Rethinking Reusability
This chapter provides the results of a study that tracked the use of fifty-three online role-plays in Australian higher education over the period 1990–2006, calculating that forty-five of these were a reuse of another role-play. Most reused the design of another role-play (82%) whereas only a handful reused a role-play itself (18%) which confirms the relevance of learning designs as a reusability construct but raises concerns about learning objects. The instances of reuse of the same role-play involved four role-plays which were analyzed in more detail. This fuller history of reuse post-2006 provided a rich sample for: Exploring issues around what is meant by “reuse,” describing factors that could improve the design of reusable learning objects (RLOs). The implications from this study apply in particular to RLOs that involve active, authentic and collaborative learning such as online role-plays.