LMS Glossary

Updated September 18, 2026 21:41

This article defines the terminology used throughout Absorb LMS and across this Knowledge Base. Terms are grouped by functional area, and each entry links to the article where that feature is documented in full. Use this glossary as a reference when configuring your Portal, reading release notes, or onboarding new Admins.

Note

This glossary covers Absorb LMS product terminology. For developer and integration terms such as REST, clients, and resources, see the Integration API Glossary.

Portal and Organization Structure

These terms describe how your Absorb LMS instance is organized and how content and people are grouped within it.

Element	Definition
Absorb LMS	A cloud-based learning management system used to deliver, manage, track, and report on learning. See Absorb LMS: Overview.
Portal	Your organization's instance of Absorb LMS. All Users, Courses, and Departments belong to a single Portal. See Portal Settings Overview.
Client Settings	The configuration area where system-wide Portal options are managed, presented as a set of tiles. See The Client Settings Page.
Department	A hierarchical grouping of Users that typically mirrors your organizational structure. A Department can carry its own branding, login page, and privacy policy. See Departments: Overview.
Department Template	A reusable set of Department settings and branding that can be applied to multiple Departments. See Department Templates.
Group	A flexible collection of Users that can span multiple Departments. Groups can be built manually or automatically from a rule. See Group Creation & Management.
Category	A hierarchical classification used to organize Courses in the Catalog. See Manage Categories.
Tag	A keyword applied to Courses, Resources, and Billboards to support filtering and search. See Tags.

User and Access Terms

These terms cover the people who use Absorb LMS, the interfaces available to them, and the permissions that control what they can do.

Element	Definition
User	Any person with an account in the Portal. A User belongs to one Department and can belong to multiple Groups. See User Management.
Learner	A User who accesses and completes training through the Learner Experience. Learner describes the role a person plays rather than a separate account type.
Admin	A User with Permissions to manage selected areas of the Portal through the Admin Experience. See Admin Roles & Permissions.
Instructor	A User assigned to deliver or manage Sessions within an Instructor Led Course. Instructor is a built-in Role.
Manager	A User who can review learning information for the Learners who report to them. See Manager Experience: Import Managers Function.
Admin Experience (AE)	The administrative interface where Courses, Users, and system settings are managed. See How To: Access the Admin Experience.
Learner Experience (LE)	The learner-facing interface containing the Dashboard, My Courses, and the Catalog. See How to navigate the LMS on the Learner Experience.
Manager Experience	A separate interface that lets managers view progress and manage training for their direct and indirect reports. See Manager Experience.
Reviewer Experience	A dedicated interface where assigned Users complete Observation Checklists and other review activities. See The Reviewer Experience and Observation Checklists.
Role	A named set of Permissions assigned to an Admin. Built-in roles include Admin and Instructor. See Admin Roles & Permissions.
Permission	An individual access right within a Role, generally granted as View, Add, Modify, or Delete for a given area.
Manager Role	A distinct role type governing what a manager can see and do in the Manager Experience. See Manager Experience: Roles & Permissions.
Custom Field	An Admin defined field added to User profiles to capture information beyond the default fields. See How To: Add a Custom Field.
User Impersonation	A permission that allows an Admin to view the Portal as a specific User sees it. See User Impersonation.

Course and Content Terms

Absorb LMS supports four Course types. The terms below describe those types and the structures used to organize content within them.

Element	Definition
Course	The base training object in Absorb LMS. A Course defines the content and settings only. A Learner's progress is stored separately on their Enrollment. See Course Settings Directory.
Online Course	A self-paced digital Course made up of Chapters and Lessons. See Overview of Online Course Settings.
Instructor Led Course (ILC)	A Course delivered through scheduled Sessions, either in person or virtually. See Overview of Instructor Led Course (ILC) Settings.
Curriculum	A structured learning program that groups multiple Courses into an ordered path, with optional prerequisites and pacing. See Overview of Curriculum Settings.
Course Bundle	A packaged set of Courses grouped together, most often for purchase or bulk Enrollment. See Overview of Course Bundle Settings.
Chapter	A section within an Online Course that holds an ordered set of Lessons.
Course Equivalency	A setting that allows completion of one Course to satisfy the requirement for another. See Course Equivalencies.
Catalog	The browsable listing of Courses a Learner is permitted to view, self-enroll in, or purchase. See New Catalog Page \| Absorb 2025.

Lesson and Learning Object Terms

Lessons are the individual units of content inside a Course. The terms below cover the available Lesson types and the third-party content standards Absorb LMS supports.

