Learning object

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Definition

Learning objects are supposed to be reusable learning objects (RLO)

Small (relative to the size of an entire course) instructional components that can be reused a number of times in different learning contexts.

“digital entities deliverable over the internet” (Wiley, 2000, p.3)

See also: the learning object repository article and the list of learning objects repositories

What is a learning object ?

Size

"The purpose of learning objects and their reality seem to be at odds with one another. On the one hand, the smaller designers create their learning objects, the more reusable those objects will be. On the other hand, the smaller learning objects are, the more likely it is that only humans will be able to assemble them into meaningful instruction. From the traditional instruction point of view, the higher-level reusability of small objects does not scale well to large numbers of students (i.e., it requires teachers or instructional designers to intervene), meaning that the supposed economic advantage of reusable learning objects has evaporated. " ([1])

Teaching materials

Most commonly used learning objects are teaching materials that can be found in teacher-centered repositories. There are several categories, e.g.

Simple Contents for learners (e.g. Web Pages, Word documents)
Multimedia presentations and multimedia animations
Interactive learning software (e.g. interactive multimedia
Microworlds

E-learning objects

In the world of e-learning, learning objects mostly refer to a set of interactive web pages, in particular standards-based IMS Content Packaging that can be imported into a LMS.

The SCORM 2004 3rd Edition Overview (p 1-6) defines “ilities,” that should caracterize a learning objects "economy":

Accessibility: The ability to locate and access instructional components from one remote location and deliver them to many other locations.
Adaptability: The ability to tailor instruction to individual and organizational needs.
Affordability: The ability to increase efficiency and productivity by reducing the time and costs involved in delivering instruction.
Durability: The ability to withstand technology evolution and changes without costly redesign, reconfiguration or recoding.
Interoperability: The ability to take instructional components developed in one location with one set of tools or platform and use them in another location with a different set of tools or platform.
Reusability: The flexibility to incorporate instructional components in multiple applications and contexts.

Constructionist learning objects

The constructionist Oren Zuckerman (2006, in preparation) defines a learning object as {{quotation | specifically designed to promote learning through hands-on interaction. They are popular materials in early childhood education, at school and at home.

See constructionist learning object

Formal definition of learning objects

See the standards article for an overview and the Learning object standard article for a technical overview table
See educational modeling languages and IMS Content Packaging for the most important faces of pedagogical e-learning standards.

Pedagogical design and learning objects

Learning objects play different roles in given instructional design models / pedagogic strategies. Ip and Morrison (2001) argue that one should clearly distinguish three main types of educational technology uses cases and that emphasize different kinds of resources:

Learn from a computer ([CBT]], [e-instruction]], etc.): Learning objects, i.e. learning objects in a narrow sense.
Learn with a computer (cognitive tool, writing-to-learn, etc.): Software tools
Learn via a computer (CSCL, etc.): Communication (peer learners)

Pedagogical Design	Nature of the resources	Need special rendering software	Resources are specifically designed for educational use
Tutorial, Drill and Practice	Test or drill items, (may be structured to meet interoperability standards such as IMS QTI)	Yes – directly or indirectly. Some learning objects may have embedded content and some may not.	Yes
Case Study Method	Teaching cases	No - cases are normally hardcopy but online cases can include video – but hard-wired to the learning scenario (see GBL)	Yes
Goal-based learning	Stories, or video clips, provided mainly ‘ondemand’	No	Yes
Learning by designing	The requirement for an artifact	No	Yes
Web-based role-play, simulation	A scenario & associated design of the role play, simulation resources	No, but the environment itself may be a specialist engine (Ip & Linser, 1999)	Scenario etc: yes, Resources: no
Distributed problem based learning	Problem for solving during the learning	No	Yes
Critical incident-based computer supported learning	Opportunities for learning - incidence	No	No
Rule-based simulation	Embedded in the software	Yes, most componentbased approaches to creating rule-based simulation will have embedded content in the components which roughly map to learning objects in this paper	Yes
Cognitive tool	Structured content to work with some tools, generic tools may not need any content	N/A	N/A
Resource-based Learning Environment	Resources	Search tool and resource discovery mechanism, e.g. in the form of support from subject gateways	No

Table 1: Use of Resources in Different Pedagogical Design (Albert Ip and Iain Morrison,2001)

Learning Objects Repositories

In the case of digital learning resources, there are many problems to be overcome before we can expect widespread reuse and sharing. Learning tends to be highly contextual, and context is not as easy to disseminate as data alone. (Learning )

See the learning object repository article and the list of Learning objects repositories

Links

http://www.reusability.org/read/ (on line book)
http://ijklo.org/ (This is an open content on-line journal)
http://learningobjects.org/ (Portal with advice, good links for articles, etc.)
Learning Objects

References

Advanced Distributed Learning (2006): SCORM 2004 3rd Edition Overview Version 1.0, Available from http://www.adlnet.gov/.

Ip, Albert, Iain Morrison and Mike Currie (2001). What is a learning object, technically?, WebNet2001 conference, Orlando, USA. PDF

Ip, Albert and Iain Morrison (2001), Learning Objects in Different Pedagogical Paradigms, ASCILITE 2001. PDF

Wiley, David A. (2000). Connecting learning objects to instructional design theory: A definition, a metaphor, and a taxonomy. In D.A. Wiley (Ed.). The Instructional Use of Learning Objects [on-line]. Available: [2].

Wiley, Gibbons, & Recker. (2000). A reformulation of the issue of learning object granularity and its implications for the design of learning objects PDF

Williams, Roy (2003) Context, Content and Commodities: e-Learning Objects, Electronic Journal of e-Learning (EJEL) 2 (2). Abstract (PDF/HTML open access)