Program content

Updated on 29 Jan 2024
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Program structure

Programs are made up of multiple sets of courses, which form the learning path of the program. Once multiple sets have been created, set dividers are employed to allow the creation of sequences or dependencies between each set.

Once the learning path has been finished, the learner has completed the program.

An example program with four course sets defined could have dependencies as follows:

From set one the learner must complete one course (course A or course B) before proceeding to set two
From set two the learner must complete all courses (course C and course D and course E) before proceeding to set three or set four
From set three the learner must complete one course (course F) or all courses from set four (course G and course H)

A program with a single course set.

Program content types

Prior to Totara 18, program creators were able to add three types of content to programs:

A set of courses: A group of courses selected by the program creator.
Competency: Courses are added automatically if they are linked to a specific competency. This type was made redundant with the introduction of Totara Perform.
Recurring course: A single course which gets duplicated and must be recompleted at set intervals. This type was made redundant with the introduction of competencies.

Course sets are the most commonly used type of program content, while the other types are rarely used. Therefore competencies and recurring courses are not available when adding content to programs in Totara 18 by default. However, users who wish to continue working with these legacy types can revert to the legacy program UI by checking the Enable legacy program content setting via Quick-access menu > Configure features > Learn settings.

Upgrade path and backward-compatibility

If you have upgraded from an earlier version of Totara and had previously set up programs using competencies or recurring courses, these programs will use the legacy UI for editing. Otherwise, programs will use the new UI.

As a Site Administrator you can disable the new UI and return to the legacy UI by checking the Enable legacy program content setting via Quick-access menu > Configure features > Learn settings.

Set dividers

When adding multiple sets of courses to a program, conditional dividers or access rules can be added between sets. Choose from:

Or: Learners can either complete the learning in the first course set or the second course set. The learning of both course sets is available at the same time.
Then: Learners must complete the first course set before being given access to the second course set.
And: If both course sets need to be completed. Both course sets are available at the same time.

Set dividers are shown in a program summary page and the Current learning block.

If a learner has been previously marked as having completed the program and new courses are subsequently added, or the learning path is changed to a Then set divider, a learner will not need to go back and do these additional courses because they've already been marked complete for this program.

The set divider toggle between two course sets.

C004 - Programs -and certifications(1) The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using Programs and certifications in Totara Learn. Here you can learn more on how to use programs and certifications, see best practice, and give it a go yourself.

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What's Next

Add courses to a program

Table of contents

Program structure
Program content types
Set dividers