Lewis, As an instructor, you have a very strong sense of what an online course should be. You have developed many tools and methodologies to assist students and ensure their success in your courses. From a developer's point of view... before the instructor becomes involved... there is a design specification document that serves as your roadmap for developing the course. Do you see this document as a useful tool? Or, do you feel that the time and effort required for creating this document could be better spent in developing a prototype for the course management software, which would be improved through iterations? :) Jane