Element	Definition
Learning Object	An individual item in an Online Course syllabus, such as a video, file, Assessment, Survey, Task, or third-party content package. See An Introduction to Learning Objects.
Lesson	A single unit of content within a Chapter, used interchangeably with Learning Object in most contexts.
Shared Lesson	A Lesson maintained once and reused across multiple Courses. See Shared Lessons.
Assessment	A graded Lesson type covering quizzes and exams. See Assessment Learning Object.
Survey	An ungraded Lesson type used to collect Learner feedback. See Survey Learning Object.
Question Bank	A reusable pool of questions that Assessments draw from. See Add: Question Bank.
Task	A Lesson type representing an activity completed outside the Course player. Variants include Simple, Assignment, Certificate, and Self-Reported.
SCORM	Sharable Content Object Reference Model, an e-learning packaging standard. Absorb LMS supports SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004. See Third Party Courses: SCORM, AICC & Tin Can.
xAPI (Tin Can)	A content standard that tracks learning experiences across systems. See Supported SCORM & xAPI Statements.
AICC	Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee, an earlier e-learning content standard that remains supported. See Third Party Courses: SCORM, AICC & Tin Can.
Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI)	A standard for embedding external learning tools inside a Course. See LTI 1.3 Consumer Mode in Absorb LMS.
Global Resource	A supplementary file made available across the Portal rather than attached to a single Course. See Global vs. Course Resources.
Observation Checklist	A list of criteria a reviewer assesses a Learner against, completed in the Reviewer Experience. See How to Create an Observation Checklist.

Enrollment Terms

An Enrollment is the record linking a User to a Course and tracking their progress. These terms describe the ways Enrollments are created and controlled.

Element	Definition
Enrollment	The record connecting a User to a Course, holding their status and progress. See Enrollment Overview.
Self-Enrollment	An Enrollment a Learner creates themselves from the Catalog.
Automatic Enrollment	Rule-based Enrollment that adds Users to a Course when they match defined criteria. See Automatic Enrollment Rules.
Enrollment Rule	The criteria that determine which Users are enrolled automatically. See Creating Enrollment Rules.
Scheduled Enrollment	An Enrollment configured in advance to take effect on a future date. See Scheduled Enrollments.
Enrollment Key	A code that enrolls a User into specified Courses and can assign their Department. See An Intro to Enrollment Keys.
Enrollment Approval	A setting requiring a designated User to approve a Learner's Self-Enrollment before access is granted. See Enrollment Approval.
Re-Enrollment	Automatic re-enrollment of a Learner so they retake a Course, often tied to Certificate expiry. See How To: Automate Course Re-Enrollment.
Enrollment Method	The indicator showing how a given Enrollment was created. See Enrollment Method Legend.

Enrollment Status Values

Every Enrollment carries a status that reflects a Learner's progress. The values below appear across reports and both the Admin Experience and Learner Experience.

Element	Definition
Not Started	The Learner is enrolled but has not begun.
In Progress	The Learner has started but not finished.
Complete	The Learner met all completion requirements.
Not Complete	The Course has not been finished.
Failed	The Learner did not meet the passing criteria.
Pending Approval	The Enrollment was requested and is awaiting approval.
Declined	The Enrollment request was rejected.
Pending Evaluation Required	The Learner finished the work and is awaiting an instructor's evaluation.
On Waitlist	The Learner requested a full Session. See Waitlist Lifecycle.
Absent	The Learner was marked as a no-show for a Session.
Pending Proctor	An Online Course is paused until a Proctor permits it to resume.
Ready for Review	On the Job Training work was submitted and is awaiting a reviewer.
Not Applicable	Used for Course Bundles, which do not track progress directly.

Instructor Led Training Terms

Instructor Led Courses introduce scheduling concepts that do not apply to Online Courses. These terms cover how those Courses are delivered and tracked.

Element	Definition
Session	A scheduled offering of an Instructor Led Course, with its own date, instructor, and capacity. See ILC Session Enrollment.
Multi-Session ILC	An Instructor Led Course requiring attendance at several Sessions. See Multi-Session ILCs.
Venue	The physical or virtual location where a Session is held. See Instructor Led Courses: Venues.
Attendance	The record of which Learners attended a Session. See Instructor Led Courses: Attendance.
Waitlist	The queue of Learners waiting for a place in a full Session. See Waitlist Lifecycle.
Calendar	The Learner view of upcoming Sessions and due dates. See New ILC Learner Calendar.

Compliance and Certification Terms

Absorb LMS handles compliance through a combination of expiry, due date, and verification settings rather than a single compliance feature. These terms describe those controls.

