Complete Overview of the Viva Learning App

Great products are a source of pride. They don’t truly start when you introduce a fantastic new idea (though that is a part of the process), but rather when you see the obvious thing that has been eluding you about an existing product. What exactly do your consumers utilize it for? Microsoft Viva is one such achievement. 

Microsoft recognizes that its large, complicated portfolio of collaboration products (SharePoint, Yammer, Teams) main utility is to address a single, simple challenge: improving the employee experience.

The concept of employee experience is remarkable because of its strength and simplicity. It has enabled Microsoft to group a diverse set of features and tools into four categories: Connections, Learning, Topics, and Insights. They address topics such as community and navigation, personal growth, knowledge management, and well-being.

What Exactly is Microsoft Viva Learning?

One of the Microsoft Viva apps accessible in Microsoft 365 is the Viva Learning app. Learning is a Teams app that provides a Learning Management System solution to Microsoft Teams on desktop, mobile, and tablet.

Microsoft Viva Learning allows you to create a central knowledge center. A center that displays your internal training materials such as videos, presentations, documents, or recorded meetings that SharePoint or OneDrive hosts. Furthermore, connection with third-party learning programs such as LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, and others will allow you to distribute extra information. Viva Learning could be used to reach out to your users with training, onboarding materials, or the organization’s knowledge repository.

Also Read: Benefits of using a software license manager

Features of Microsoft Viva Learning

Viva Learning is accessible in two models; free in the Microsoft 365 plan and premium in a separate subscription with more capabilities.

Microsoft Viva Learning Free / Seeded features include:

• Viva Team Learning and Mobile
• Access the entire Microsoft Learn and Microsoft 365 Training libraries, as well as the most recent updates
• There are 125 LinkedIn Learning courses
• Look for, share, and discuss educational stuff
• In Teams channels, create learning tabs
• SharePoint and Viva Learning are used to create organization-generated learning content
• Personalization of training depending on interests
• Featured content

Scenarios such as onboarding new employees or staff members for projects, frontline workers starting in a new worksite, or keeping employees informed about everyone’s cyber security can all be under Microsoft Viva Learning’s control. It manages these areas by assigning required learning, making learning available in specific contexts (project skills required, new worksite practices and rules), or surfacing it through recommended learning.

When learning forms a link with goals, scaling from individual to organizational-level learning and making it easy to participate in the learning via Teams, rather than using an external solution, also accelerates business outcomes. It is easier to identify relevant learning if it is exposed in a context, such as a Team channel. A project management channel can display relevant learning for project managers. Electricians can view learning materials about new devices or new safety measures, and developers can view customized learning resources about specific project skills.

Social Education

Aside from learning in a specific context, such as a project, social learning is also an important feature in today’s environment. When a trusted colleague says, “you really need to check this one out—it’s extremely nice, and I think you would benefit from it,” we are more likely to follow through since it comes from a valued member of the community and is personalized.

Microsoft Viva Learning makes it simple to share training with coworkers. When the learning content is open, you may quickly recommend it to individuals or groups of users, such as everyone in a particular Team. It’s quite likely that recipients will respond to personalized notes.

You can also share the learning in a Teams conversation, for example, to surface important learning to the conversation. This makes it incredibly context-dependent, and while AI is useful, humans are still superior at revealing acts like these when necessary. The key here is simplicity: Viva Learning makes this really simple.

Using a private 1:1 or group conversation, social learning extends to these as well; in addition to dropping Learning content in the chat, it’s also possible to pin Learning to the tab, similar to how it works in a Team, to make it easier to identify relevant learning right from the chat.

All Learning in One Place

The Viva Learning program is intended to be a one-stop shop for learning. It is simple to locate and search for available learning when using Microsoft Teams as an application. The app contains highlighted content as well as learnings that you have bookmarked for yourself. The important point for corporations is that they may assign training to their personnel. When customers open the Viva Learning app, they can see what learning they should take, when they are to complete it, and what they are to study, alongside other available training. When someone assigns or suggests a Learning, Microsoft Teams will notify you.

And, no, the Teams desktop application is not a requirement. Teams Mobile also has learning capabilities, making it an excellent tool for frontline and hybrid workers with limited time. Taking a Learning does not necessitate any special plans, but you can do it whenever it is convenient at work. When organizations create their own content, they should attempt to keep things brief and quick to learn; it may be better to consider a succession of shorter-duration learning products rather than one that is many hours long.

What about those who use SharePoint? Don’t worry, Viva Learning’s content will appear there as well. The core of the Microsoft Viva solution is to offer vital tools and services to people where they are, rather than pushing them to take one technological path. It is all about embracing and encouraging varied ways of working, as well as embedding material where needed. 

For example, searching in SharePoint returns learning content. Additionally, there is a Learning search vertical if you are looking for learning results specifically. For an easy upskilling process, Viva Topics also allows you to expose topic-related learnings immediately on the topic page. 

Is Viva Learning the future of Learning Management Systems?

The question that is frequently posed is:  Viva Learning: An efficient learning Management System or not? Currently, Viva Learning serves as the center of learning by combining resources from many sources. This includes original information created by an organization, into a single user interface and experience. The entire Microsoft Viva solution is still in its early stages, thus it is developing quickly. There are already certain LMS capabilities, but others, like learning or career routes, are still lacking.

Microsoft Viva solutions appear to be designed with the idea that they can all be expanded upon. It will be possible to interact with modules and other objects programmatically thanks to APIs. Since Viva is still a young platform, not everything is available currently.

Our prediction is that Microsoft Viva Learning will eventually become an LMS. It will be even more tightly integrated with different learning partners than it is now. Thus, enabling it to surface and guide learners toward learning paths that include resources from various sources rather than just learning content.