Beginner and intermediate

Question

Who is a beginner?

Who is intermediate?

Who is advanced?

What are the prerequisites for each group?

Answer 1

In Microsoft Learn, the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels generally describe the amount of existing knowledge and hands-on experience you should have before starting a learning path, course, or certification preparation. Microsoft Learn does not use one universal prerequisite standard for every piece of training, so the exact prerequisites can vary by subject.

A beginner is someone who is new to the technology or has limited practical experience. Beginners generally do not need previous experience with the specific Microsoft technology being taught. Basic computer literacy and a general understanding of the relevant IT concepts may be helpful, but the training is intended to introduce the fundamental concepts, terminology, and basic tasks from the ground up. For example, a beginner Azure learner might need only basic familiarity with computers, networking concepts, and cloud computing.

An intermediate learner has some existing knowledge and hands-on experience with the technology. They should generally understand the fundamental concepts and be comfortable performing basic administrative or development tasks before starting. For Azure, this could mean already understanding subscriptions, resource groups, identity, networking, and common Azure services, as well as having some practical experience creating and managing resources. Intermediate courses may assume that you already understand the fundamentals rather than explaining every concept from the beginning.

An advanced learner is expected to have substantial practical experience and a strong understanding of the technology. Advanced training generally assumes that you can independently perform routine tasks and troubleshoot common problems and are ready to work with more complex architectures, configurations, automation, security, optimization, or troubleshooting. Prerequisites may include several years of relevant experience, familiarity with related technologies, and hands-on experience administering or developing production environments, depending on the particular Microsoft Learn content.

Note that "beginner," "intermediate," and "advanced" are learning-level descriptions rather than standardized Microsoft certification prerequisites. A Microsoft Learn course may recommend prior knowledge without formally requiring it, while a certification can have its own recommended experience level. Therefore, when Microsoft Learn lists prerequisites for a particular course or learning path, those specific prerequisites take precedence over the general definitions above.

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Answer 2

From the available learning content, these groupings are described as follows:

• Beginner: people who are brand new to the subject or tools. For AI for startups, beginner means users who are brand new to AI tools, brand new to startups, or both.
• Intermediate: people who already have some experience. For AI for startups, intermediate means users who have some experience with AI tools and are ready for broader features and more complex customization tools.
• Advanced: people who already use the tools to solve real-world problems. For AI for startups, advanced means users who have experience using AI tools for real-world problems and are ready for topics such as Azure Machine Learning, Prompt flow, Semantic Kernel, and guidance on securing, deploying, and maintaining AI applications.

For prerequisites, the available context does not define a universal prerequisite set for beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups across all learning content. It only provides prerequisites for specific courses or learning paths:

• Hybrid learning in the intermediate classroom: no prerequisites.
• Hybrid learning strategies for success: no prerequisites.
• Enhance instructional practices for adult learners with technology: requires experience designing learning environments for adult learners, adequate training and support to select and use technologies, a positive and open attitude toward technology, and familiarity with Microsoft tools.
• GitHub Foundations Part 1 of 2: requires a GitHub account.

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• AI for startups learning collections
• Hybrid learning in the intermediate classroom
• Hybrid learning strategies for success
• Enhance instructional practices for adult learners with technology
• GitHub Foundations Part 1 of 2