There can be little doubt that the key to embedding reusable learning objects (RLOs) into the curriculum is contextualization. Without context, RLOs can at best have unfulfilled potentiality and at worst be useless or indeed, meaningless. The context for learning depends upon the point of view of the user. As a lead teacher user I have a view on the learning outcomes for my students and as such I have a view on the materials the students will need to work with to fulfil these outcomes. As a student user I work within a learning outcomes framework and as well as working with the given learning resources I also identify my own learning opportunities. This is particularly relevant if I am a student enrolled on a problem-based learning curriculum.
In Birmingham we are developing a problem-based learning curriculum for a graduate medical course, due to start October 2003. We also have a current 5-year undergraduate medical programme. The following article draws upon our approach to the utilization of RLOs and contextualization in our present course.
In a 5 year medical programme the chances of a lead teacher knowing all the opportunities where a particular topic are covered is slim. Where are all the places where diabetes crops up? How about Parkinson's Disease? It's actually quite difficult to say as the nature of clinical teaching, particularly the reliance upon opportunistic learning, can be unpredictable.
How do we cope with this? We use metadata, particularly subject description metadata to define explicit and implicit links between areas of the curriculum. An example explicit link is the link between a lecture and its PowerPoint file, or the link between a module and formative assessment. An implicit link would be between a first year lecture on the pharmacology of Parkinson's Disease and a 4th year neurology clinic where students meet patient with Parkinsonian disorders. In the latter example the lead teachers from the two areas of the curriculum need never meet (though it'd be helpful if they did!) but instead by sharing the same subject concept (Parkinson's Disease) links can be made between their sessions.
Here's an example. This screenshot shows all th session in the curriculum sharing the subject concept 'heart conduction system'. You can immediately see vertical integration of this curriculum topic by virtue of the fact that it occurs in years 1, 2 & 4 of the course. Below the curriculum links is a list of the learning objects relevant to the subject. In this example you can see a link to a multimedia tutorial on ECGs as well as links to some formative assessment MCQs.
In this screen shot you can see the result of selecting one of the curriculum links in the overview above. In this example the lecture 'Electrical activity of the heart' you can see a lecture synopsis, links to related resources, links to off-campus RLOs (more about these shortly) and very importantly links to learning outcomes for this session. The details of this session plus the learning outcomes contextualize both the 3rd party links (OMNI and PubMed) as well as the learning objects within the curriculum. The RLOs that are generated in-house inherit the learning context, particularly the learning outcomes. In this way RLOs becomes contextualized within the curriculum but in a way that's flexible for both lead teachers and students. By simultaneous tagging with subject concept metadata students are free to navigate the curriculum from the point of view of subject concepts as well as learning outcomes and still be able to find RLOs of interest.
As an example of contextualizing external resources, that is resources or RLOs (depending upon your point of view) that have been created by others external to our institution this screen shot shows how we embded the Resource Discovery Network within our curriculum. The RDN OMNI medical gateway uses the same subject metadata (medical sub-heading - MeSH) that we use so we share a common concept space. In addition, because MeSh is a controlled vocabulary we share a consistent concept space. Our RLO database is able to create dynamic links to external RLO repositories that share common metadata thereby adding a further layer contextualization.
Finally here's another example of the power of our metadata contextualization. This screen shot shows a similar view to a previous example only this time with the subject concept 'Parkinson's Disease'. Note again the link to curriculum resources (with their associated learning outcomes adding a curriculum context) and links to RLOs.
Selecting one of the RLOs this time generates a screen showing the RLO detail. This is a movie clip from our media database. The RLO may be used in itself as an example of, in this case, a pallidotomy surgical procedure to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, or in context of the curriculum. The context of use is dependent upon the nature of the enquiry. A lead teacher using this RLO to put together a tutorial on Parkinson's Disease has a different context to a student seeking an illustrative example as part of a PBL exercise. Both contexts are valid for this particular RLO as are any number of alternate contexts for other users.
Are there any generalizations we can make from these examples? I think so.
- RLOs must have a context to be meaningful.
- The context is dependent upon the user. RLOs can have explicit or implicit contextual links.
- Learners will create their own contextual links to and between RLOs.
- Context can be inherited in a VLE to create implicit links between learning opportunities and RLOs.
- Learning outcomes contextualize RLOs within a curriculum or specified learning experience.
- RLO repositories can use metadata to create contextual links to other repositories.
Your comments on this are welcome.
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Copyright 2003 David Davies
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