learningCloud (New Features): Certificates

What are Certificates?

The new version of learningCloud 5.24, released in January 2023, includes a new functionality that allows to certify the student's progress in the training, the Certificates. It is now possible to assign a Certificate template to a Training. Once the user successfully completes the training, he will be able to download his personalized certificate with his name, the subject of the course and the dates on which he completed it, from the Learner portal itself.

Besides, for the training management, new fields have been added in the Progress report that allow Administrators to know which users have downloaded the Certificate and when they did so.

In this first version of the tool only two basic types of templates are available, English and Spanish. But it is possible to add new ones, with customized designs for each training. To learn more, please contact your Learning Consultant or KAM.

How do I activate the Certificates functionality?

Certificates are introduced in learningCloud from version 5.24, released on January 11, 2023. However, this new functionality is not available by default in the instances. In order to activate it, you must first request it to your Learning Consultant or KAM. Once this has been confirmed, the new tool will be available to all administrators in the Learning Manager platform.

Assigning a Certificate to a Training

Each Certificate is directly associated to the Training of a Sprint. This means that each Training can have only one Certificate template, but a Sprint can have different Certificates, as many as the number of Trainings it has.

Once you have successfully activated the Certificates functionality for your instance, any user with administrator role can assign a Certificate to a new or previously created Training. Enter the Learning Manager portal and access the Learning section. Look in the list for the Sprint you want, click on it to access the Editor, and go to the second tab called Trainings.

If you want to create a new training, click on the + TRAINING button at the bottom and a new side menu is displayed to configure it.

Remember that in order to start creating trainings for a Sprint, it is necessary to publish it first.

At the top you will see a new option called Certificate. Clicking on it a drop-down menu shows all the templates available for the instance. In this first version of the tool there are only have two types of templates by default, Default [EN] for certificates in English, and Default [ES] for certificates in Spanish. Remember that to access new templates you can contact your Learning Consultant or KAM. Once the template is selected, set the other options and click on the √ SAVE button to create the new Training with the associated Certificate.

In case you are working with a Training that has already been created, you have to modify its configuration. In the same Trainings section within the Editor, look for it in the list of existing trainings, click on the three dots menu on the right and select the Edit option.

The same side menu is displayed where you will find the option to assign a Certificate, and click once again on √ SAVE.

Certificates are retroactive, they take into account trainings already completed. Which means, if a user completes a Training, and afterwards the Administrator assigns a certificate to that same Training, the user can return at any time to the Learner Portal to download his own Certificate. It is not necessary to summon him again or to complete the training again to access the Certificate.

Access to the Certificate as a student

Once you have associated the Certificate to the Training, and the students have successfully completed the course, they can download their accreditation certificate at any time through the Learner Portal. To do so, click on the Profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

The profile side menu is displayed, with different sections and tools.

Click on the first section called Learning Records, which leads to a new section where the learner can check the list of trainings he took part in, and his progress.

The second tab is the Certificates one, where a record is kept of all the credentials that the student has achieved throughout his training. In each entry displays the title of the Sprint, the date it was completed, and the ↓ DOWNLOAD button on the right side. Clicking on it, the system generates a new PDF file, from the template you have chosen, which is downloaded to your computer. The default template includes the following data:

• Student's name
• Sprint Title
• Date range of course completion
• Number of hours spent
• Date certificate was requested
• List of Sprint activities

Please note that in order to view this file, a PDF reader must be installed on your system.

Certificates in Progress Report

Returning to the training management, as Administrator you can check at any time if a student has downloaded the certificate for your training and when exactly he has done so. This can be relevant information for certain training courses.

To know this you need to generate a Progress Report. A new section has been added to this downloadable CSV file that includes all the data about the training (users, progress, dates). This section records the certificate download date. Remember that to generate a new Progress Report you have to enter the Training and:

1. Select the Students tab at the top of the screen.
2. Look for the Summary progress section in the menu on the left.
3. Click on the drop-down menu REPORTS on the right side, where you can find the option Progress report.

A new pop-up window appears warning you that the report "It is being generated, you can see it from the history of reports". Which means that the system has received your request and is generating the report, the time required will depend on the volume of the training and the number of students summoned.

Then return to the main page of the Learning Manager portal, and click on the Reports tab at the top. Entering the History Reports section of the left menu, you will see a list of all the reports generated by the system, ready to download, starting with the most recent one. If the one you have requested is already in the list, click on the DOWNLOAD REPORT button to download a CSV file with all the data of the training to your computer. In the list of fields, look for Certificate Download Date, which will give you the data.

REMEMBER, due to the volume of data and queries received from the different instances, it is necessary for the platform to update its reports on a daily basis. Which means, the reports you check do not show the results updated at the moment, but in the previous 24 hours. The cut-off time at which the process of updating the reports starts is 00:00 UTC (London time).

To learn more about this process you can check the article that explains it in detail.