Introduction
In many cases, multilingual organizations have mandatory training that employees across the organization will need to take. As a result, there's a requirement to deliver this training in multiple languages to ensure full engagement across the organization.
One approach that can be implemented in Learn365 enables you to create a multilingual course that contains the same information in various languages. This course consists of a set of learning modules presented in each of the relevant languages. The main benefit of this approach compared to other approaches is that admins can enroll all learners in a single course. This allows for a centralized approach to learner management and progress tracking. Additionally, learners can select the language in which the course will be presented, directly from the course.
In this article, we describe how to create and manage this type of multilingual course, and how to report on it.
Create multilingual courses
In this section, you'll find information specifically about creating a multilingual course.
In the following flow, we create a multilingual course that supports the English and Spanish languages.
Creating a multilingual course follows the standard course creation flow but you need to pay special attention to the following sections.
Name
When giving a name to a multilingual course in the Name field of the Basic Details section, you can:
- Enter the name in multiple languages, with the names separated by a forward slash. Enter up to 128 characters.
- If you don't have sufficient space in the Name field to enter the course name in all the relevant languages, you can enter the course name in the organization's international language (for example, in English). You can help learners find the relevant training by tagging the course in multiple languages, adding categories for multiple languages, entering the course description in multiple languages, and naming each learning module in the relevant language.
Long course names will be displayed over two lines on the course home page, and in multiple lines on the course catalog page.
Short and Long Description
In the Short and Long Description fields, as well as entering the course description, you can enter instructions on how learners select the learning module in their preferred language.
Categories
To help learners find the course in their preferred language, you can add language categories to a course.
Clear categorization helps ensure custom Learn365 course catalog pages only display relevant courses and training plans. It also proves helpful when managing multilingual courses in the course catalog. For more information, see this article on creating, editing, and managing categories.
There are several approaches you can follow to create and apply categories to multilingual courses:
- Create a category for each language your course is available in, then apply all these categories to the course.
Learners can find their preferred language in the Categories section on the course home page. When learners select the category related to their preferred language, the filtered results only show courses and training plans that are available in that language. - Create multilingual categories by entering the category name in multiple languages, with each language variant separated by a slash. This enables learners to filter by category to quickly identify courses that are available in multiple languages.
Note that category names are limited to 256 characters.
- Create a category for each language, with relevant subcategories for the subject of the course placed within this category. Adding a category for the language and a subcategory for the subject of the course associates the course with the related language as well as the subject that the learner is searching for.
Learners will see the course catalog categories listed on the course catalog page, where they can sort the available training by categories to find the training subject they're interested in, presented in the language of their choice.
EXAMPLE
You provide bilingual courses in English and Spanish, on the subjects of cybersecurity and management. You create two categories, with the parent levels named "English" and "Español".
You add "Cybersecurity" and "Management" as subcategories to the related languages. The cybersecurity training will then have the categories and subcategories "English/Cybersecurity and Español/Seguridad cibernética", and the management training will have the categories and subcategories "English/Management and Español/Administración".
Note that subcategories can only be created at the course catalog level.
Tags
Adding tags to a course or training plan helps learners find relevant courses and training plans on the course catalog page using the Search field. Unlike categories, however, tags aren't visible to learners.
There are several approaches you can follow to create and apply tags to multilingual courses:
- Add a language tag for each language the course is presented in, for example, "English" for the English language.
- Create multilingual tags by making all relevant languages part of the tag, with each language variant separated by a slash.
For more information on creating and managing tags, see this article.
When learners enter all or part of a tag in the Search field, the search results show all courses and training plans with this tag.
EXAMPLE
In the following image, a learner has entered part of a tag in Spanish. The search results show the three courses that have this tag.
Learning modules
To enable learners to complete a course in their preferred language, you need to create a separate learning module for each relevant language in the course. Learning modules are created in the Content section of the course configuration panel.
Providing the name of each learning module in the language of their content enables learners to quickly identify the learning module they need to take to complete the course. For more information on how learners complete a multilingual course, see this article.
EXAMPLE
The course in the following image consists of two learning modules—one in English and one in Spanish. From the course home page, learners can select the learning module in their preferred language.
Quiz
Quizzes can be added to multilingual courses in the following ways:
-
Create quizzes create quizzes in each language you support, then add these quizzes to the relevant language variant of the learning module.
- While creating or editing a learning module, use Microsoft Forms to add a form with questions created using the Microsoft Forms tool. This form can be set in multiple languages. In Microsoft Forms, you can also create a quiz. In this case, learners need to adjust the language of the Microsoft Forms user interface. Using Microsoft Forms to create quizzes might be particularly helpful if you plan to use this quiz in multiple course catalogs.
