Abstract: Micro-level course organisation is one of the key pedagogical elements of an online course. This paper investigates one approach of organising online course sessions, the ICARE model. The paper briefly reviews the literature and makes an analysis of the model and its usefulness and then proceeds to make a formative evaluation of the use of the model at the University of Botswana in the Online Master in Project Management, which is currently under development. The evaluation reveals that while ICARE model is versatile and has compelled the course developers to pay attention to the various pedagogical elements of an effective learning environment, there is still a deficiency of interactiveness, integratedness and reflectiveness in the sessions developed. Thus ongoing situated support as well as availability of comprehensive templates could assist the course developers develop more effective sessions.