Purpose: This paper seeks to describe XML technologies and to show how they can be applied for developing web-based courses and supporting authors who do not have much experience with the preparation of web-based courses. Design/methodology/approach: When developing online courses the academic staff has to address the following problem--how to keep pace with the ever-changing technology. Using XML technologies helps to develop a learning environment which can be useful for academics when designing web-based courses, preparing the materials and then reusing them. Findings: The paper discusses the benefits of using XML for developing computer-based courses. The task of introducing new versions of existing courses can be reduced to editing appropriate XML files without any need for program change and an author can perform this task easily from a computer connected to the internet. What is more--using XML makes it possible to reuse data in different teaching situations. Research limitations/implications: The environment has only been used for two years and further research is needed on how user-friendly the system really is and how it can still be improved. Practical implications: The paper describes the environment which can be used to develop and reuse online materials, courses, metadata etc. Originality/value: The paper offers practical help to academics interested in web-based teaching.