We are designing paths to replace and expand programs. This takes time since programs have been a cornerstone of the learners’ experience; until then, both have characteristics that can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on your needs. Note that program-specific features will gradually be integrated into paths in 2023
For more information on the gradual move to paths, please visit our Programs to paths migration article.
In this article, we’ll cover the major use cases for which you should use one or the other.
Both programs and paths use courses as basic building blocks. If you need to write about a single topic that isn’t mandatory, you may want to create a standalone course instead, and share it to the Catalog.
For most use-cases
In particular, paths offer the following advantages:
- They can be linear or non-linear
- They can have optional steps
- They can display correct answers before or at the end of the course
- They can display the forum & reactions before or at the end of the course
- They can include courses with a time limit (min or max)
- They can include courses with the minimum score learners must achieve to successfully complete the course
- They can include courses, programs, other paths, and classrooms
- They can be edited by multiple users (whereas program templates can only be edited by their author and platform administrators)
- They can be edited after a session has started
- They can send automated emails
- Thay can have requirements
If you need to manipulate sessions through API
This functionality will be added to paths in the near-future, in the meantime:
We’re gradually adding more routes to Paths Use Cases, but it’s not as exhaustive as the Programs ones currently.
If you need to synchronize with Cornerstone OnDemand
We’re working on including paths to the list of exportable 360Learning objects in Cornerstone OnDemand. See Synchronize users, program sessions and statistics with Cornerstone for more information.