How to Bulk Upload Course Content

Creating a course with engaging content takes time, but LearnWorlds' bulk upload feature makes it easier. Whether you're setting up a new course or updating an existing one, this tool lets you upload multiple files at once, saving you time. 

This feature is helpful since it:

• Simplifies migration from other platforms.
• Speeds up course creation.
• Eases updates for schools with multiple courses.
• Offers flexibility for cloud-based uploads.
• Supports large-scale content development for institutions.

In this article, we will learn how to bulk-upload course content making the course creation process easier. 

Use Cases

• Effortless Migration from Other Platforms: Transitioning from e-learning platforms can be time-consuming, especially if your content is organized in files. The bulk upload feature simplifies this process by allowing you to upload ZIP or multiple unzipped files, making it easy to transfer materials without recreating courses manually.
• Streamlined Course Creation: When short on time, the bulk upload option lets you quickly populate your courses, helping you explore the platform’s value with minimal effort.
• Bulk Updates for Existing Schools: Schools with multiple courses can refresh content efficiently by uploading large ZIP or uncompressed files, automatically converting them into organized sections and activities. This keeps courses updated without manual effort.
• Cloud-Based Uploading for Flexibility: Bulk uploads directly from cloud services like Dropbox, or OneDrive, with background processing that allows you to navigate freely or close the tab while the upload completes.
• Simplifying Large-Scale Content Development for Institutions: For institutions managing extensive courses with various learning activities, bulk uploading handles large volumes of files, ensuring consistent content structure and saving time, especially for teams managing multiple instructors and courses.

Upload your Content

To upload your course material:

Navigate to the Course Manager to either create a new course or edit an existing one.

1. New/Empty Course

If you’re editing a new or empty course, you can add an empty section, start from scratch with AI, import a section, or upload files. 

Click the Upload button to begin adding your content. Upload a ZIP file containing all your materials (e.g., Word documents, videos), and the system will automatically create sections and activities for you based on the file types.

You can also upload individual files directly or choose from cloud storage services like Dropbox, or OneDrive.

2. Existing Course including learning material

If you're editing an existing course that already includes sections and learning activities: 

• Use the Upload Activity link under any section to add new files. 
• Bulk upload files under a specific activity. Navigate to an activity you want, hover over it, and click on the respective icon.
• Upload individual sections. Navigate to any of your courses and select the 'Upload Section' option to bulk import your files and create directly a new section.

- Zip files can be up to 5GB.

- For courses that already include sections, you need to upload files individually rather than as a ZIP file. The system will convert them into learning activities automatically.

Upload Methods

You can upload files from your device or cloud services (Dropbox, OneDrive). Here’s a breakdown of each option:

• Upload from Your Device: When uploading from your local storage, keep one browser tab open until the upload is complete. If you leave the page or refresh, the upload will be aborted, and you’ll need to restart.
• Upload from Cloud Services: When uploading from cloud services like Dropbox, or OneDrive files are uploaded directly from the cloud provider’s server. This allows you to continue working, navigate away from the page, or even close the tab while the upload progresses in the background.
• ZIP File Handling: ZIP files are unzipped and processed asynchronously in the background. Once the process is complete, you’ll receive an in-app notification if you're logged in and an email notification.

Best Practices/ Limitations

• Video files: You can upload a maximum of 15 videos per upload. Any videos beyond this limit will not be converted into learning activities.
• Free trial limit: If you are on the free trial, you can upload up to 15 files per upload, regardless of file type.
• SCORM Limitations: Each plan has limits on SCORM file uploads. For example, the Pro Trainer plan supports 20 SCORM files (up to 400 MB per SCORM file and up to 2GB total size for all the SCORMs). The Learning Center and higher plans offer the advantage of unlimited SCORM file uploads (up to 400 MB per SCORM file).

Supported files and Mapping to learning activities

1. MOV, MP4, 3GP, DIVX, AVI, FLV, MPEG, MPG, WMV, or MKV → Video learning activity.
2. PDF → PDF learning activity.
3. SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 3rd Edition, SCORM 2004 4th Edition, Captivate CAM 1.3 zip package, or HTML5 file → SCORM  learning activity.
4. MP3 → Audio learning activity.
5. docx, doc, or odt file → ebook learning activity.
6. ppt, pptx, or odp file → Presentation learning activity.

Preparing Your ZIP File

1. Organize Your Files: Create a folder on your device and add all the files you want to upload for your course.

2. Name Your Files:  Each file’s name will be the name of the activity it creates. If you’d like your activities to appear in a specific order, format each title like this: 1_Check out this video. Start with a number indicating the order, followed by an underscore and the activity name.

3. Organize by Sections: If you want to divide content into sections, create separate folders within your main folder. Each folder should also follow a naming format with a number, underscore, and title. Think of each folder as a section, with the files inside representing the activities within that section.

4. Compress the Folder: When all files and folders are organized, compress the main folder into a .zip file for easy upload.

Once the .zip file is ready you can navigate to your empty course and upload it

• If you don’t number sections or activities, they will be uploaded at the end of the course. You can rearrange them later.
• Any unnamed files will be uploaded as  Unnamed Section.

Exams/Self assessments 

In case you want to bulk upload exams or  self-assessments in your courses, you need to:

1. Create a new exam/self-assessment activity and click on Save & Edit.

2. Hit Add/ Import → Import questions → from XLS.

3. Click on the Download XLS template link to download the premade file.

Open the downloaded file, where you will find three tabs. Go to the Questions tab (last tab) and fill in your questions according to the examples and instructions provided in the earlier tabs. Make sure to follow the formatting guidelines provided in the template. For more information, you can check this guide.

After filling out the file, you need to save it with the correct format:

• For exams: Include the word “exam” in the title, e.g. exam_Title of the activity or Title of the activity
• For Self-Assessments: Use the format selfassessment_Title of the activity

Example file names:

• exam_FinalExam
• selfassessment_Quiz1

Once your file is ready, return to your school. Go to the Upload Activity option under the section you wish. Upload the prepared file(s) as described in the previous steps.

Report and Logs

Once the upload and conversion are complete, you'll receive a notification in-app (if logged in) and via email. These notifications include a link to the User Actions tab on the Activity Logs page, where you can access a CSV report of all uploaded files. This report will indicate whether the files were successfully converted into learning activities or if any errors occurred.