Element	Definition
Certificate	A downloadable credential awarded to a Learner on completion. See Course Certificates.
Competency	A skill or qualification a Learner attains through completion or manual award. Competencies can carry their own expiry. See An Intro to Competencies.
Badge	The visual award displayed when a Competency is earned. See LMS Customization Guidelines - Competency Badges.
Credits	Continuing education value awarded for completing a Course. See Course Credits.
Expiry (Course Access)	The date after which a Learner can no longer open a Course. Set on the Course as a fixed date or as a duration counted from the Learner's start date, then resolved to a date on each Enrollment. Once the date passes, the Course page loads in a locked state and lessons cannot be opened or completed. The Enrollment keeps its existing status, as there is no Expired status value. An Admin can extend access on an individual Enrollment. See Enrollment-Level Availability Dates.
Access Date	The date a Course opens to a Learner. Before this date the Course is locked in the same way an expired Course is, so Access Date and Expiry together define the availability window. See Enrollment-Level Availability Dates.
Certificate Expiry	The date an awarded Certificate stops being valid. This does not restrict access to the Course. It drives reminder messages ahead of the expiry date and, when Re-Enrollment is configured against certificate expiry, triggers recertification. See Re-Enrollment & Re-Certification.
Competency Expiry	The date an earned Competency lapses, after which the Learner no longer holds it. Set on the Competency as a duration. This does not restrict access to any Course. See An Intro to Competencies.
Due Date	The deadline for completing a Course, set as a fixed date or as a duration after Enrollment. A Due Date does not restrict access. A Learner whose Course is past due can still open and complete it. The date drives overdue flagging, Nudge messages, reporting, and compliance tracking only. See Course Due Date Reminders.
Nudge	An automated reminder prompting a Learner to start or finish a Course. See How do Nudge and Notification Settings Work?.
Proctor	A designated User who supervises and authorizes a Learner's progress through a Course. See Course Proctor.
Electronic Signature	A requirement that a Learner formally signs off within a Course using password re-authentication or a PIN. See Electronic Signatures.
External Training	A record of training a Learner completed outside Absorb LMS. See External Training.
Course Evaluation	A feedback form presented to Learners after completing a Course. See Course Evaluations.

E-Commerce Terms

These terms apply to Portals that sell Courses directly to Learners. See Getting Started with E-Commerce for setup guidance.

Element	Definition
Transaction	The record of a purchase made through the Portal. See Transactions.
Payment Gateway	The third-party service that processes card payments. See Payment Gateway Setup Guide.
Coupon	A promotional code that applies either a percentage or a fixed-amount discount at checkout. See Coupons.
Subscription Plan	A recurring purchase granting ongoing access to content for a billing period. See E-Commerce Subscriptions.
Seat	An individual allocation within a Subscription Plan, which can be unassigned, pending, confirmed, cancelled, or removed.
Buy on Behalf	A purchase made by one User for another. See E-Commerce Buy on Behalf.
Customer Account	A saved billing profile a Learner can reuse at checkout. See Customer Accounts for E-Commerce.
Course Repurchase	The option for a Learner to buy a Course again after their access ends. See Course Repurchase.

Engagement and Social Learning Terms

Absorb Engage supplies the features that promote content and encourage interaction between Learners. See An Introduction to Absorb Engage for a full description.

Element	Definition
Billboard	A banner featured at the top of the Learner Dashboard, used to promote content or announcements. See Absorb Engage: Billboards.
News Article	An announcement published to Learners within the Portal. See Absorb Engage: News Articles.
Poll	A short question presented to Learners to gather quick feedback. See Absorb Engage: Polls.
Collaboration	A discussion space where Learners post, reply, and react. See Absorb Engage: Collaborations.
Leaderboard	A ranking of Learners by points earned through activity in the Portal. See Absorb Engage: Leaderboards.
Ribbon	A horizontal row of Courses on the Learner Dashboard, which can be curated or personalized. See Personalized Learning Ribbon.
Tile	A configurable block of content on a Learner Experience page. See Overview of Tiles.
Mentorship	A feature pairing Learners with mentors through structured programs. See Mentorship.

Messaging and Notification Terms

Absorb LMS sends automated communications based on Learner and Course activity. These terms describe how those messages are defined and customized.

Element	Definition
Message	An automatic email or system notification issued when a configured Portal action occurs.
Message Template	The customizable subject and body content used for an automated message, maintained per language. See Message Templates.
Message Template Type	The specific event that triggers a message, such as enrollment, completion, or Session reminder. See Message Template Types.
Message Template Field	A merge field that inserts User or Course data into a message. See Message Template Fields.
Nudge Message	A reminder message sent as a due date approaches or passes. See Nudge Message Templates.
Custom SMTP	A configuration that sends Portal email through your own mail server. See Custom SMTP: Overview.
Push Notification	A message delivered to a Learner's mobile device through the Absorb Learning Mobile App. See Mobile App - Push Notifications Enabled by Default.