IMPORTANT
- Using Microsoft Forms, you can track the answer details and view learner responses only within the Microsoft Forms tool.
- Microsoft Forms may have limitations on the number of languages that can be used in a single form.
Training Audience Targeting
You may choose to target courses in a certain language to people who are expected to prefer this language. For example, you can ensure that only people that are members of a Microsoft Entra (Azure Active Directory) group for Spanish-speaking people, will see courses in Spanish in the course catalog and be able to access them from there.
Regional settings
When creating a multilingual course, pay close attention to the Locale settings in the Basic Details section of the Course configuration panel. The Locale settings determine the format of numbers, dates, time, and the language that the training uses in notifications and certificates. Therefore, in the Locale settings, you need to set the preferred Locale for your multilingual course.
If all the courses in your course catalog are multilingual, you may choose to customize notifications.
IMPORTANT
If you customize notifications, these customizations are applied on the course catalog level.
An example of the customized bilingual Enrollment Confirmation notification.
Completion sets
NOTE
Course Completion Settings are only available after the course is created.
To complete a multilingual course, learners only need to complete the learning module that's presented in their preferred language.
Therefore, to have the course marked as Completed when learners have completed all the learning items of the learning module in their preferred language, you need to create separate course completion sets for each learning module in the course.
EXAMPLE
In the following image, there are two Completion Sets for a multilingual course. One for the English learning module and one for the Spanish. If a learner completes one of these learning modules, they'll complete the course.
NOTE
By default, each learning item added to a course will be added to the default course completion set. Each time you add a new learning item to a learning module in a multilingual course, make sure you add the learning item to the relevant completion set.
For more information on creating and managing course completion sets, see this article.
Tracking and reporting of multilingual courses
Learn365 enables tracking and reporting in a number of ways.
When tracking learners' progress on courses that have multiple completions sets, remember that each learner is only required to complete a particular set of learning items in a course. In this section, you'll find information specifically about tracking and reporting on multilingual courses that have multiple completion sets.
The optimal way of tracking progress, where a course has multiple course completion sets and all learners are enrolled in it, is via the Course Progress panel.
View learner's progress from the Users page
When viewing the progress of a learner who is enrolled in a multilingual course that has multiple completion sets via the Users page, pay close attention to the following items on the Learner's Progress panel:
- By expanding the course title, you see all the learning modules in the course, as well as all the learning items in them. However, the learner only needs to complete one specific learning module. Therefore, the learning items that are marked as required to complete will differ for each learner, depending on the learning module they select to complete.
- If the learner is enrolled in the course but hasn't started it yet, that is to say, they haven't selected the learning module to complete, all items from the Course Default Completion Set will be marked as required to complete.
- If the learner has started the course, that is to say, they have already selected the learning module in their preferred language, the learning items of the selected learning module will be marked as required to complete.
- If you delete the learner's progress for the learning module they've selected, the items in the Course Default Completion Set will again be marked as required to complete.
Progress on a specific course
The optimal way of tracking progress for a multilingual course that has multiple course completion sets, is via the Learn365 Admin Center > Training Management > select the relevant course > from the Course Management panel, select Course Progress.
The Course Progress panel presents the information in the same way as for other courses.
Specific information on the Course Management panel for courses that have multiple completion sets:
- By expanding the learner's name, you see all learning modules of the course, as well as all the learning items in them. However, the learner only needs to complete one specific learning module. Therefore, the learning items that are marked as required to complete will differ for each learner, depending on the learning module they select to complete.
- If the learner is enrolled in the course but hasn't started it yet, that is to say, they haven't selected the learning module to complete, all items from the Course Default Completion Set will be marked as required to complete.
- If the learner has started the course, that is to say, they have already selected the learning module in their preferred language, the learning items of the selected learning module will be marked as required to complete.
- If you delete the learner's progress for the learning module they've selected, the items in the Course Default Completion Set will again be marked as required to complete.
EXAMPLE
In the following image, two learners are enrolled in a multilingual course where learning modules are available in both English and Spanish. The default completion set is in English. Diego Siciliani has already completed the learning module in Spanish. Therefore, the learning items from this module are marked as required to complete for Diego. All other items in Diego's progress will remain as Not Started.
