Stop Uploading Everything As A PDF
If most of your online curriculum lives in giant PDFs, you are not alone. It is fast, familiar, and it feels like you are getting work done. Print materials become files, you upload them, and the course is technically online.
The problem shows up later, when students are zooming in on tiny text on a phone, teachers cannot find anything, and nobody really wants to open that 58 page unit guide again.
This is not a guilt post. PDFs are not evil. They are just not great as the main way people experience learning online. The good news is that you usually do not need a big rebuild to improve things. You can make small changes that help a lot.
Why PDF first hurts students and teachers
From the admin side, a big PDF feels simple. One file, one upload. From the learner side, it feels like a wall of text.
Common pain points we hear:
- Students have to scroll forever to find the one section they need.
- Families on phones struggle with small text and weird layouts.
- Screen readers and accessibility tools do not always handle the content well.
- Teachers end up saying things like, "Look at page 12, section 3" in every announcement.
Your content might be strong. It is just trapped in a format that was built for printing, not daily use inside an LMS.
Think pages and steps, not packets
One simple mindset shift can change a lot. Instead of asking, "Where do I upload this packet" try asking, "What is the next step for the student and what do they need to see right now".
Most big PDFs contain a mix of things:
- Unit overview and goals
- Teacher notes
- Student facing instructions
- Practice activities
- Reference material at the end
That is a lot of jobs for one file. Breaking that packet into a few clear pages inside your LMS makes life easier for everyone.
What to move into the LMS first
You do not have to convert everything. Start with the pieces that students and teachers touch the most.
Good candidates for LMS pages:
- Unit or week overview with goals and key tasks
- Step by step instructions for major assignments
- Checklists of what needs to be done and submitted
- Short readings that are easier to scroll as a page than as a small PDF on a phone
These pieces work best as pages or simple assignments in the LMS, where you can link, reorder, and update them without touching a design program.
Where PDFs still make sense
PDFs are not the enemy. There are plenty of cases where they still work well.
- Printable handouts or packets that students actually write on
- Reference charts and diagrams that need a fixed layout
- Forms that will be downloaded, signed, or shared outside the course
- Long readings that are meant to be printed for offline time
The trick is to treat PDFs as attachments and resources, not the main home for instructions, schedules, or core navigation.
Make content scannable, not perfect
A lot of curriculum teams hold back from moving content into an LMS because it feels like it needs a full redesign. Fancy layouts, icons, brand new graphics. That stuff is nice, but it is not the most important part.
What matters most online:
- Clear headings and subheadings
- Short paragraphs instead of long blocks
- Numbered steps for anything that has a process
- Bullets for lists of tasks or requirements
- Simple, direct language that sounds human
If you focus on those basics, your content will feel more modern and readable even if the design is very simple.
Use templates so you do not reinvent every unit
One reason people default to PDFs is that they already have a template. The curriculum lives in a document they know how to copy. Your LMS can give you the same comfort if you create a few patterns and reuse them.
For example, you might have:
- A standard "Unit Overview" page with goals, key dates, and a quick video or note
- A standard "Lesson" pattern with warm up, main task, and reflection
- A standard "Project" page with requirements, rubric summary, and submission link
Once these exist, new units become a matter of filling in content instead of reinventing structure. Students get used to the pattern, and teachers do not have to rethink layout every time.
How IQPeach helps with this shift
At IQPeach we work inside systems like Canvas, Google Classroom, Moodle, Schoology, and Blackboard. A lot of our work is helping teams move from PDF first to LMS first without throwing away the content they already have.
Typical things we do:
- Review existing curriculum packets and pull out the pieces that should live as pages
- Design simple, reusable page templates that fit your programs
- Set up modules and navigation so students can actually follow the path
- Build small helper tools that make it easier for staff to keep things organized over time
We care less about making something flashy and more about making something teachers and students actually want to use on a busy day.
You do not have to fix everything at once
If this all feels like a big lift, start small. Pick one course or one program and try a simple change like:
- Turn one unit overview PDF into a clear LMS page.
- Move one important assignment into a structured page with steps.
- Add a short "This Week" page that links to what really matters.
Watch how students and teachers respond. Use that as your proof that the work is worth it, then expand from there.
If you want help making a plan or just want a second set of eyes on your current setup, reach out to IQPeach. We are happy to talk through where PDFs still make sense and where a small shift could make everything feel a lot more usable.