continuing-education

name	continuing-education
description	Plans continuing education offerings with credit requirements, course catalogs, and completion tracking systems.
allowed-tools	Read Write Glob
metadata	{"author":"matthewhitcham","version":"1.0"}

Continuing Education

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Plan a continuing education program with structured credit requirements
• Build a course catalog with categories, prerequisites, and credit values
• Design completion tracking systems for professional development
• Create a CE offering to sell to professionals who need ongoing credentials

DO NOT use this skill for one-off courses, degree programs, or informal learning. This is for structured continuing education with credit tracking and compliance elements.

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Core Principle

CONTINUING EDUCATION MUST BALANCE COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS WITH GENUINE SKILL DEVELOPMENT — THE BEST CE PROGRAMS MAKE PROFESSIONALS BETTER AT THEIR JOBS, NOT JUST CHECK A BOX.

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Phase 1: Brief

Required Inputs

Input	What to Ask	Default
Industry or profession	"What profession or industry needs these CE credits?"	No default — must be provided
Credit requirements	"How many credits are required per cycle, and what is the cycle length?"	20 credits per year
Accreditation body	"Is there a governing body that must approve the courses?"	Self-certified (no external body)
Delivery format	"Online, in-person, or hybrid?"	Online self-paced
Revenue model	"Subscription, per-course, or included in membership?"	Per-course purchase

GATE: Confirm the brief before proceeding.

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Phase 2: Program Architecture

Credit Structure

## Credit System
**Total required:** [X] credits per [cycle length]
**Credit categories:**
- Core/mandatory: [X credits minimum]
- Elective: [X credits]
- Ethics/compliance: [X credits if applicable]

**Credit calculation:**
- 1 credit = 1 hour of instructional content
- Live events: [multiplier if applicable]
- Self-paced: [completion requirements]

Course Catalog Structure

## Catalog Categories
1. [Category 1] — [X courses, Y total credits]
2. [Category 2] — [X courses, Y total credits]
3. [Category 3] — [X courses, Y total credits]

## Course Listing Format
| Course Title | Category | Credits | Format | Prerequisites | Price |
|-------------|----------|---------|--------|--------------|-------|

Completion Requirements

Define what "completing" a course means:

• Assessment pass rate (e.g., 80% on post-test)
• Minimum time spent (no fast-forwarding through video)
• Attendance requirements for live sessions
• Certificate generation upon completion

GATE: Present the program architecture for approval.

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Phase 3: Build

Course Catalog

Create 15-25 course listings across all categories:

## [Course Title]
**Category:** [Category name]
**Credits:** [Number]
**Duration:** [Time]
**Format:** [Self-paced / Live / Hybrid]
**Description:** [2-3 sentences]
**Learning objectives:** [3-5 bullet points]
**Prerequisites:** [None or specific courses]
**Assessment:** [Quiz, project, or attendance-based]

Tracking System

## Learner Dashboard Requirements
- Credit balance (earned vs. required)
- Completion history with dates and certificates
- Upcoming deadlines (cycle expiration)
- Course recommendations based on remaining requirements
- Transcript export (PDF)

Compliance Documentation

• Certificate of completion template (include name, course, credits, date, ID number)
• Transcript format for reporting to accreditation bodies
• Record retention policy (how long records are kept)
• Audit trail for credit verification

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Phase 4: Polish

1. Launch Plan

## CE Program Launch Checklist
- [ ] Course catalog finalized with at least 1.5x the required credits available
- [ ] Tracking system configured and tested
- [ ] Certificate template created
- [ ] Pricing and payment system ready
- [ ] Marketing materials for target professionals
- [ ] FAQ document addressing common compliance questions
- [ ] Support process for credit disputes or technical issues

2. Growth Plan

• Add 5-10 new courses per quarter
• Retire outdated courses annually
• Survey completers for topic requests
• Track most-popular and least-popular courses to guide creation

3. Quality Metrics

## Track Quarterly
- Course completion rates (target: 80%+)
- Assessment pass rates (target: 85%+)
- Learner satisfaction scores (target: 4.2+/5)
- Credit compliance rate (% of learners meeting requirements on time)
- Revenue per learner

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Example 1: Marketing Professional CE Program

Categories: Digital Marketing (8 credits), Analytics (4 credits), Strategy (4 credits), Ethics (4 credits)
Sample courses: "AI in Marketing Ethics" (2 credits), "Advanced Google Analytics" (3 credits)
Cycle: 20 credits per calendar year

Example 2: Financial Advisor CE Program

Categories: Regulatory (10 credits), Product Knowledge (5 credits), Ethics (5 credits), Elective (10 credits)
Cycle: 30 credits per 2-year period
Requirement: At least 5 credits from live instruction

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Anti-Patterns

• Box-checking culture — designing courses that are easy to pass but teach nothing destroys the program's reputation.
• Not enough course variety — if learners must take the same courses every cycle, they disengage. Offer 2x the required credits in options.
• No deadline reminders — professionals procrastinate. Send reminders at 75%, 50%, and 25% of the cycle remaining.
• Manual tracking — spreadsheet-based tracking breaks at scale. Build or use a proper LMS with credit tracking.
• Ignoring mobile — many professionals complete CE on their phone during downtime. Ensure mobile compatibility.

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Recovery

• No accreditation body exists: Create an internal certification with clear standards. Market the credential's value based on course quality and industry recognition.
• User unsure how many credits to require: Research comparable programs in the industry. Default to 20 credits per year as a reasonable starting point.
• Not enough content for a full catalog: Launch with 10 courses covering mandatory categories. Add electives quarterly.
• Learners not completing on time: Implement a grace period with late completion options. Add automated reminders starting 90 days before deadline.