I happen to agree that they are basically useless for indicating whether someone actually understands the material. No external URLs are provided. The Subject is expected to do the work of finding other related material themselves. The Subject is expected to research aspects of the material by referring to other Internet sites. This fosters reinforcement of the concepts presented while providing a different perspective of the content.
Feedback is as close to immediate as possible and reliable .
The Completion Certificate becomes a concrete 'goal'. The basic idea is that teachers with specific skills are able to pass on those skills to others who would not normally have the opportunity. My particular interest is Electronics which lends itself to this form of small 'bite-sized' pieces of information. I am sure that many of you reading this article have unique skills that could be used as a basis for similar WebPD Courses. Feel free to download the pages and use them in any way you like to set up your own Courses.