Lynda becomes LiL (LinkedIn Learning)

Author: Caroline Carlin, TELT

On the 20^th June our Lynda.com subscription upgraded to the new LinkedIn Learning platform.  The upgrade gives us access to all the same great content (now in seven languages), with a fresh new interface and a whole host of additional features. 

Why have we upgraded? 

LinkedIn bought Lynda.com in 2015, and from that created LinkedIn Learning to merge the best bits of Lynda with the best bits of LinkedIn.  Everyone who currently uses Lynda is slowly being moved across to the new platform.  Once that’s complete, the Lynda.com service will be retired. 

Connect your LinkedIn account 

When you sign in to the new LinkedIn Learning platform, you’ll be asked if you’d like to connect your LinkedIn account to your new LinkedIn Learning account.  This is completely optional and you can change your mind later.  There are benefits to connecting the two accounts and it will help to personalise your experience. You’ll be able to find out what skills you need to succeed in your chosen career through recommended courses and videos. You’ll also be kept up to date about what other LinkedIn members with similar interests to you are learning about. 

If you haven’t used LinkedIn, or maybe you haven’t come across it yet, it’s essentially a social network for professionals.  It’s a place to connect with others; find and publish news, articles and blog posts; promote your professional self (your virtual CV); find and apply for jobs; join special interest groups – the list goes on.  If you want to get started, take a look at the online Learning LinkedIn course.  

Making the most of the new LinkedIn Learning features in teaching and learning 

Lynda.com has always offered us the potential to share online learning content with students.  Content that fits in with their schedule, providing opportunities for independent learning, which can easily be accessed both on and offline and revisited as needed.  LinkedIn Learning provides even more flexibility to create completely customised online materials to meet your module learning outcomes. 

Curate for your curriculum 

Collections 

If you’ve been using Lynda.com, you might already be familiar with Playlists.  On LinkedIn Learning these are called Collections.  They enable you to pull together courses and videos to create a collection which can be shared with students (perfect for helping you to create blended learning materials or a flipped classroom).  With LinkedIn Learning, you can now also upload your own custom content (videos, presentations, documents, formative assessments e.g. Forms) so you can curate your own bespoke modules of content to fit in with your curriculum.  

Learning Paths 

There are hundreds of learning paths in LinkedIn Learning.  Some are linked to a particular career – maybe you want to be a Project Manager or even a Songwriter?  Others are more topic based – for example Improve your Organisational Skills.  The point of a learning path though (as opposed to a collection) is that the content should be followed sequentially.  As they’re often longer than Collections, Learning Paths also have the option to chunk content into manageable sections.  With LinkedIn Learning, you can now create your own Learning Paths, made up of LinkedIn Learning content and your own custom content. 

Track student engagement. 

The TELT team can create a group for you to manage.  You control who has access to the group.  You can recommend Collections or Learning Paths to the group and track engagement with that content, down to individuals if required. 

Map reading lists and core texts to LinkedIn Learning. 

The course team at LinkedIn Learning can help to map your core text books/materials to LinkedIn courses and videos, providing your students with an alternative way of learning.  

So, there are exciting times ahead with LinkedIn Learning!  If you’d like to find out more about any of the features above, please email the TELT team or contact your Faculty Learning Technologist. If you’d like an overview of LinkedIn Learning and the possibilities sign up to one of our ‘Making the most of Linkedin Learning’ sessions on e3Hub, or to get started, take a look at the introductory online course How to use LinkedIn Learning.