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Article Organization and Navigation

Organize the structure and navigation of an instructional article to enable the learner to read and review the instructional content in a short time as well as take advantage of any links, graphics, or animation that supports learning the content. Follow these simple guidelines to ensure an effective structure and navigation:

  • Minimize the need for the learner to scroll through text. A printed instructional article should not exceed three pages.
  • Use only graphics, diagrams, or pictures that lend meaning and clarification to the topic. (In some cases, graphics can also be used to get the learner’s attention; but, these graphics should not be overused because their effectiveness will diminish when the learner considers them an annoying distraction.)
  • For ease of navigation, display a link to the next article or interactive exercise at the end of an instructional article. Also, a link to the main course menu should be available on every page.
  • Hyperlink all key words, phrases and/or concepts within the instructional article to some type of glossary or reference providing for definitions and additional clarification as needed by the learner.

This online instructional format of our article provides examples of several of these points. Each page is short, and most pages require no scrolling. Graphics are used judiciously. Each page provides clear links to the previous page, the next page, and the beginning of the article. Since there is no overarching course of which this article is a part, there is no link to a main course menu. The example does not contain a global glossary, although at least one important online learning environment [Moodle] provides a powerful automated glossary feature as part of its course development toolset.

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