We generally see a desire for learners to be able to register external training in Bridge in two ways: professional development that can be unique to every learner (i.e. continuing education for a specific job role) or coursework that is more universally taken by learners (i.e. first aid training).

As a matter of organization, we recommend putting these checkpoints into a category. In our example, we are using “External Training” as the category, which will show up on the users’ learning page.

Here is Stephanie Learner’s view who has Skills enabled in her account:

This same title will show up in the Learning Library with a display of all of the content in that category title.

We have two checkpoints affiliated with this category.

The category can be set up in Admin > Learning > Manage Categories. You will click on “+ Group” and choose the group that you’d like to have Learning Library visibility to the category content. In our example, we have exposed the category to All Learners.

To brand the category with a cover image, click on the media icon in the top right corner of the page.

Now, let’s build some checkpoints!

Professional Development That Can Be Unique to Every Learner

If your learners are going to external trainings that you’d like for them to showcase on their individual transcripts and receive acknowledgment by their managers, you can put a general “Professional Development” checkpoint into the Learning Library.

We have set the category within the checkpoint. We have also set that it requires evidence and manager approval, which means the manager will get a notification upon submission.

Sidenote. Checkpoints cannot currently be set up for re-enrollment. If your employees frequently attend external trainings, you will need to leverage some sort of nomenclature or numbering system with the checkpoint options since a learner can only take them one time.

Once selected, you will go in to set the learner relevance.

There are three options: required, recommended, and available in Library (this is an identical setup to other learnables like courses and Programs).

We are going to set relevance for available in the Learning Library, which means that learners will be able to self-enroll in the checkpoint.

If evidence is required, the learner will upload a certificate (or other confirmation) directly to the checkpoint and request approval, and the manager will receive a notification.

If the uploaded material is not valid proof, the manager has the ability to deny the upload, which will redirect the checkpoint back to the learner.

The learner will receive a notification to retry.

They will also see the manager's feedback within the checkpoint itself.

The checkpoint will only show complete in Analytics through the final approval.

Coursework That is More Universally Taken by Learners

For a third-party training, you can put the checkpoint as the specific training title. In this example, we’ll use “First Aid - One Year” that could be taken by any learner.

We set the required approval to the “Managers: ALL” smart group, which means that any member of the group will be able to approve the completion.

Sidenote. Group approvals do not have a notification. They are found under “My Approvals” in the Learning Library navigation.

Checkpoint can also be used to initiate actions with other team members, specifically managers.

Request 1:1 with Manager

Housing a checkpoint in the Learning Library for employees to ask their managers for one-one-one conversations can increase opportunities for engagement. You can add a due date to ensure that this is timeboxed. You will want to set approval to the manager.

The employee can enter a note (without evidence) to request the meeting.

The manager will receive this notification.

The manager can approve the meeting while simultaneously sending a calendar invite to their direct report to set the meeting.

Checkpoints appear on a learner’s transcript. The three examples here have all been completed by Stephanie Learner.

Checkpoints where the learner self-enrolls from the Learning Library will appear in the “added by you” section for the learner.

Anything in this section will not be part of the weekly digest emails to learners and managers (if you have them enabled). Those summary emails contain only required trainings that are overdue or due within seven days.

Once the checkpoints are completed, they will behave like all other learnables and go to the “completed” section on the My Learning page.

Admins can see all learners in the checkpoint and their approvers through the author navigation.

We have an additional article here on viewing checkpoint details.

Please reach out to support@bridgeapp.com if you have any questions!