Learning objectives guide the development of the unit, module, or lesson in the online course. Similar to learning outcomes, but limited in scope to a particular lesson or part of a lesson, a typical online learning module may have several learning objectives. Each objective explains what a learner will be able to do when they have completed a segment of the instruction.

Objectives are useful as a key part of course design, but also benefit student learning when they are clearly displayed, as they will inform the student of the expectations for learning during the lesson.

Learning objectives have four parts:

1. The audience - in this case, the student.

2. The behavior the student will complete, in the form of a verb. There are many lists of verbs that can be helpful in writing objectives, including those included in the well-known Bloom's Taxonomy verb chart.

3. The condition under which the objective is met. This may include mention of the assignment details.

4. A statement of what will be observed as evidence of learning.

The examples below will designate the audience with italics; the verb phrase indicating the behavior with underscore; the condition in the standard font, and the observable evidence of learning in bold type.

Example 1

Given ten drawings of geometric figures, the student will be able to circle all of the polygons.

Example 2

Given a paragraph, the student will be able to underline at least 90 percent of the verbs.