We're pleased to announce several enhancements to the Academy training programs and tools, which will take effect in early 2017. These enhancements are related to planned updates to our learning portal design and training delivery that will further improve functionality and navigation in the portal. These changes also serve to streamline our accreditation paths as well as the enrollment and delivery processes. We've taken customer feedback into consideration for certain changes listed below and believe this approach reflects how many of today's marketing professionals want to learn and interact with education programs and systems.
Academy 2017 Updates
Organizational Update: As of October 2016, the Academy has joined with Oracle University (OU) and will be integrating certain aspects of our operation with OU in the coming months. Any future changes related to customer training will be announced on our Topliners group page and in the learning portal. The updates listed below represent changes to the portal, accreditation news and process improvements.
1) Multi-Day Course Delivery Expanded for ILT Courses
B2B Master ILTs Presented Over Three Consecutive Days
Since August 2016, the B2B Master ILT course requirements have been delivered via two separate series -- the B2B: Fundamentals Series and the B2B: RPM Series. Beginning in January 2017, these two series will be scheduled over a three-day period, which will cover all the ILT education necessary for the B2B Master accreditation. Students should still enroll for each individual series in the learning portal, but have the flexibility to enroll for one or both, as needed.
The B2B: RPM Series will be updated to a 1-day course that incorporates the current web-based education. See additional details here. Web-based training (WBT) required for the B2B: Fundamentals Series will continue to be required and is available for viewing in the learning portal.
B2B Luminary Tenet ILTs Presented in Multi-Day Courses
Effective with our January 2017 training schedule, many ILT courses within the B2B Luminary tenet categories will be presented in multi-day sessions that cover all the ILT requirements for the specific specialty tenet. For example, the B2B: Engagement (ILT) tenet courses will be presented in a two-day session that can be registered for in the learning portal. The portal training schedule for January will reflect these multi-day sessions and will be available for viewing and registration by mid- to late-November. Web-based training (WBT) requirements will continue to be available for viewing in the learning portal.
By taking a multi-day tenet course, a student will receive credit for all the training topics within that tenet category (after submitting the evaluation survey). This means a student will register for just one course, i.e. the B2B: Engagement (two-day) offering, and this offering will include education in all categories (previously individual ILT courses) within that tenet. For the B2B: Engagement tenet, that includes the following (note: these are 2016 requirements):
- B2B: Social Suite Applications
- B2B: Personalizing Campaigns
- B2B: Basic Event Management
- B2B: Events in the Cloud
- Best Practices: Writing a Great Blog Post (WBT) (Student required to take this web-based course in the learning portal)
The available multi-day courses will be presented in the January 2017 schedule and the courses included can be reviewed here. Course topics not in the current list may be transitioned to multi-day offerings over time. Please refer to the Training Schedule in the learning portal for all scheduled courses.
2) New Learning Portal Interface Coming in 2017
A newly re-designed learning portal, including updated home page, training detail pages and product pages will become live in early 2017. This new interface will feature a simpler view of assigned training and required courses for Academy accreditations. In mid- to late-November, current customers will have the opportunity to view a beta version of the new interface when they log in to the learning portal for a preview of the new design and functionality.
After reviewing the sample portal design, students are encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions to our Help Desk at marketingcloud-academy_ww@oracle.com.
3) Earn New Academy Accreditations in 2017!
With newly released course content and defined accreditation paths, two new accreditations will be available for 2017. Accreditation programs for the DMP Master (Data Management Platform) and OCM Master (Content Marketing) titles will be ready in early 2017 and course requirements will be announced before the end of 2016. These accreditations will follow the basic structure of our other Master accreditation programs -- the titles will require completion of defined courses and passing of a single Master exam. After earning a Master title, a student will receive a completion certificate and a badge on Topliners.
Watch for more information about these new accreditations in the coming months.
4) Coming Soon! 2017 B2B Luminary Bridge Requirements
Each year, the B2B Luminary title features 'bridge' courses that must be completed for title renewal or by students continuing to pursue the accreditation from the prior year. For reference, you can view the 2016 requirements and bridge courses here: Requirements for the B2B Luminary Accreditation.
The bridge courses for 2017 will include both instructor-led (ILT) and web-based (WBT) training courses. The new requirements will be announced on Topliners in December and scheduling of these courses will be posted in the learning portal in early 2017.
Be sure to watch for additional details on each of these planned updates in the coming months. The Academy Help Desk is here to assist and answer your questions about these changes or about your training account.