Three objectives are examined in this report: (1) to outline concisely some of the educational questions that course planning teams may wish to address in the early stages of course planning; (2) to provide a short list of resources, principally from the Open University's Institute of Educational Technology (IET), that may aid in course team discussions of these questions; and (3) to list individuals, again principally in IET, who have some experience or expertise in relation to these questions and who are willing to discuss them with individuals or course teams. The educational questions discussed are: Who will be the students in the course (how many, entering at what level)? What are the course objectives (how used, at what level of specificity, how constructed, and alternatives)? What will be the overall course teaching strategy (developing a course structure, and knowing which elements will need specific planning)? What will be the broadcasting strategy (special roles for television and radio, which objectives and content should be covered by the broadcasts, assessment of broadcast content, and formal policies for broadcast development)? What will be the assessment strategy (how early this needs to be planned, and by what considerations)? What role will formal course criticism and testing play (forms of evaluation)? and How will the course team be organized? (MSE)