Case Study — L&D Strategy & Course Design
Designing an educator onboarding program for a new LMS platform
When Logate Institute transitioned to Moodle as its primary learning platform, 30+ instructors with varying levels of technical expertise needed to get up to speed quickly, without disrupting their regular teaching schedules. I designed the onboarding program from scratch: from needs analysis and learning objectives through content structure and delivery format to assessment and follow-up.
Course design Educator onboarding Micro-learning Moodle LMS
Project overview
Role
Instructional Designer
Client
Logate Institute for Information Technology
Learners
30+ instructors with varying technical expertise
Format
Blended: 1-hour live intro + self-paced online modules
Platform
Moodle LMS
Tools
H5P, Zoom, screen-recorded video tutorials
The challenge
Logate Institute had just migrated to Moodle as its primary learning platform. The problem wasn’t the platform itself. It was that 30+ instructors, most of whom had no prior experience with Moodle, needed to start using it effectively and quickly.
These weren’t full-time students with hours to spend on training. They were working professionals with their own teaching schedules, and their previous experience with online tools was limited to uploading recorded lectures to a basic WordPress setup. There was no culture of interactive digital teaching, and no structured process for onboarding instructors to new tools.
The training program had to work within these constraints: it couldn’t pull instructors out of their regular schedules for extended periods, it had to accommodate very different levels of technical confidence, and it needed to get people to a functional level fast enough that the platform transition wouldn’t stall.
My approach
I started with understanding who these instructors actually were. Through informal conversations and a review of their existing teaching practices, I mapped out three rough groups: those who were comfortable with technology and just needed to learn where things were in Moodle, those who could follow along but needed clear step-by-step guidance, and those who were genuinely anxious about using a new platform. The program had to work for all three.
Based on this, I made several design decisions early on:
- Micro-learning format: short video tutorials (under 10 minutes each) focused on one specific task, like uploading a video, creating a quiz, or setting up a gradebook. This let instructors learn in small chunks between their other responsibilities.
- Blended delivery: a single 1-hour live session at the start to walk through the basics and reduce anxiety, followed by fully self-paced online modules. The live session was critical for the less confident group.
- Practical over theoretical: every module ended with a hands-on exercise, not a knowledge check. The goal wasn't to test whether people remembered terminology but whether they could actually perform the task in Moodle.
- Selective use of quizzes: I only included assessment where it genuinely helped learning. For a program where the real test was whether instructors could use the platform in their own teaching, most quizzes would have been busywork.
Course structure
The program was organized into modular topics, each covering a core Moodle function that instructors would need in their daily teaching. The sequence was deliberate: it started with the most immediately useful tasks (navigating the platform, uploading existing materials) and gradually moved toward more advanced capabilities (creating interactive content with H5P, using analytics to track student progress).
This progression meant that even instructors who only completed the first few modules could start using Moodle productively. Those who went further gained tools to make their teaching genuinely more interactive and data-informed.
Each module followed the same pattern: a short video walkthrough of the task, a written quick-reference guide for later use, and a practical exercise where instructors performed the task in their own course space. This consistency made the learning experience predictable, which was especially important for the less technically confident group.
Results and feedback
Instructors adopted Moodle faster than expected. The feedback consistently highlighted three things: the short, focused video format made it easy to learn between other tasks; the hands-on exercises built real confidence because instructors were working in their own course spaces, not a demo environment; and the unlimited access meant they could come back to specific modules months later when they needed a refresher.
The program became the standard onboarding process for all new instructors joining the Institute.
What I would do differently
The fully self-paced format worked well for motivated instructors but left others without enough structure to keep going. Some instructors completed the essential modules and then stopped, never exploring the more advanced features like H5P interactive content that could have significantly improved their teaching.
If I were designing this program again, I would add short, regular check-in sessions, maybe 20 minutes every two weeks, where instructors could ask questions and see examples of what their colleagues were doing with the platform. Not mandatory training, but a lightweight accountability structure that keeps momentum going after the initial onboarding period. This is something I now build into my course designs from the start.
I've applied the same approach to other programs
The same course design process I used here, starting with learner analysis, building modular structures, choosing the right delivery format, and iterating based on feedback, is what I bring to every training program I design. Here are some other programs where I’ve applied this methodology:
SPSS & Research Methodologies
Data analysis training designed for public institutions including the Judicial Council, National Tourism Organization, and Agency for Audiovisual Media.
WordPress CMS
Hands-on training program teaching web development and content management through WordPress, from basics to deployment.
Introduction to Web Technologies
Foundational course in HTML, CSS, and web development principles designed for beginners entering the tech field.