Glossary
Precise definitions for the Arythmatic terms that are easy to confuse, so you use the right feature for the job.
Glossary
Several Arythmatic concepts sound similar but do different things. This page defines the terms that are most often mixed up — the three ways to organize learners (Group, School, Batch), the two ways you get paid (membership vs subscription), and the credential-vs-certificate and workflow-vs-trigger distinctions. Each entry states what the term is and, where it matters, what it is not.
Content terms
Course
A course is the primary unit of learning content. A course is organized into sections, and each section holds one or more lessons (content items) such as Video, Audio, Text/HTML Content, Document, External URL, Quiz, Assignment, Presentation, or a SCORM package. A course is self-contained: a learner enrolls in it and works through its curriculum. See Courses Overview.
Learning Path
A learning path is a sequenced collection of courses — not lessons — that guides a learner through a structured curriculum in order. Use a learning path when several existing courses form a program; use a single course when the material is one self-contained unit. See Learning Paths.
Assessment
An assessment is a standalone, reusable quiz that lives outside any single course. You build it once — with sections, questions, time limits, passing scores, and attempt limits — and can attach it to multiple courses, learning paths, or batches. A Quiz lesson, by contrast, is a set of questions embedded directly inside one course's curriculum. See Assessments.
Ways to organize learners
These three terms are frequently confused. They are separate features that solve different problems.
| Term | What it is | Scope | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group | A named segment of learners used to assign courses in bulk | Workspace-wide | Tag a set of learners (or the built-in Everyone group) and grant them a course automatically |
| School | A sub-organization with its own admins, learners, courses, and analytics | A portal inside the workspace | A department, client company, or franchise that a GroupAdmin runs semi-independently |
| Batch | A scheduled, instructor-led cohort of a single course | One course run | A live cohort with a start date, meetings, and deadlines |
Group
A Group organizes learners so you can assign courses to all of them at once. Groups are managed at the workspace level; the special Everyone group always contains all learners and cannot be deleted. A Group has members and course assignments — it does not have its own portal or analytics.
School
A School is a sub-organization within your workspace. Each School has its own administrators (GroupAdmin), its own learners, its own assigned courses, and School-level analytics. A School is a bounded portal someone else can run; a Group is just a label you attach to learners.
Batch
A Batch is an instructor-led cohort tied to one course run on a fixed schedule. A Batch can carry its own meetings, deadlines, and instructor assignments. Reach for a Batch when timing matters (a live cohort starting on a date); reach for a Group when you only need to control who gets access. See Batches.
A learner can belong to a Group, sit inside a School, and be part of a Batch all at once — the three answer different questions: which segment, which sub-org, and which scheduled run.
Monetization terms
Membership vs subscription
A membership (or membership plan) is a recurring offer you sell to learners that grants access to bundled content while it stays active — you define its price, validity period, and whether it renews. A subscription is one learner's active instance of a membership plan: the individual record that tracks their renewal date and lifecycle, and which you can cancel from the Subscriptions page. In short: the membership is the plan; the subscription is a learner's ongoing enrollment in that plan.
Do not confuse a learner subscription with your workspace's own billing plan. Your organization's paid plan with Arythmatic (trial, seats, invoices) is managed under Billing — that is separate from the membership plans and subscriptions you sell to your learners.
Credentials and certificates
Credential vs certificate
A credential is the reusable, shareable, verifiable design you create in the Credentials area — a template with an issuer profile that you map to courses. A certificate is the specific credential a learner earns and is issued on completing a course or learning path (a course carries a certificate template, and each completion produces one issued instance). Put simply: you design credentials; learners receive certificates. The Issued tab under Credentials lists every certificate that has been handed out.
Automation terms
Workflow vs trigger event
A workflow is an automation that listens for one platform event, optionally waits, then sends an email. A trigger event is the platform occurrence a workflow listens for — for example course.published, assignment.graded, or payment.succeeded. One trigger event fires the workflow; the workflow is the whole rule (trigger, delay, template, recipient). Scheduled campaigns run on a clock instead of reacting to an event. See Automated Workflows and the Workflow Events catalog.
