The purpose of the guide is to provide guidance on designing and developing e-learning-based solutions for trainers and instructional designers who are new to e-learning design. The guide also provides basic concepts and information on the processes and resources involved in e-learning development, which may be of interest to human resource and capacity-development managers.

The content of the guide is based on consolidated instructional design models and learning theories and incorporates more than 15 years of experience of the FAO e-learning Academy, including work practices, standards and quality criteria adopted for the delivery of learning programmes and self-paced e-learning courses in development contexts.