General Issues:
What is a courselet?
Who is the audience?
What subjects will courselets cover?
How will courselets be accessed and delivered?
How will courselets be disseminated to students?
Will students receive credit for completing a courselet?
What media and tools may be used to develop courselets?
Who pays for courselet development?
Who owns a courselet?
To whom may I speak about courselet development?

What are the system requirements?
Here are the current system requirements to view courselets:

• Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP
• Browser: Internet Explorer 5.0 and above
• Internet Connection: 56kbps for text-based courselets and 128kbps for those courselets that contain streaming video.
• Microsoft Windows Media Player version 7.1 and above is required for those courselets that contain streaming video.

How come when I click a link no content appears or all I get is the survey?
The content on these pages launch in separate browser windows. If you are running pop-up blocker software please temporarily disable it.

I get prompted for a login. What should I do?
Courselets are currently open to all users accessing the content from within the Stanford.edu domain. Access from outside the Stanford.edu domain requires a login and is only available to Stanford faculty, staff and registered students. If you are Stanford faculty, staff or a registered Stanford student you can request a login for off-campus access. Please send an email from your Stanford email account to

Please note that if you are a Stanford student registered through SCPD for the current quarter, you can use the same login you use to access the online courses.

What is a courselet?
It is a self-contained, short (1-3 hours) integrated set of web-based learning materials and tools designed as a custom tutorial offered online in support of Stanford engineering, science and engineering management courses. Courselets are designed to enhance graduate student learning and reduce faculty time demands for teaching basic material.

Who is the audience?
The initial audience will be Stanford on-campus and distance students in industry with the potential for future use at other universities and industry training.

What subjects will courselets cover?
The courselet portfolio is expected to include a broad range of topics relating to engineering, science and engineering management. They are ideally suited for providing course, program or certificate-specific prerequisites, bridging knowledge gaps or offering supplemental course material.

How will courselets be accessed and delivered?
They will be available over the web via Stanford Online.

How will courselets be disseminated to students?
Courselets will be made available to students through hyperlinks positioned on the web pages of relevant courses.

Will students receive credit for completing a courselet?
Students will not receive academic credit.

What media and tools may be used to develop courselets?
Media and tools that may be used include text, streamed audio, streamed video, graphics, hypermedia, animation, simulation, and links to additional materials

Who pays for courselet development?
Courselet development is being funded through a $400,000 grant from the Sloan Foundation to the School of Engineering's Stanford Center for Professional Development with additional resources from Stanford University.

Who owns a courselet?
Courselet ownership will be aligned with normal Stanford copyright and licensing policies and carry a Stanford University copyright notice. If a courselet is to be used with non-Stanford students, it will only be distributed with permission from the faculty member according to the School of Engineering Guidelines for Professional and Executive Education eLearning Products and Programs.

To whom may I speak about courselet development?
Contact the course Director, Andy DiPaolo adp@stanford.edu.

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