ABSTRACT
The purpose of all instruction is to enable students to learn. In order to do that effectively, you must begin by understanding your students’ characteristics, their specific needs in the Web-based environment, and how you might plan to meet those needs. In a perfect world, the design of online instruction would be so flexible that it could adapt to each student’s needs as he or she progressed through the course. However, we do not live or work in a perfect world and to date neither the technology nor the time is available to build such a perfect system. Student characteristics are widely different and frequently competing. The designer must then decide what needs can be addressed and how best to address them within limited budgets and time frames.
