Training is increasingly evolving from individual events into complex processes. How can HR developers structure these learning processes for themselves and the learners? Quite simply: with a learning path! Here you'll learn what exactly a learning path is and how to create digital learning paths for the participants in your online courses.
From "learning event" to "learning process"
Continuing education in companies is evolving rapidly: learning methods are becoming more digital and more diverse. Learning itself is increasingly self-directed and, in one way or another, interactive. The classic ”training day” is increasingly turning into “self-study” over a longer period of time. In short: From a learning event, a learning process is increasingly emerging.
This creates a new challenge for HR developers: How can you structure this learning process and guide your employees through it? The solution to this question is the learning path.
What is a learning path?
In brief: A learning path is the learning journey of your employees or the participants in your digital training courses through the entire learning process.
The learning path describes the individual stages a learner goes through until they reach the learning goal. There are different phases: from preparation for the training measure to long-term transfer into everyday working life. The focus is on the employee or course participant who will later go through the learning process.
The learning path describes the journey of employees through all stages of the learning process
Creating your own learning path
A learning path helps you keep the learning process in view at all times. Your employees also know exactly how it will proceed from the start, know the necessary steps, and know what they are supposed to learn and why.
To create such a learning path, you need to clarify two questions in advance:
1. Who is your target group?
When you design a learning path, the learner is at the center. You build the sequence, the necessary content, and the methods used around the learner. To do this, you need a good understanding of who your target group actually is: a Learner Persona. On the Shiftlearning blog, you'll find a short but very helpful guide to developing learner personas.
2. What is the learning objective?
For every learning path, you should define a specific goal that is also communicated to the learners. You can define this goal using three questions:
What do my employees need to learn?
What knowledge do they already have?
What knowledge do I still need to teach them?
An example: (1) The employees of your sales team should learn how to explain a new product to customers. (2) They basically know how the product works, but they are not familiar with all the technical features. (3) What they need is detailed knowledge about the product's features.
The three phases of a learning path
With a target group and the learning objectives, you can now start planning your employees' learning path. Each learner's journey fundamentally has three phases, which can include several steps: preparation, learning phase, and transfer phase. Of course, you can also add further phases individually to your own learner's journey.
1. Preparation phase: The first stage in the learning path includes all steps from the point at which your employee learns that they are supposed to learn something, up to the point at which the actual learning process begins.
Possible steps:
Your employees are informed about the upcoming training, the process, and the goals, for example via email or in person by a manager.
You prepare your employees emotionally for the learning path, for example with a video from the trainer explaining why the training is important.
You assess your employees' current level of learning, for example with a short online questionnaire.
2. Learning phase: The second phase includes all steps in the learning path from the first actual learning content to the last. How this phase unfolds varies from topic to topic or from learner to learner.
Possible steps:
Decide which contents in the learning phase should be taught.
Select the methods that best fit the content. Should there be an in-person event or an online training? Should different digital learning methods be combined? Tip: Get an overview of the most common digital learning methods!
If you want to offer blended learning, define the sequence of in-person and online phases. Choose one of the blended learning models for this:
The 3 phases of a learning path
With a target group and the learning objectives, you can now start planning your employees' learning path. Each learning path fundamentally consists of three phases, each of which can include several steps: preparation, learning phase, and transfer phase. Of course, you can also add further phases individually to your own learning path.
1. The preparation phase
The first stage in the learning path includes all steps from the point at which your employees learn that they are supposed to learn something, up to the point at which the actual learning process begins.
Possible steps:
Your employees are informed about the upcoming training, the process, and the goals, for example via email or in person by a manager.
You prepare your employees emotionally for the learning path, for example with a video from the trainer explaining why the training is important.
You assess your employees' current level of learning, for example with a short online questionnaire.
2. The learning phase
The second phase includes all steps in the learning path from the first learning content to the last. How this phase unfolds varies from topic to topic or from learner to learner.
Possible steps:
Decide which contents in the learning phase should be taught.
Select the methods that best fit the content. Should there be an in-person event or an online training? Should different digital learning methods be combined? Tip: Get an overview of the most common digital learning methods!
If you want to offer blended learning, define the sequence of in-person and online phases.
3. The transfer phase
The third phase includes all steps from the end of actual learning to long-term application in everyday working life.
Possible steps:
Think about how your employees should apply the new knowledge concretely in everyday life.
Create transfer tasks that help transfer the new knowledge into your employees' everyday work.
Develop ways to check learning progress, for example knowledge tests or a final exam.
Arrange these three phases and the steps that are important to you in a logical sequence, or combine them to suit your employees - and you'll have your finished learning path!
2 learning path examples
If you are unsure what your finished learning path can look like, we have two examples for you here:
Example 1: Sequence
In this example, you can see that even a simple representation is enough to capture the process. This learning path shows the process for a training course based on the blended learning concept with alternating in-person and online phases, as well as longer transfer support.
Learning path for blended learning
Example 2: Timeline
This learning path from Business Performance Academy is not clearly divided into phases. Instead, the representation shows the timeline over 200 days. The learning and transfer phases are not separated, but planned alternately.
Learning path of the Business Performance Academy
Both learning paths shown follow the blended learning principle by combining in-person events with online courses.
Conclusion
💡 A well-designed digital learning path combines clear learning objectives, structured phases, and targeted transfer measures into a sustainable learning process that has an impact beyond individual training days.
Modern training is no longer an isolated event, but an ongoing process. Those who plan learning paths consciously create orientation for employees and ensure that content is not only consumed but applied.
The key is a clear structure: preparation, learning phase, and transfer phase interlock and together form the framework for sustainable skills development.
If you know your target group well, define concrete learning objectives, and actively support the transfer into everyday working life, a training course becomes a real development process. This way, you don't just guide learners through a course, you actually help them reach the goal.
We hope this article has provided you with some useful information, and we wish you every success in creating your learning paths!
Frequently asked questions and answers
What is a digital learning path in continuing education?
A digital learning path describes the individual steps participants go through from the start of a training course to the application of what they have learned in everyday working life. It structures the entire learning process and provides orientation for learners and those responsible.
Why have learning paths become more important than individual training days?
Modern continuing education increasingly consists of longer digital or hybrid learning processes rather than one-off in-person events. Learning paths help structure these processes sensibly and support knowledge transfer in the long term.
What role does the transfer phase play in a learning path?
The transfer phase ensures that learning content is applied and reinforced in everyday working life. Transfer tasks, repetitions, or learning checks help develop real action competence from knowledge.
Why should a learning path be adapted to the target group?
Different target groups bring different prior knowledge, learning behavior, and requirements. A suitable learning path takes these differences into account and thus increases motivation, comprehensibility, and learning success.
Updated on 08/05/2026
