Learning Modules

Recommended Practice	Reasoning
Learning modules are used to organize learning events. There are separate learning modules for each unit of learning. A unit of learning could be a chapter, a topic, a week's worth of work, or however you deign your instructional units. For a given unit of instruction, all materials, handouts, audio, Vista tools, etc., go into the learning module.	Learning modules, if used correctly, help create structure for the learning. It organizes content and instruction for the students. Building a learning module helps you think through the instruction and sequence of instruction.
Example of Learning Module
The learning module consists of two sections or frames (windows): The left frame is the Table of Contents; it serves as a menu for content and Vista tools. The right frame is where content and tools appear when the links are clicked in the Table of Contents. The first item in the Table of Contents should be the Overview Page. Below you can see the Overview page. The Overview page is always an HTML page. This is the first thing that the students see when they log into the learning module. The overview page guides the student through the learning activities.

Headers in Table of Contents
Take a close look at the items in the Table of Contents. Look at numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5. These are headers. Headers are used to separate content into logical groupings. Headers provide a visual organization to the content of a learning module. Consistent use of headers should be used throughout all learning modules in a course. Furthermore, consistent use of headers should be used throughout all courses in a program. Consistent look and function promotes familiarity of course structure for the students in courses that support online programs .
Overview Page	Reasoning
It's not enough to simply put content in a learning module. There needs to be some organization and some way to signal to the student what they should do and in what sequence. This is accomplished by the use of an Overview page. This is discussed in more detail under the Overview Page section of this Web site.	See the Overview Page section of this site.