a required number of hours or credits to be completed. Each course related to the program would be flagged as contributing to the qualification, so that when a registrant signs up for an associated in-service they will be credited the number of hours or credits for each course. Special screens allow you to track the progress of everyone who has been assigned to this qualification.
This module would handle the choice of 6 of the 12 course the best, but would also try to repeat the requirement at the end of the time allocated, so is best suited for a recurrent type program.
The individual registrants can also track their own process from the “View My Qualifications” link provided on “My Page“.
As you can see they are many ways to accomplish the original scenario. Details of the Learning Programs can be found in the Learning Program Administrator manuals and Qualifications in the Supervisor Manual provided with PD Place.
