This article defines the terms for the basic kinds of content in Cloud Academy and explains how to use each one. The content in this article applies to personal and enterprise accounts.

This article contains the following sections:

Cloud Academy Library

The Cloud Academy library is where you go to start your training. You can get to the library from the dashboard by clicking Training Library from the toolbar at the top, or you can just go directly to https://cloudacademy.com/library/.

On the left side of the training library you see a list of categories. Once you click a category you're interested in, you see the different types of content.

Leaning Paths

Learning Paths are collections of courses, quizzes, exams, and hands-on labs on a related topic. When you access the Cloud Academy Library, you can tell which items are learning paths because they say LEARNING PATH in the upper-left corner.

When you click a learning path from the library, a screen appears where you can read about the contents and decide whether you want to start it.

You can find more detailed information about learning paths in the Learning Paths article. Cloud Academy offers learning paths of related content to give you a cohesive experience when learning about a topic, but you can also find the component parts of the learning path in the library if you want to view them individually.

If you are an enterprise client, you can use Content Engine to create custom learning paths with components you create yourself or with components from the Cloud Academy library.

Courses

A course is a demo or tutorial about a technology topic. You might access a course as part of a learning path, or you can find courses individually in the library. When you access the Cloud Academy Library, you can tell which items are courses because they say COURSE in the upper-left corner.

When you click a course, a screen appears with the course content.

Tip: Check out Video Player Controls for a tour the of tools available while you watch a video.

Hands-on Labs

Labs give you the chance to use the product you're learning about directly. Cloud Academy offers different kinds of labs, including

Hands-on Labs where you follow steps offered by the lab.
Lab Challenges where you solve a problem presented by the lab to demonstrate your ability.
Playground Labs where you can explore the product you're learning about.

See the Labs document for detailed information and links about each kind of lab.

Quizzes and Exams

A quiz is a short check-in during a learning path while an exam is a test whose results appear on your skill profile. Read more details about quizzes and exams in this article.

Assessments and Training Plans

Enterprise users also have access to two additional kinds of content:

Assessments help the enterprise establish the baseline knowledge of individuals or teams. The administrators or team managers can use this information to choose which Training Plans to assign.
Training Plans are collections of Learning Paths that administrators or team managers can assign to teams to complete. The Training Plan tool helps schedule the training and keep tabs on progress.