CTDL Pathways are a means of designing and representing progressions towards specific destinations using Pathway Components. In the context of the Credential Registry Pathway Builder, a Pathway Component refers to any entity such as credentials, courses, competencies, extracurricular, work experience, or jobs that can be included in a pathway. The ultimate goal of a pathway is to reach a destination, which is represented by a Pathway Component that signifies where a person could be upon completing the pathway. The Credential Registry provides a rich collection of Pathway Components that you can leverage by searching for relevant components and adding them to the Pathway Builder board. In cases where the desired data is not available in the Registry, you have the flexibility to utilize a library of components and combine them with the Registry data.The Pathway Builder offers a user-friendly drag and drop interface that allows you to visually construct your pathway. By using connectors, you can link the Pathway Components together to depict the progression towards the destination. This intuitive tool enables you to build pathways ranging from simple to complex, seamlessly incorporating data from multiple sources.
Pathway Builder Users
Pathway Builder users include professionals with organizations that are designing or using existing education and career pathways to help people achieve their goals. These users desire the ability to visualize pathways, include a mix of components, and share them as CTDL data in the Credential Registry. Users can include:
- Education, training, and other credentialing organizations
- Employers
- Professional associations
- Other types of organizations designing or housing created pathways
By utilizing the Pathway Builder, these users can effectively design and construct pathways that align with their specific objectives and requirements. The tool provides them with the flexibility to integrate various components, visualize the pathway progression, and publish the pathways to the Credential Registry for wider accessibility and utilization.
Key Features of the Pathway Builder
- Pulling in data from the Credential Registry: You can access the wealth of Pathway Components available in the Credential Registry to populate your pathways.
- Interactive drag and drop tool: The Pathway Builder provides an interactive interface where you can easily arrange and organize Pathway Components according to your desired pathway structure.
- Build simple or complex pathways: Whether your pathway is straightforward or intricate, the Pathway Builder accommodates pathways of varying complexity.
- Combine data from multiple sources: In addition to utilizing the Credential Registry, you have the flexibility to incorporate components from other sources, allowing for comprehensive pathway design. You can even create Registry resources on-the-fly while building your pathway.
- Publish to the Credential Registry: Once you have designed your CTDL pathway, you can publish it to the Credential Registry as CTDL linked open data, making it accessible to others.
Levels of Expression
When constructing a CTDL pathway using the Pathway Builder, you have three levels of expression to consider:
- Pathway Components and Connectors: Pathways are created by linking Pathway Components to the destination using arrow connectors. You can include components that you own or offer, as well as components offered by other organizations. This allows for the integration of various credentials, courses, competencies, jobs, or other components within a single pathway.
- Component Conditions (optional): At the next level of expression, you can specify Component Conditions, which define the required quantities of predetermined Pathway Components. For example, you can set requirements such as completing two courses to progress to the next set of courses or earning a specific credential within the pathway.
- Constraints (optional for complex pathways): For more complex pathways, an additional level of information called Constraints can be included. Constraints allow you to express additional restrictions using CTDL properties. For instance, you can specify that the number of credits earned must be equal to or greater than a specific quantity, courses must be at a certain level, or the number of hours worked must meet a predetermined threshold.
By leveraging these three levels of expression, you can create dynamic CTDL pathways that precisely reflect the desired progression and requirements for learners or professionals seeking to navigate a specific educational or career pathway.
Additional Resources:
- Pathway Builder Tool Webpage
- Building Clear Pathways Video
- Complete list of CTDL Pathway Components
- Pathways section of the CTDL Handbook
- Essential Reading: Pathways Overview 2022-06-30 CTDL Pathways, Conditions and Constraints: Essential Readiing – CTDL Pathways Overview