Competency-based LMS | Self-paced, personalized skill development

Cut the cram. Embrace competencies.

There’s always at least one student who stays up until 2 a.m. the night before a test, cramming information they failed to learn in prior weeks. Without regular performance tracking and evaluation, it’s easy for students to put off learning, but cramming is not the same thing as mastering applicable skills.

Are you struggling to…

Quickly measure and track your students’ educational progress, strengths, and weaknesses using more than just grades

Personalize course material to individual students’ strengths, weaknesses, and goals

Decrease cramming and get students to demonstrate skill mastery with competency-based learning

Continually create and adapt courses so they remain relevant without draining your time and resources

Seamlessly integrate courses from development to delivery

What is competency-based learning?

Competency-based learning emphasizes the demonstration and mastery of concrete and measurable skills. By using competencies, teachers can track how well students are learning each skill. The main principle is that students progress through competencies as they learn and cannot advance from one module to another without having mastered them first, thereby establishing a strong foundation to build upon as they progress.

What makes competency-based learning so great?

Top reasons why competency-based learning, also known as mastery learning, is important:

Personalized pace of learning

It allows students to progress at their own pace. This is especially beneficial for learners who may need more time to grasp certain concepts, as well as for those who can move faster through material they already understand.

Focus on mastery

Competency-based learning ensures that students achieve a high level of understanding or skill in a subject before moving on. This leads to a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the material.

Flexible learning paths

It allows for more personalized education paths. Students can focus on their strengths and interests, which can lead to greater engagement and motivation.

Real-world skills

This approach often emphasizes practical and applicable skills that are relevant in the real world, making students more prepared for the workforce or higher education.

Improved assessment

Traditional grading systems often focus on memorization rather than understanding. Competency-based assessments ensure that students truly understand the material, rather than just memorizing facts for a test.

Equity in education

It can help bridge gaps in education by ensuring that all students reach a certain level of competency, regardless of their starting point. This approach can be particularly effective in diverse classrooms where students have varying backgrounds and levels of preparedness.

Enhanced student accountability

Students in a competency-based system take more responsibility for their learning, as they understand that they must demonstrate mastery to progress.

Continuous improvement

Since learning is more individualized, teachers can provide targeted support where needed, and education programs can be continually adjusted to meet the needs of students.

Better preparedness for lifelong learning

Competency-based education fosters a growth mindset and prepares students for lifelong learning, which is crucial in a rapidly changing world.

40% of business leaders believe recent graduates are unprepared for the workforce, and 94% admit they avoid hiring recent graduates at times. When graduates move from needing to pass tests and courses to carrying out projects, interacting with clients, meeting deadlines and exercising soft skills, studies show they fall short. While tests are valuable in assessing knowledge, they don’t cover all of the bases.

Susan Patrick, the Aurora Institute’s president and CEO, said competency-based learning allows for more personalization, flexible time, equitable instruction, and group work skills.

“It really is equity-driven,” she said. “If you are ensuring that every student gets to mastery, you’re addressing these gaps that are taking place and the holes in learning that are deeply impacting students, especially our most underserved and our most vulnerable students.”

Prioritizing competency-based learning and skills development can foster greater comprehension and drive long-term information retention. It also enables teachers to identify areas where certain students struggle and provide greater individualized support in those areas. Because testing culture treats each student equally, some people can get lost in the group and fall behind. Competency-based learning helps lift those children up, fostering resilience and confidence, and better prepares students to excel in their academic, personal, and professional lives.

Award-winning platform for education

In the past year, we’ve received over two dozen awards for our innovative learning technology, including Forbes Advisor’s “Best Overall Employee Training Software” and “Best LMS.” We’ve also received recognition for our work in academia, earning the title of “Best K-12 Remote Learning Partner” in the SIIA CODiE 2022 Awards and numerous other awards.

All awards

A modern learning platform for competency-based learning

See how the CYPHER platform can improve educational experiences with competency-based learning.

Create

Teaching method options

Teachers can choose from instructor-led, self-paced, blended, or micro-learning classes, depending on which type of teaching they wish to do. Instructor-led classes are a good fit for face-to-face or rotation models, while self paced classes are great for self blend models.

Integrate multiple learning resources

The CYPHER platform integrates with a wide range of external tools and platforms such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, various web conferencing tools like MS Teams and Zoom, and educational content platforms like Coursera and Udemy. These integrations help accommodate different learning styles and sources, allowing students to learn through various mediums and at their own pace.

Combine the power of AI 360 with your unique content

With options to have AI 360 pull exclusively from your uploaded content, you can quickly create courses tailored to the classes you teach. Upload lecture videos, PDFs, materials from past years, and more. AI 360 with Copilot will take care of the rest. Create a full course from the materials, complete with quizzes, gamification, competencies, and more.

Automatic competency mapping

AI 360 can automatically map competencies to content, assessments, and reporting so you can easily assess and track progress. Instead of spending your summer break creating courses, use AI 360 and cut down on the burdensome mundane work of aligning competencies with coursework that takes weeks and even months.

Engage

Customized learning paths

Create personalized learning paths for students to encourage continual learning and guide progression. In competency-based learning, where students progress at their own pace, this feature enables learners to focus on areas they need to develop, mastering one competency before moving to the next.

Adaptive learning automation

Set up automation tools to strategically reveal or conceal content based on performance, maximizing relevance and engagement and ensuring learners engage with material that matches their skill level. Define mastery rules that unlock advanced modules, ensuring learners are constantly progressing.

Certification and badges

Automatically award certificates and badges upon completion of competencies or courses. This motivates students and acknowledges their mastery in specific areas.

Promote teacher-student and peer communication

CYPHER includes various collaboration tools such as chat, wikis, forums, and blogs. It also has a built-in messaging system with email integration and calendaring features. These tools facilitate communication and collaboration among students and teachers.

Manage

Measure and track student progress

Tailor courses to individual students to help them achieve mastery-level proficiency. CYPHER combines competency-based learning with advanced analytics to enable detailed tracking. Easily determine whether students are on track or falling behind in classes so you can intervene and ensure students receive the additional support they need.

Assessment tools

Choose from our 16 assessment tools – quizzes, assignments, projects, and more – to assess students' mastery of competencies. The assessments can be aligned with specific competencies to ensure that the evaluation is relevant and effective.

Competency frameworks

Educators can define and organize competencies, associate them with courses or learning materials, and track students' progress in acquiring these competencies. Create your own competency framework or choose from 5,000+ pre-included competencies.

Take a tour of CYPHER

Supercharged competency-based learning. In minutes.

AI 360 with Copilot on the CYPHER platform can supercharge the development of competency-based curriculums and content – empowering you to deliver robust new courses fast and ensure that course material engages and inspires your students. Imagine building competency-based, gamified, and personalized courses in minutes!

This lets you:

Create competency-based learning courses tailored to districts, schools, classes and individuals – using your own uploaded content – and launch it just in time!
Control your content’s quality, accuracy, and credibility
Create courses in 50+ languages
Ensure subject-matter proficiency for every student, at scale

AI 360 with CYPHER Copilot