Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime

4.1. WHAT IS A COURSE FRAMEWORK?

A course framework consists of all the routine parts of the course that do not teach subject matter but that are nevertheless an essential part of the course. They are the Web pages that describe and introduce the course, register learners, help administer the course, gather feedback, supply technical and administrative support, make individual topics easily accessible, and provide access to additional learning materials. The course framework is sometimes called the shell because it protects and contains the valuable core.

The course framework is not the heart of the course and creating it is not the most creative or glamorous aspect of designing WBT. However, the course framework often makes the difference between a course that meets its business and teaching objectives and one that does not.

Here is a diagram showing the components of a complete course framework:

Must I create all elements of the course framework for every course? No. A simple course will not need all elements. A self-paced course can omit the elements for the class members and the instructor. Often, simple courses combine multiple elements into a single page.

Once you have created a course framework for one course, you can re-use it for the next course and the next and the next. Each framework can serve as the template for the next one.

This diagram might look daunting, but ...