What’s Old Is New Again
Reusing and Repurposing Your Training Content
For as long as people have been writing stories, they’ve drawn inspiration from the past — repurposing familiar ideas as prequels, sequels, remakes, reboots, or spin-offs. For me, it all began with Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace, the first prequel I remember. I’d seen many sequels and remakes; this was unique in that it took us many years back before the original Star Wars movie. The Star Wars prequels didn’t start today’s trend, but they helped popularize it. Flash forward 25 years, and making prequels, sequels, and reboots has become Hollywood’s new normal.
The reason is simple: starting from scratch is hard. The same goes for creating training content.
Rediscover Lost Training Treasures
When a stakeholder comes to you with a new training or performance support request, you don’t need to start from scratch. Repurposing material can save time, reduce costs, and still deliver great results.
Be bold — dig deep into your archives. Search those long-forgotten network folders, external drives, or the SharePoint site everyone swore they’d clean up “someday.” You might uncover hidden gems on old USB thumb drives, in early Storyline files, classic Captivate projects, Flash-based interactions, or legacy Lectora courses. These materials may be unfamiliar to today’s learners, but they can be repurposed into something fresh and engaging.
A Training Update and Upgrade
Congratulations! You now have some great source material to start with. Before diving in, take time to review your content to ensure it’s still current and relevant, and of course, aligns with your learning objectives. You may need to update some of the objectives and topics, create new graphics, and refresh or redesign activities so they’re appropriate for the delivery method, but that’s a lot easier than starting from a blank page.
Begin by asking: What are the learning objectives, and what’s the best way to achieve them? If the goals haven’t changed, don’t switch formats just for the sake of novelty — match the media to the message. For example, if the content is mostly knowledge-based (Bloom’s Level 1 or 2), you might convert that old instructor-led workshop into an engaging e-learning module, a short animation, or even a podcast. If it requires higher-level skills or hands-on practice, keep it interactive and scenario-driven, perhaps as a virtual instructor-led training session.
You can still be creative! Transcribe an old video and turn it into a modern learning bite, or just keep the audio and animate the rest (the BBC has done this for years with old Doctor Who episodes). Don’t feel you have to keep everything; hold onto the parts that work and replace what doesn’t. If the current version could be an “epic saga” worthy of Peter Jackson or George Lucas, break it into smaller, focused pieces for microlearning or even modular e-learning courses. And if you find you have more material than you can use, congratulations, you now have a treasure trove of additional source content!
Ready for Your Own Revival?
Just like filmmakers reimagine familiar stories for new audiences, you can breathe new life into your training content. Repurposing isn’t about recycling for convenience — it’s about recognizing the value in what you’ve already built and adapting it for today’s learners. So, before you start from nothing, look back. Your next great learning experience might already exist — it just needs a thoughtful update, a creative twist, and a fresh perspective. The archives are calling — are you ready to answer?
And if you hit a roadblock and have trouble opening old files, contact ILG — we’re always happy to help pry loose the wisdom and lost treasures locked in older file formats.