Reveal the organizational plan of the course to the students.
Be sure that they can tell where they are within the course and where they’re headed.
Make navigating within the course easy.
Make finding information within the course easy.

If you have organized the course carefully, there is a clear and logical way for a person to move through it.  There is a plan underlying its organization.

Reveal the plan to the students.  Don’t keep it a secret from them.

• Provide an outline or table of contents for the course.  In addition, you may want to provide a graphical representation of the organization of the course.
• If the course is very long and detailed, provide an index.  Because an index allows random access to the content of the lessons, it helps a student clarify or review a point.
• Use titles and subtitles to identify the content and focus of each unit, chapter, screen, and portion of a screen.
• Provide an indicator of the student’s progress.  This can be as simple as changing the highlight color in the outline or contents for pages visited.  It could also take the form of a progress bar or thermometer-style indicator.
• Provide an easy way back to the outline or table of contents so that there is always a way to see the big picture.
• Provide a header for each page that indicates where it fits within the hierarchy of pages.
• Use clear labels for buttons and hyperlinks so that students know what will happen when they click and where a link will take them.

Below are two ways to show the organization of a portion of a course on meteorology.  As you compare them, think about the following questions:
 

Which of the maps for the course would you find easier to use? Why? Which of the maps do you think your target audience of students would find easier to use? Why? What changes would you make to either of the maps to make it easier for your students to use?

Which of the following is the better summary of the main ideas of this lesson?
 

ERIC KRAFT