This guide covers a practical way to bring your existing classroom and in-house training into an LMS. Most failures start with "just putting the training materials into the LMS as they are." Go in treating the LMS not as a storage locker, but as a place to redesign the learning experience.
- Break down the purpose of the training before you start moving it
- Split lessons by content, not by time
- Build in ways to turn "just listening" into "thinking"
- You don't have to move everything at once
Common failure patterns
Before getting into the steps, let's look at the mistakes people most often make.
- Uploading long training decks as they are
- Turning a one-day workshop into one course
- Keeping a structure that relies on an instructor to explain it
These tend to produce learning that learners just watch and forget. It doesn't stick.
How to approach the move
Work through these four steps and you'll end up with a structure that suits an LMS, without forcing it.
Break down the training's purpose
Put into words what you want people to understand and what you want them to be able to do.
Restructure it for the LMS
Rebuild the content assuming there's no instructor, no Q&A and no room atmosphere.
Build in moments to think
Add check quizzes and questions to turn passive learning into active learning.
Move in stages
Improving as you go makes for a move that doesn't overwhelm anyone.
STEP 1 Break down the training's purpose
The first thing to do when moving to an LMS is break down what the training is for.
For example:
- What do you want people to understand?
- What do you want them to be able to do?
- How much of it is required?
Once that's clear, you can see what's needed and what isn't.
STEP 2 Restructure classroom training for the LMS
In classroom training, the instructor's explanations, the Q&A and the feel of the room do a lot of the work. None of that exists in an LMS, so replace each one as shown in the table below.
| In classroom training | How to replace it in the LMS |
|---|---|
| Instructor's explanations | Split them into short lessons |
| Q&A | Organize it as an FAQ or supplementary lessons |
| Feel of the room | Spell out the key points in text |
| Existing PowerPoint / PDF files | Don't post them as they are; treat them as supplementary or reference material |
Split by content, not by time
Classroom training is often divided by time, such as "morning" and "afternoon," but that doesn't work in an LMS. Split lessons by these instead:
- One topic
- One decision rule
As a result, learners can move through the material at their own pace.
STEP 3 Turn "just listening" into "thinking"
In classroom training, it's easy to listen and feel you've understood. In an LMS, adding the following turns learning from passive to active:
- Short check quizzes
- Questions that ask for a judgment
Building a process that makes people think matters more than whether they get it right.
STEP 4 Plan to move in stages
You don't need to move all your training into the LMS at once. We recommend starting with:
- Training you run often
- Training whose content doesn't change
Improving as you go makes for a move that doesn't overwhelm anyone.
Practical checklist
Review your training against this checklist and you'll end up with a structure organized for an LMS.
Related guides
The next guides cover more advanced operations and automation.