Portal Configuration Terms

These terms cover the self-service content and language settings an Admin maintains for the Learner Experience.

Element	Definition
FAQ	A question and answer pair published in the Learner Experience to provide self-service guidance. See FAQs for Learners.
Translation	A customization that changes predefined static system text for a supported language. See Viewing, Adding, and Editing Translations.
Translation Key	A system-defined identifier mapped to a specific static interface field and its translated value.
Language	A supported display language for the Portal, selected per User or inherited from their browser. See How Absorb Determines what Language to Display.

Reporting Terms

Reporting in Absorb LMS spans built-in reports and the Absorb Analyze product family. See Reports: Getting Started for an orientation.

Element	Definition
Report	A built-in view of Portal data, filterable and exportable. See How To: Navigating Reports.
User Transcript	A record of a User's learning activity, completions, and available Certificates. See The User Transcript.
Pinned Report	A report an Admin has added to the top of their navigation menu for quick access.
Generated Report	A completed report export available for download.
Analyze Essentials	The custom reporting tool for building, saving, and scheduling reports. See Analyze Essentials: Creating and Editing Reports.
Dashboard	In Absorb Analyze, a collection of widgets presenting related metrics together. See Exploring Dashboards.
Search Analytics	A report showing what Learners searched for in the Portal.

Integration and Single Sign-On Terms

These terms cover how Absorb LMS connects to your other business systems. See Integrations: Overview for the available options.

Element	Definition
Integration	A connection between Absorb LMS and third-party software or services.
Paid Add-on	A separately licensed Absorb product that extends the core functionality of the Portal. See Additional Services: Overview.
Single Sign-On (SSO)	A configuration that lets Users sign in to Absorb LMS with their existing company credentials. See An Introduction to Single Sign-On.
SAML	The most widely used SSO protocol for exchanging identity information between systems. See Incoming SAML 2.0 Single Sign-On using Azure AD.
Identity Provider (IdP)	The external system that verifies a User's identity during SSO.
Service Provider (SP)	The application being signed in to. In an SSO setup, Absorb LMS is the Service Provider.
OpenID Connect	An alternative SSO protocol built on OAuth. See OpenId Connect Single Sign-On.
Connector	A prebuilt integration that syncs data between Absorb LMS and a third-party system such as an HRIS. See Connectors: Controlled User Exclusion.
Webhook	An automated message Absorb LMS sends to another system when a defined event occurs. See Webhooks.
Data Import	A scheduled or manual file-based load of Users, Departments, or Enrollments. See Comparison of Data Export and Data Import Options.
Infuse	An offering that embeds Absorb LMS content and the course player directly into your own website. See Getting Started with Infuse.

Absorb Aura Terms

Absorb Aura is the set of artificial intelligence agents built into Absorb LMS. The terms below define each agent and the capabilities that support them.

Element	Definition
Absorb Aura	The system of artificial intelligence agents supporting learning, administration, and course authoring.
Aura Admin Assist	An assistant in the Admin Experience that answers product knowledge questions and supported Course data queries. See Aura Admin Assist.
Aura Learner Agent	A suite of agents that helps Learners discover content, explore resources, and ask grounded questions. See Aura Learner Agent.
Course Extraction	The process that makes eligible Course content and resources available to the Aura Learner Agent. See Aura Learner Agent: Course Extraction.
External Knowledge	A capability that syncs selected knowledge from configured external organizational sources. See Aura Learner Agent: External Knowledge.
Global Resources for Aura	An optional source allowing the Aura Learner Agent to answer questions using eligible Global Resources. See Aura Learner Agent: Global Resources.
Aura Create	A course authoring agent that turns a prompt or source document into a block-based Course. See Aura Create: Course Authoring Agent.
Aura Credits	The consumption units that govern Aura usage in a Portal. Distinct from Course Credits. See Aura Credits System Overview.

Absorb Product Names

Several products extend Absorb LMS. Each has its own dedicated documentation, and the entries below define the product name only.

Element	Definition
Absorb Create	The authoring tool for building courses directly in Absorb. See Absorb Create: Overview.
Absorb Analyze	The advanced reporting and business intelligence product. See Exploring Dashboards.
Absorb Amplify	The off-the-shelf content library offering. See Absorb Amplify Functionality.
Absorb Engage	The set of features that promote content and encourage Learner interaction. See An Introduction to Absorb Engage.
Absorb Skills	The skills and job role framework used to map competencies to learning. See Skills: Administration.
Absorb Learning Mobile App	The mobile application giving Learners access to training, including offline. See How to Download and Sync Global Resources for Offline Use With the Absorb Learning Mobile App.