Learning Objects -- where's the beef?

The article is an interesting read, but it is (in my opinion) just one more example of why Learning Objects as a practical technology has been a non-starter. First, no two proponents agree what a learning object is. Is it code (or maybe script)? Is it content? Must it be context-free? Is it multimedia? Is it simply a text or PowerPoint module? You will find all of these definitions and more. I still think that Learning Objects was originally a marketing concept dreamed up by someone working for a large courseware vendor, and that it was a confusion over the notion of "programming objects" and object-oriented programming.

Second, other than re-using existing text or PowerPoint, nobody seems to be able to explain in clear, concise style how to create, maintain, or re-use a learning object. Yes I know it sounds like I think there should be a "Learning Objects for Dummies" -- but you know what? I think that if the idea was really working, there would be a "Learning Objects for Dummies" on the Amazon website. And until the concept gets as clear as the topics of the Dummies books, and as useful, learning objects are going to continue to be an idea in search of a reproducible instance.

If we mean re-use or repurposing, we should just say so.

Creating Learning Objects from Pre-Authored Course Materials.

This article by Anita Petrinjak and Rodger Graham appeared in the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology. The authors present an interesting XML-based method for generating LOs from existing course materials that looks very promising; their work includes the development of an LO authoring tool for users who do not have XML programming skills.

However, despite the optimistic conclusions in the Abstract and in the article,  no detailed examples of usable, transformed LOs are exhibited and no reports from users are provided--consequently it is not possible to truly evaluate the methodology. This is something like trying to evaluate the quality of a computer language translation by looking at a few sentences or phrases rather than seeing the complete document.  (An Appendix with one example, is missing from the online version of this article.)  ____JH

(Via the Distance-Educator.com Daily News for June, 29, 2005) _________ "Abstract. This paper describes work that was done at Athabasca University as part of the EduSource Canada project. This work centered around learning object development based on pre-authored educational content. The major outcomes of the work were the development of an explicit semantic structure with strong educational focus for learning objects, and the implementation of that structure, using platform/software-independent XML technology. An explicit semantic structure for educational content has some significant advantages: it enables faster publishing of material in different formats using automated processes; it allows institutions to participate in seamless content exchange with other institutions; and it enables more accurate discovery and reuse of learning objects within learning object repositories."

4:31:05 PM    

Podcasting to (make that "with") students forbidden -- followup.

No further comment from me.

Univ. to EduPodcaster: "Don't Talk to Students". Oy.

Steve Sloan at San Jose State University has been told by his boss that he can no longer include students in his podcasts. Not exactly clear what the circumstances were, but it appears to be a mix of doing it on the school's time and dime and, unfortunately, wanting to stifle the conversation, it seems. Take the time to read through the last couple weeks of posts to get the whole story.

But I love his response:

Who gave me permission to speak to students? Who gives me permission to broadcast my ideas to the world? Who gave me permission to talk about what I do and to open up about what I see both in my job and in the rest of my life?

I did. I have officially given myself permission to talk about where I work and what I do because that is where I work and what I do. I want the people I work with and work for to see what I do and know what I am thinking.

I also want them to tell me I am full of crap if they think I am. Because, I may be full of crap and not see it. If they think I am full of crap I want to know why they think that. I listen to what they say. If I am full of crap I want to be able to admit it and change. But, if I look at what is going on and see they are the ones full of crap I reserve the right to say that as well.

I want to be accountable to the people I call clients and/or customers and I want to give them the best service I know how to. I also feel that since I get a paycheck from the state of California, the people of the state are all my clients as well as my investors and they deserve the best return on their investment possible from me and the university I work for.

So, I give myself permission to speak, learn, try things and even make mistakes as long as I learn from those mistakes and I can only do that if people know what I am doing and talk to me.

4:04:33 PM