Where to Start

As you revise your online courses, be sure to include navigational instructions that make the organization of the course easy for your students to understand. Some suggested ways to address this issue:

• Be sure your course includes a “welcome” statement that identifies the course, how the student should get started, and which content elements the student should begin reading/viewing. The inclusion of a syllabus link on the “homepage” is seldom sufficient. Provide additional ways (beyond the syllabus) for your students to “orient” themselves to the course on their “first entry” or


• Include a “Start Here” button, link or icon that leads the student to a module with introductory information, or a “Getting Started” paragraph tells the student what to do first and offers a course overview or


• Provide a “course tour” with a course overview, guide to exploring the course’s web site/course shell, and an indication of what to do first or


• Offer a “Scavenger hunt” assignment that leads students through an exploration of the different course tools and an introductory (Read Me First-type) module and


• You can always offer a “Read Me First” quiz (worth a few points) that covers the information you think is essential for the new student to know about your course, if they are to succeed.