A Learning Path is a pre-built collection of courses and projects built around a specific tool or skill area (i.e. Power BI Specialist or Data Visualization Expert). It belongs to the platform.
A Learning Plan is personal: a list of content you've chosen to work through, in whatever order fits your situation.
The two terms get mixed up constantly. Understandable, since they're related. But they work differently.
How they connect
A Learning Plan can start from a Learning Path. When you add a path to your plan, it becomes the foundation, and from that point it's fully yours to edit. Add courses, remove content, reorder items, set deadlines on individual pieces.
But a Learning Plan doesn't have to come from a path at all. You can build one by picking courses and projects directly from the library, or by taking a short survey that recommends content based on your goals.
And, you're not required to have a plan. Courses are available to browse and take freely without one.
Tip: If you're already part-way through a Learning Path, you can add it to your Learning Plan without losing your progress. Once it's in your plan, trim or reorder the content to match what you actually need right now.
What you see on each page
Both features are accessible from the left-hand navigation menu in your student dashboard.
Learning Paths shows all available pre-built collections as cards. Each card displays a description, estimated hours, number of courses and projects, and your current progress. You can view details for any path or pick up where you left off.
My Learning Plan shows your full curriculum in one view:
All courses and projects in your plan
Progress per item
Any deadlines you've set
A plan-level summary: total courses, total projects, and your overall completion percentage
A Continue learning shortcut back into your next item
From this page you can add or remove content, reorder items, and set or edit deadlines.
Important: completing individual courses and curated learning paths unlocks digital credentials and badges. However a credential cannot be issued for a custom-built learning plan.
You will still receive credentials for all the courses you complete as a part of a custom-built learning plan.
If you'd rather not use a plan
Self-Paced Courses in the left-hand navigation gives you direct access to the full course library. This works fine for browsing or filtering, but you won't get plan-level progress tracking or the content management tools the Learning Plan provides.
Not finding what you need? Reach out or send us a chat -- we'd be happy to help!