Reference
Glossary
7MM uses a strict vocabulary. It keeps short learning content traceable, reviewable and reusable. This page is the shared language for everyone who builds, sells or audits a module. One object, one name.
Core content hierarchy
The tiers of learning content, fixed by the 7MM Canon. Name the object first; the rest follows.
- Theme
- Topic
- Learning Path
- Course
- Module
- Format
- Segment
- Knowledge Base
- Journey
- Assurance Grade
- Source Registry
- Theme
- A top-level subject area. The broadest grouping in the library, such as AI literacy, privacy, cybersecurity, leadership or public-sector professionalism.
- Topic
- A body of knowledge within a Theme. Example: AI-safe use of personal data.
- Learning Path
- A curated multi-course experience that sequences Courses toward a broad capability.
- Course
- A sequence of Modules on a Topic. A packaging and sequencing container. It is not the unit of trust.
- Module
- The atomic single-objective unit, designed for a seven-minute envelope. The unit of trust.
- Format
- How a Module is manifested: Rise, PDF job aid, podcast, video, manager guide or assignment. The objective is chosen first, and the format follows.
- Segment
- A time-banded block inside an interactive Module.
- Knowledge Base
- The single governed, versioned foundation every output draws from. It sits outside the tiers and feeds them all.
- Journey
- Not a tier. The time-and-people design wrapped around a Course or Learning Path: the spacing schedule, workplace practice, manager touchpoints, debriefs and measurement.
- Assurance Grade
- The visible per-unit trust label, A to D. It summarises five pillars (sourced, reviewed, current, traceable, owned), is computed from evidence rather than self-declared, and is not the same as a lifecycle state.
- Source Registry
- The governed register of sources and claims behind a module. Every claim rests on one or more versioned source records, each with a verification status and an expiry, so a module can be regenerated when a source changes.
Common words we translate into 7MM language
The outside world uses its own words. Resolve them to a 7MM term before building anything.
- Programme / Program
- Usually a Learning Path or a Journey. Disambiguate: a multi-course path is a Learning Path; an orchestrated change design is a Journey.
- Training
- Too broad. It could mean a Journey, a Course, a Module, a workshop or an assignment. Name the object first.
- Campaign
- Not automatically a Journey. It is a Journey only if it has an objective, a schedule, practice, touchpoints and measurement. Otherwise it is a rollout around learning.
- Lesson
- Not a 7MM tier. An external alias for a Module, or for a Segment when it is a sub-step inside an interactive Module.
- Content
- Too vague. Specify a Module, a Format, a rendering, a source, a claim or a record.
Do not confuse
The pairs that cause the most drift, each settled in one line.
- Course vs Journey
- A Course packages and sequences Modules. A Journey wraps a Course or Learning Path with time, people, practice and measurement. Content structure first, then change design.
- Module vs Lesson
- A Module is the canonical atomic unit. Lesson is an external alias only, never an internal tier.
- Format vs rendering
- A Format is the type, such as video or job aid. A rendering is the concrete produced output in that format.
- Source vs claim
- A source is a versioned thing a claim can rest on. A claim is one statement a module makes, backed by one or more sources.
- Lifecycle state vs Assurance Grade
- A lifecycle state is where a record sits in its workflow, such as draft or published. The Assurance Grade is the trust label, A to D. A state is not a grade.