Q&A: Salesforce NJ User Group Leaders Talk Learning with Trailhead
Ever wish for a fun, interactive, and FREE way to learn Salesforce? Meet Trailhead, Salesforce’s guided learning platform aimed at arming users with the skills they need to be successful admins and developers.
We’re so excited about Trailhead that it’s the main topic at the next Salesforce New Jersey User Group meeting, happening on Tuesday, July 28 at 6 pm at the Internet Creations event space in Hamilton, NJ. (Note: This event has passed! Thanks to everyone who attended. If you’re sad that you missed it, make sure to join the New Jersey User Group to be the first to know about upcoming events! Read on for more great Trailhead insights.)
Ahead of the event, I sat down with Anthony Pica and Glen Wilson, the co-leaders of the Salesforce New Jersey User Group, to get their thoughts on Trailhead.
Pretend I’ve used Salesforce before. What would I get out of Trailhead?
Anthony: The nice thing about Trailhead is that it was developed to appeal to experienced users as well as those new to Salesforce. So even if you’ve been using Salesforce for a while, you can still get value out of Trailhead. You could review the beginner and intermediate trails as a refresher, for example. If you’re an admin wanting to try your hand at development, you can check out the beginner developer trail. And if there’s a particular topic you want to study, you don’t need to go through a whole trail just to learn one thing. You can pick the modules you want for a customized learning path.
Trailhead can also complement work you’re doing to prepare for Salesforce certifications. (Disclaimer: Trailhead does not cover all of the topics covered in the certifications.)
Glen: I’m excited by the time and energy Salesforce invested to build Trailhead. Salesforce has long been committed to learning and training to help both new and advanced users, and Trailhead is their best effort to date. It’s an advanced training tool that takes advantage of technology to provide a great user experience—and it’s free! I think Trailhead could even replace the Salesforce PDF workbooks as a more stimulating learning platform, leveraging quizzes and hands-on exercises. Trailhead even connects to an individual’s Salesforce Developer org to check if an exercise was accurately completed.
At Internet Creations, we’ve successfully integrated aspects of Trailhead with our own onboarding program for Salesforce Administrators, Developers, and business users.
What if I get stuck? Challenges sound hard.
Anthony: Challenges are part of the fun! They’re calibrated to your level, and Trailhead is all about learning, so don’t worry about getting things wrong. You can retake the challenges after you review the content again. If you do need help, you can visit the Trailhead Forum in the Salesforce Developer Community.
Glen: When you come across something you don’t know, you can turn to the extensive Salesforce Knowledge Base. We also encourage posting in the Salesforce New Jersey User Group. There are many Salesforce experts in the group who are always happy to help.
How can I be sure that I’m learning what I’m supposed to be learning?
Glen: Salesforce has tagged each Trailhead module with meaningful topics that users can use to filter and search. A module in Trailhead contains a variety of related exercises. Each exercise is well documented with learning objectives, links to reference material, and detailed instructions that walk you through a practical implementation in Salesforce. You can test your knowledge with quizzes, and Trailhead also evaluates the solution you build in your dev org to make sure you followed all the steps correctly.
But the best indicator that you’ve learned something is probably when you’re working with Salesforce and suddenly realize that you know how to do things you couldn’t do before. That’s a great feeling.
Is the learning aspect what you like most about Trailhead?
Anthony: I think the focus on hands-on, bite-sized learning is really great. It helps people retain knowledge and get the most out of studying. I’m also looking forward to the new content coming out as Dreamforce approaches.
Glen: I love learning, but I think it’s really cool that Trailhead connects with your dev org and can evaluate how well you implemented the practical assignment. I’m also excited to watch Trailhead continue to evolve. Salesforce released Almond, an LMS solution last year (a FREE app for Salesforce), and I hope it will integrate with Trailhead in the future.
Sounds good! How do I get started?
Anthony: You can get started right now! Just search for “trailhead” or go to https://developer.salesforce.com/trailhead. Try out the trail that interests you most.
Want to learn more about Trailhead from Anthony and Glen? Don’t miss their Trailhead presentation at our next NJ Salesforce User Group meeting! Sign up here to save your spot.
Event Details
Event: Trailhead – Salesforce New Jersey User Group
Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Location: 2000 Water View Drive, Suite 100, Hamilton Township, NJ 08691
About the Salesforce New Jersey User Group
The New Jersey User Group is where people in the tri-state area can comfortably share ideas, network, and discuss everything related to Salesforce and technology to be more successful. All are welcome to join and are strongly encouraged to participate. Our intent is to create an environment where individuals feel able to openly ask questions, share struggles, and ultimately learn from everyone’s success.
For more information or to join the Chatter group, visit: http://ic.force.com/njusergroup
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