Reusability of Learning Objects


Learning objects are essentially “chunks” or "packets" of learning materials that can be used within learning environments. The rationale behind building them as chunks is to facilitate resource sharing for the purpose of maximizing reuse in different learning contexts (Downes, 2001[1]; Wiley, 2002[2]).

 

Two key characteristics in the Learning Object(LO) model are what it is used for and its reusability. In fact, use and reuse are so central to LOs that reusability is regarded as a defining attribute. Wiley (2002) for instance defines a learning object as “any digital resource that can be reused to support learning.”

 

 

At the end of this unit you will have understood  

 

 

Learning Objects become reusable when they are both accessible and adaptable.

 

Standards to describe and annotate LO 

 Considerable effort has been expended to develop standards to describe and annotate educational and non educational electronic materials. The use of annotating, describing your learning materials through metadata is several fold. Metadata aids in the discovery of your resources, helps with reusability of your learning objects and facilitates interoperability - like for example you can export your objects from one learning management system and import them in another.

 

Metadata element sets/schema[6] for learning materials include the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative(http://dublincore.org/), the IEEE-LOM (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – Learning Object Metadata) (IEEE, 2002). The IEEE-LOM metadata schema has more than 70 metadata fields, the most extensive metadata set specifically designed for LOs.

 

View these presentations freely available from Slideshare. The first is an introduction to the DCMI metadata set and the next on IEEE-LOM metadata schema:

Introduction to Dublin Core Metadata
View more presentations from Hannes Ebner.

 

An introduction to IEEE(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) - LOM(Learning Object Metadata)

 
View more presentations from Bram Vandeputte.

Another set of standards for elearning products is the SCORM(Sharable Content Object Reference Model; http://scorm.com/scorm-explained/). These standards are for creating sharable learning objects that can be reused in different contexts or systems.

 

Please view this presentation on SCORM from slideshare- 

 

Scorm, A Beginners Guide.
View more presentations from Thinking Camp.

A number of learning content generation editors now  allow a developer to create SCORM content. These include the freely available and easy to use eXe software(www.exe.org), or RELOAD(http://www.reload.ac.uk/) besides learning management systems such as Moodle(www.moodle.org).

 

 

 There are several screencasts available to help one get started with these editors (such as 

http://exelearning.org/wiki/Screencasts). You could also check out this presentation on how SCORM packages generated through eXe can be loaded onto Moodle.

 

 

 

In a group of 4 or 5 workshop participants, try to create a learning object (text with image/video or a PowerPoint presentation or in eXe for example) and write down its key metadata elements with values (like for example: DCMI label Title="Reusability of Learning Objects"). Package the content files and metadata as a SCORM package(through eXe or RELOAD). 

 

 

In conclusion, we have learned of the usefulness of developing reusable learning material. We have also learned that developing learning content as Learning Objects enhances reusability. Finally, creating learning objects to available standards faciliate object discovery, reusability and interoperability.

Footnotes

  1. Downes, S. (2001). Learning objects. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 2(1).
  2. Wiley DA. Connecting learning objects to instructional design theory:A definition, a metaphor, and a taxonomy. In The Instructional Use of Learning Objects, Wiley Ed. published by the Agency for Instructional Technology, 2002.
  3. A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software for planning,delivering, and managing learning events either web based or standalone.LMS are used by educational institutions to enhance and support classroom teaching and offering courses to a larger population of learners across the globe.
  4. A CMS or Content Management System helps manage any kind of digital content:text, images, graphics, video, sound, documents in electronic format. Like an LMS it is a software that allows users to to create, edit, manage and finally publish (in a number of formats) a variety of content (such as text, graphics, video, documents etc), whilst being constrained by a centralised set of rules, process and workflows that ensure coherent, validated electronic content.
  5. Metadata or meta-information can be simply described as “data about data”. Metadata helps describe the characteristics of an information resource in a way that both humans and computers can understand. This facilitates use and management of the information resource.
  6. A metadata Element Set is a set of descriptive definitions that represents a core set of elements characterizing a resource. Standard element sets are useful across a broad range of resources and disciplines of study.