You often have several pieces of learning that need to reach the same people. You can assign those items as they are, or group them into a course or an award first.
All three paths end the same way: you assign something to learners or groups. What you are really deciding is what you assign — the items themselves, or one thing you build to hold them.
If you are choosing between content structures more broadly, including playlists and single content items, see Create custom content. A playlist is not an option here, because a playlist cannot be assigned or completed.
Start with what learners need to do:
Assign the items as they are when the content already exists and learners simply need to receive it.
Build a course when learners need to work through the items as one structured experience.
Create an award when learners are working toward a goal rather than a fixed set of content.
Before you build anything, it helps to know what building costs you. A course or an award is itself a piece of content. Once you create one, it sits in your organization's catalogue alongside everything else, and learners can find it in search and browse until you unpublish it. A multi-item assignment creates nothing new.
Assign the items as they are
Choose this when the learning already exists and no new structure would help. Select the items, choose who receives them, and set a due date.
What you get
Up to 50 items in a single assignment, to individual learners or to groups.
A fixed due date, a rolling due date, or no due date.
Progress tracking by learner and by content item.
Nothing new in your catalogue. The items stay as they are.
What it does not do
Each item is tracked on its own, so there is no single completion to report against.
You cannot set an order, or add a quiz, submission task, or event.
Learners receive a set of separate items rather than one named program.
When different groups need different items, or parts of the learning need different deadlines, create a separate assignment for each. Separate assignments are often clearer than one large one.
Build a course
Choose a course when the items belong together as one experience and everyone completes the same set.
What you get
Modules that group the content, with a set order inside a module and prerequisites between modules.
Quizzes, submission tasks, and events. These exist only inside courses.
One completion record. Learners complete the course by completing all of its content.
A reusable piece of learning. You can assign the same course again, add it to an award, or share it.
What it does not do
A course cannot offer a choice. Learners must complete everything in it.
A course cannot contain another course. If you already have several courses to deliver, use an award or assign those courses directly.
A course cannot count learning completed outside Go1.
A course takes longer to set up than an assignment, and someone needs to maintain it as the content changes. Build one when the structure earns that effort.
Create an award
Choose an award when learners work toward a goal rather than a fixed sequence. An award can hold courses, standalone content items, and other awards, nested up to four levels deep.
The completion rule does most of the work. Pick the one that matches your goal:
Complete one item. Learners complete the award by completing any one item from a set of alternatives.
Reach a target. Learners work toward a target, such as credits or hours, and complete every item marked as required. Elective items count toward the target.
Track ongoing learning. Learning accumulates in a unit such as credits or hours, and the award is never marked complete.
What you get
Learner choice, required and elective content, and targets that a course cannot express.
Learning completed outside Go1 counts toward the goal, with Reach a target or Track ongoing learning.
One goal learners can see their progress against, across everything it contains.
What it does not do
An award cannot contain a quiz, submission task, or event directly. Add these to a course first, then add that course to the award.
Track ongoing learning never reaches completion, so avoid it where you need a completion record.
Complete one item does not support external learning.