News
Microsoft Rolls Out 'Learning Rooms' with Support from Experts
Microsoft announced new Learning Rooms, a free online space to connect with technical experts and other students learning Microsoft products, in this Tuesday announcement.
The technical experts of Learning Rooms offer "one-on-one support" across subjects such as "Azure Infrastructure, Data and AI, and Digital and Application Innovation." They can help students prepare for Microsoft Certification Exams. Users can vote on the best questions and answers, and see what others have asked.
Microsoft selects its Learning Rooms experts from "Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs), and Microsoft Technical and Trainers (MTTs)." They are distinguished in the discussion threads by having "blue and green nametag icons."
Learning Rooms sound like the current Microsoft Tech Community discussion threads, but they seem to offer more assured access to expert views. Learning Room experts are described as being part of the "Microsoft Learn community," which also is described as including the Tech Community. A new twist of late for the Microsoft Tech Community has been issuing collections of resources it calls "skilling snacks," such as this one on the Windows update process.
Microsoft Learn has become a kind of catch-all name. For instance, Microsoft changed the name of its Microsoft Docs collection of technical articles to Microsoft Learn, which apparently happened back in September, according to this Thurrott.com article.
Learning Rooms seem to be heavy with Azure experts. Other Azure learning resources from Microsoft include:
In general, Microsoft Learn consists of "documentation, training, Q&A, code samples, shows, events and next steps," as described in this Microsoft Learn document on content types. Microsoft refers to training content as "units," which are subsets of a "module" Web-based training courses. A learning path is "a collection of related modules," which are designed to teach a "broader skill."
Q&A Site Revamp
Microsoft also announced on Tuesday that it has enhanced its Q&A community forum site for answering questions with a "more intuitive interface." The Q&A site is now integrated with Microsoft Learn for search. Microsoft also made it easier to share answers on social media.
Practice Assessments for Microsoft Certifications
Microsoft's "newest free exam preparation resource" is called "Practice Assessments," as described in this March 29-dated Microsoft Learn document.
The no-cost Practice Assessments, which were created by Microsoft's team that writes its certification exams, are available as an option from the pages where certification exams get scheduled. Users can go through these Practice Assessments "as many times as desired."
Practice Assessments deliver an overall score at the end of the process. It will direct people to skill areas needing improvement. Microsoft explained in this FAQ that "to help you better prepare, the score report provides the answer, a rationale, and a URL that will link you to additional information for every question."
More on Microsoft Learn resources can be found at this documents landing page.