Using Learning Objects in K-12 Education

Reusable Learning Object technology offers K-12 teachers and students the opportunity to access resources that can be used and reused in classroom teaching and learning environments. A support tool for teachers, QuickScience™, was developed to help teachers and students improve performance in science standards; resources in QuickScience™ are built upon RLO technologies. Six types of RLOs, including five types of instructional resources aligned to Bloom’s taxonomy, are used by teachers to help students improve their performance in science. QuickScience™ offers teachers a model for improving performance, including steps of diagnose, plan, teach, and assess.

Being a Content Expert is Fun Again with Pachyderm

This chapter discusses the reasoning behind the lack of the expected authoring of digital learning objects. It argues that the creation and dissemination of learning objects by university faculty have not occurred as a result of technical hurdles and frightening acronyms, lack of organizational procedures, unclear legal and ownership issues, and the ineffectiveness of “selling” the idea to faculty as part of the promotion and tenure process. The technology, interfaces and storage devices have been in place for some time, waiting for the learning object authors to publish their work. The Pachyderm 2.0 software is discussed as a tool for faculty to utilize. The author hopes that discussing and enumerating the obstacles to learning object authoring and dissemination, combined with the proposal of using the Pachyderm software along with a model of working with organizational information technology (IT) staff, will assist all involved in circulating successful digital learning objects.

Teaching Frameworks for Context-Rich Instruction

This chapter proposes a category of tools called design objects that can be used by instructors to integrate existing content sources, including but not limited to learning objects, within teaching frameworks that engage learners with content in meaningful ways. Emphasis is on tools to support the K-12 instructor, although related issues are applicable across educational levels. Examples of teaching-oriented design objects are provided along with related development systems, however it is argued the former represent more viable options for teachers given limitations in the learning object economy, conceptualizations of teachers regarding objects, complexity in packaging objects, and classroom control issues. The possibility of design objects and development systems working in tandem is discussed, with development systems prescribing effective educational strategies for novice teachers and design objects supporting more personalized content development. Various sources for new design objects are suggested to encourage further development and research.

Repositories

This chapter presents an overview of the use of digital repositories in the field of education. The authors’ purpose in writing this chapter is not only to provide their readers with general knowledge about educational repositories, but to give them some idea of the various issues and processes involved in launching a digital repository. The chapter first discusses key concepts and general functions of repositories, and offers the authors’ thoughts on the most important functions of repository software management tools. A case study of repository implementation for the State of Florida is briefly described. The chapter closes with a look at some of the different ways repositories are being used nationally and globally, and with the authors’ expectations on future developments in this area.

Bridging the Academic Divide

There is a commonly held perception in industry that the academic community is out of touch and irrelevant. Surely, there must be a way to bridge this perception gap and leverage academe’s disciplinary and instructional expertise to benefit the commercial workforce. This chapter presents a collaborative development model that accomplishes this goal, specifically relating to the production of self-paced, Web-based learning objects, catalogued within workforce development curricula. The model provides a roadmap that maximizes the expertise of college faculty, industry managers, and multimedia production specialists to meet the needs of government sponsors, commercial corporations, nonprofit postsecondary institutions, and individual learners.

Learning Objects

This chapter presents a case study of a teacher education faculty member as she researches learning objects and integrates the concepts into her curriculum. The case unfolds as the instructor begins to plan the curriculum for the upcoming semester. The planning process leads to questions where the instructor investigates: why learning objects should be used, how learning objects should be used, where learning objects can be found, how learning objects should be integrated, and how learning objects should be evaluated. The investigation concerning learning objects and the course continue simultaneously. Throughout this journey, the author provides examples from the course as she strives to: (1) create an awareness of learning objects among her students and (2) provide an experience where students are afforded opportunities to determine the value of using learning objects as an instructional tool.

Learning Objects for Employee Training and Competency Development

Learning objects are being used more and more by the corporate training world. Their acceptance by corporate training can be attributed in part to the fact that they provided those departments with a system and tools that they could present to their decision makers—a system that aligned with corporate goals. Some of those goals included the need to train a global workforce and the need to do it in an effective, competitive, and efficient manner. The examples provided demonstrate how and why learning object systems have found success in different corporations. First content was chosen that could be developed, parsed, stored, and retrieved. The content was both reusable and migratory. Next robust systems that allow the various learning audiences to access the content and use it for various purposes were built. And finally, the benefits to the various stakeholders were successfully marketed and accepted.

Engineering Reusable Learning Objects

We adapt the object-oriented software engineering design methodology for software objects to engineering reusable learning objects. Our approach extends design principles for reusable learning objects. The resulting learning object class is a template from which individualised learning objects can be dynamically created for, or by, students. The properties of these classes refine learning object definitions and design guidelines. We adapt software object levels of cohesion to learning object classes. We demonstrate reusability increases when learning object lessons are built from learning objects, like maintainable software systems are built from software objects. We identify facilities for learning management systems to support object-oriented learning object lessons that are less predetermined in sequencing activities for each student. Our overall approach to the design of learning object lessons is independent of, and complementary to, instructional design theory underlying the learning object design process, and metadata standards adopted by the IEEE for learning object packaging.

Creating a Patchwork Quilt for Teaching and Learning

This chapter explores the use of learning objects within the context of teacher education. The authors argue that learning objects can be useful in teacher education if we both create and code learning objects appropriately to the needs of the teacher education community. The chapter begins with framing the teaching and learning issues associated with the use of learning objects in higher education. Next, the chapter introduces a method for generating and marking up learning objects; examples are described where learning objects are created and coded to address the teaching and learning needs of teacher educators and teachers. The authors conclude with a discussion of the issues and prospects for the use of learning objects in teacher education.

American Sign Language Learning Objects for Instruction

Little consideration has been given to involving the deaf community in higher education teaching and learning as it relates to the use of instructional technology. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was mindful of this need and collaborated with Instructional Communications Systems, University of Wisconsin-Extension to work with instructors in the use of technology and develop American Sign Language (ASL) learning objects as components of ASL courses. The purpose of this chapter is to present a background on learning objects; the use of ASL learning objects in three higher education settings; recommendations for the use of learning objects for multiple higher education disciplines; and insights into future and emerging trends related to the use of learning objects in higher education.