Erin Temple is enrolled in the course but hasn't started it yet, so all the learning items have a status of Not Started. Until the learner selects a learning module, the learning items from the default completion set in English are marked as required to complete. If the learner selects the learning module in Spanish, the star icons will indicate the learning items of the Spanish learning module as required to complete, as is the case for Diego Siciliani. If Erin selects to complete the course in English, the default completion set learning items will remain marked as required to complete.
Course reports on content packages, learning modules, and quizzes
To gain a deeper insight into the progress of specific learning items, you can generate a report that provides data on the engagement with content packages, learning modules, and quizzes in a course.
From the Learn365 Admin Center > Training Management > Select a course > on the Course Management panel, select Course Reports.
The downloaded report will display information in the language of your browser, if this language is supported by Learn365. Otherwise, it'll be displayed in English (United States).
Specific information for multilingual courses that have multiple completion sets and learning modules:
Content Package - Learner report
The number of content packages displayed for each learner represents all the content packages in the course, not just in the selected learning module. Therefore, the total Completion Status percentage is calculated as an average of all the content packages in the course. The learner will always have less than 100% of the completion status, even after completing all the course content packages included in the learning module that they're enrolled in.
EXAMPLE
Adele Vance has completed the course by completing the learning module in English. Even though the content package in English (with the Completed status) is part of the English language learning module that she selected, the Completion Status percentage is 50% because this is the average of all the content packages in the course.
Content Package - Content Package report
The report on each content package includes data from all learners who are enrolled in the course. Therefore, you'll see the progress status of each content package for all learners who are taking this content package as part of the selected learning module. The other learners will always have the Not Started status because they aren't required to complete this content package.
EXAMPLE
In the following image, the content package in the English language is taken by Adele Vance and Lee Gu. Their status for the Spanish content package will remain as Not Started. However, the Spanish content package is taken by Lidia Holloway.
Learning Module - Learner Report
The number of learning modules displayed for each learner represents all the learning modules in the course, not just the learning module that the learner selected to complete. Therefore, the percentage value in the Passed column is calculated as an average of all the learning modules in the course. The learner will always have less than 100%.
EXAMPLE
In a course with two learning modules (English and Spanish), Adele Vance has completed the course by completing the learning module in English, and Lidia Holloway has completed the course by completing the learning module in Spanish. They both have 50% in the Passed column because this is an average calculation of the two learning modules in the course, even though they both completed the course and the required learning module.
Learning Module - Learning Module report
This report shows the following:
- In the Number of Learners column, you can see the total number of learners enrolled in the course.
- The total Average Time for each learning module is calculated based on the total number of learners enrolled in the course, not the total number of learners who selected to complete this particular learning module.
Quiz – Learner report
In this report, the information about each learner reflects all the quizzes in the course. Therefore, the overall progress on quizzes for each learner is based on an average calculation of all the quizzes in the course, not just the quiz in the required learning module.
In the Passed column, the percentage will always display less than 100%. Check an individual quiz to see the learner's progress on it.
EXAMPLE
In the following image, the learner has completed the content and the required quiz in the learning module in English. The quiz is marked in the Passed column as Yes but the total percentage in the Passed column is less than 100%.
Quiz - Quiz report
The report on each quiz includes data on all learners who are enrolled in the course. Therefore, the progress status of a quiz will show for learners who have started this quiz as part of the learning module they've selected. The other learners will always have the Not Started status for this quiz because they aren't required to complete it.
The quiz Average Time calculation is based on the average time of all the learners enrolled in the course, not just those who take this particular quiz.
EXAMPLE
In the following image, only two learners have the statuses Completed and Failed for the quiz in English. However, the Average Time calculation for the quiz includes the learner who has the Not Started status.
Progress with learning items in a course
To get an overview of the progress of learning items in a course, and an individual learner's progress with a learning item in this course, navigate to the Learn365 Admin Center > Training Management > select the relevant course > Manage Course Content.
Specific information for multilingual courses that have multiple completion sets:
- General progress on learning items in a course
For courses with multiple learning modules, the progress of learning items includes the progress of all the learners who are enrolled in the course, not just the learners who selected this particular language variant of the learning module.
Therefore, each learning item will always include the Not Started status in the calculation after all learners have completed the course.
EXAMPLE
In the following image, all learners enrolled in the course have completed the selected learning modules and completed the course. 50% of the learners have completed the Spanish learning module and the other 50% have completed the English learning module. Therefore, all the learning items are marked as 50% completed.
- Learners' progress on the learning items
When selecting to View Learner's Progress/Details for each learning item, you see all learners enrolled in the course. Therefore, you can track the progress of learners who have started an item. The other learners will always have the Not Started status.
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