The top-level domain (TLD) related to “.courses” is relatively unique because it specifically caters to websites that focus on learning, education, and course-related content. It was studied and opened to the public by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for usage.
As mentioned by ICANN, “The mission and purpose of the .COURSES gTLD is to be a new generation gTLD serving the interest of end users by providing an authoritative internet space where TAFE SA, its affiliate companies and partners can provide information and resources about courses in further and higher education and vocational training available primarily in South Australia, with growth into other Australian states and overseas envisaged.”
ICANN is the body responsible for coordinating domains globally. It develops internet policies and schedules the release of new TLDs. Therefore, its statement holds a technical value.
Basically, a TLD is the last segment of a domain name – the letters that come immediately after the dot symbol. For example, in the domain “www.google.com”, “.com” is the TLD.
When a domain is registered or purchased, it’s effectively renting space on the internet. The registrar of the domain, like GoDaddy or Namecheap, creates a unique DNS entry for the domain that points to the IP address of the server where the domain’s site is hosted. This is how website browsers know how to locate a particular website when a user types in a domain name.
This ‘.courses’ TLD is a generic top-level domain (gTLD), and it falls under the category of a sponsored TLD (sTLD) that represents a specific community served, sponsored by TAFE SA, a South Australian public technical and further education (TAFE) institute.
One example of its usage is the website “www.openlearning.courses”, where OpenLearning, the massive online open courses (MOOCs) provider, provides their courses.
Sources:
• ICANN https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/assignments-2012-02-25-en
• GoDaddy https://www.godaddy.com/garage/what-is-a-domain-name/
• Source https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/
• Source https://lookup.icann.org/lookup
• Database information of IANA https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
• Neustar registry https://www.neustarregistry.biz/about-us/
• GoDaddy https://www.godaddy.com/help/what-is-a-domain-name-2020
• Dotcourses TAFE SA enrollment site. https://enrollments.courses/
• OpenLearning https://www.openlearning.courses/
