With the introduction of the Offsec Learning Library you can now view your course materials, watch the videos and track your progress directly from your control panel.
In this you can find:
How to access your course materials
The course materials will be available for as long as the course lab is still active. The materials are divided into modules, sections and sub-sections. To access your course materials:
- Click on the "Explore" menu and go to the Courses tab to open the courses drop-down.
- Select the course you wish to view and you will land on the Overview tab.
- Click on the “Syllabus” tab to view the learning modules
- Select the module you wish to read.
Written material navigation tips
In the reading window, you can go through a book module, navigate between sub-sections, copy commands written inside code blocks, add notes and provide your feedback for the written material.
Navigate between sub-sections without leaving the reading window
On the left side of the reading window, you can see the table of contents for the specific book module you have accessed. Hovering over a section will show you how many sub-sections it contains. You can also expand or collapse the section from the + and - buttons. Once you have found a section or sub-section you wish to navigate to, all you need to do is click it.
If you are actively reading a chapter you can also navigate to the previous or next sub-section via the < and > arrows at the bottom of the page.
Footnotes
When reading the course content, you can easily navigate to the footnote and back, by clicking the footnote number to reach the corresponding annotation. Once you are finished reviewing the footnote, you can click the arrow at the end of it to get back to the main course text you were reading.
Notes
While going through the material you are highly encouraged to take notes. Even though we have developed a tool inside the OffSec Learning Library, you are not restricted in your choice of note taking tools.
The notes menu of the Learning Library is going to show automatically, on the right side of the reading window, when you open a new module.
You can view your notes by section, module or for the whole course.
You also have the option to edit or delete a note you've added. Once deleted, the note cannot be recovered anymore.
Feedback section
Once you finished going through a module's sub-section, you can find a feedback box at the right of the reading window.
You can submit here your feedback on the content of that specific sub-section. To submit your advice, click on the Feedback button, type in your suggestions, and click the Save button.
You can come back at any time and add to your already submitted feedback by clicking on the Edit feedback button.
Note: the Feedback functionality should not be used to ask for support. If you require help, you can submit a support ticket here.
Navigation from the written material to the corresponding video
While hovering over some sections of the course material, you will see a video icon appear. Clicking the video icon will launch a mini video player with the corresponding video of that section.
If you wish to switch your learning medium from written material to videos click on the Videos tab at the top of your reading window and you will be redirected to the corresponding section or subsection of video content.
For tips and tricks on the video navigation please visit our Make the most of watching the course videos online article
How to track your progress
You can have an up-to-date overview of your progress on the multiple learning mediums (books, videos, labs and challenge labs) at any time.
There are 3 ways to view your progress:
- Via the Dashboard view, where your latest accessed course will be displayed.
- Under "Explore" menu and going to the Course tab, you can hover your mouse to the progress bar below the Course name and through the modules.
- Via the "My Learning" view, there you can see the progress for course or any modules you have accessed.
You can see further information on your progress on written materials and video content on the Book navigation table. For each module that is part of your course, you are able to see the number of sections included in the module, the date the module was last accessed, a progress bars for the books, videos and topic labs.
You can also mark the modules you have finished studying by ticking the corresponding box in the Completed column.
Your progress will be kept, regardless of the status of your course labs, and this applies whether you obtained your course through a Course & Cert Exam bundle or a Subscription.
Challenge Labs progress
All challenge machines contain either a "local.txt" file, a "proof.txt" file, or both. The contents of these files consist of randomized hashes.
When a host possesses two flags, comprising both the "local.txt" and "proof.txt" files, submitting only one of these flags will not suffice to deem the host "completed". Consequently, the host's status in the progress bar shall remain pending until both required flags are successfully submitted.