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Structuring courses: modules and lessons

Organize a course into modules and lessons, choose lesson types, set estimated runtimes, and order everything so the curriculum reads as a clear path.

Overview

A course in StretchLearn is a three-level hierarchy: Course → Modules → Lessons. Modules are the chapters; lessons are the individual learning units inside them. Getting this structure right is what turns a pile of content into a curriculum a learner can follow from start to finish.

The hierarchy at a glance

  • Course — the product a learner enrolls in.
  • Module — a titled section that groups related lessons (for example, Week 1: Setup). Modules have a summary, a sort order, and a status.
  • Lesson — a single learning unit inside a module. Lessons have a title, a summary, a type, a sort order, a status, and an estimated runtime in minutes.

Every lesson belongs to exactly one module, and every module belongs to exactly one course.

Add modules to a course

  1. In the Catalog or Records view, click a course title to select it.
  2. Open the Builder view. You'll see the course's outcomes and its modules-and-lessons area.
  3. Add a module and give it a clear title (for example, Fundamentals) and a short summary describing what the section covers.
  4. Set the module's position with its sort order — modules display in ascending order, then alphabetically by title.
  5. Repeat for each chapter of your course.

Tip: Aim for 3–6 modules in a typical course. Fewer than three and you probably don't need modules; more than six and learners lose the thread — consider splitting into two courses linked as a learning path.

Add lessons to a module

  1. Inside a module in the Builder, add a lesson.
  2. Give the lesson a title and a one-line summary.
  3. Choose the lesson type — this describes what the lesson contains (for example, a video lesson, a text/reading lesson, or another content type your course uses).
  4. Set an estimated runtime in minutes. This feeds the course's total duration and the runtime figures on the Dashboard and Analytics views.
  5. Set the lesson's sort order so it appears in the right place within the module.
  6. Set its status — a lesson can be held in draft until the module is ready.

Ordering and flow

Lessons display in this order: by their module's sort order first, then by the lesson's own sort order, then alphabetically by title. To reshape the flow, adjust sort orders rather than renaming things. A clean ascending sequence (10, 20, 30…) leaves room to insert lessons later without renumbering everything.

A realistic structure

Here's how Operator Certification might be organized:

Course: Operator Certification
├─ Module 1: Fundamentals (sort 10)
│  ├─ Lesson: Welcome & how this works        (text, 5 min)
│  ├─ Lesson: The daily checklist walkthrough (video, 12 min)
│  └─ Lesson: Reading the control panel        (video, 9 min)
├─ Module 2: Incidents (sort 20)
│  ├─ Lesson: Spotting a problem early         (video, 8 min)
│  └─ Lesson: The escalation ladder            (text, 6 min)
└─ Module 3: Certification (sort 30)
   └─ Lesson: Final review before the quiz     (text, 4 min)

That's three modules, seven lessons, and roughly 44 minutes of estimated runtime — numbers that will show up on your Dashboard once the course is saved.

How structure powers the rest of StretchLearn

  • Progress is tracked per lesson. The more precisely you break content into lessons, the more granular a learner's progress bar becomes.
  • Quizzes can be scoped to a whole course, a single module, or an individual lesson — so a tight structure gives you more places to check understanding.
  • Previews expose a limited number of lessons on the public page. Order your strongest introductory lesson first so the preview sells the course.
  • Runtime totals on the Dashboard and Analytics views are the sum of your lesson estimates, so keep estimates honest.

Tips

  • Lead every module with a short "what you'll get" lesson so learners know why the section matters.
  • Keep individual lessons short — 5 to 12 minutes of runtime is easier to complete than one 45-minute marathon, and it makes progress feel achievable.
  • Use consistent lesson titles across modules (Walkthrough, Practice, Recap) so the course feels coherent.
  • Number sort orders in tens so you can slot new lessons between existing ones later.

Troubleshooting

  • A lesson isn't showing in the course. Check its status — a draft lesson may be hidden. Also confirm it's assigned to a module that belongs to this course.
  • Lessons are in the wrong order. Ordering is driven by module sort order, then lesson sort order. Fix the numbers rather than the titles.
  • My runtime total looks off. The total is the sum of each lesson's estimated minutes. A lesson with no estimate contributes zero — fill in the missing estimates.

What to do next

  • Add checks for understanding with Building quizzes and assessments.
  • When the structure is complete, publish with Publishing and managing your catalog.

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