What’s with the blank stare? I get it, it’s a pretty broad question.

You can also answer this question by answering some others:

• What do you want your learners to be able to do as a result of being in the online learning environment?
• How would learners demonstrate what they’ve learned?

These questions all point you towards learning goals/objectives/outcomes. This is were the designer starts to align their content and assessments within the learning environment.

The tip here is to be explicit when stating your goals for the learners. This takes the guessing game out of learning and directs learners to what you’re intending for them to get out of the environment. State your goals at the beginning. State your goals often, and state your goals for each assessment. This helps the learners connect the dots throughout the learning experience.