Situativity: Learning Objects, Repositories, and Google

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February 23, 2005

Learning Objects, Repositories, and Google

Alan asks some good questions about the quality and even the purpose of learning object repositories.

I think that there are a couple of issues. Now, as a matter of disclosure I have to say that I straddle multiple worlds (primary income from the corporate sector, secondary income as faculty member, spent significant income on tuition as an doctoral candidate). As I noted in an earlier post on a developmental taxonomy for learning objects, I am still playing around with an additional element that might turn my simple definitions into more of a matrix with a second dimension: formal vs. informal learning objects.

Formal learning objects are tagged, coded, and designed to meet a specific instructional objective. Informal learning objects are content that might not have originally had an instructional purpose but, due to the way the content is used in a course, it becomes a "learning object." (Let's not get into the semantics of that term here).

In terms of a repository, it seems as though the value is on the side of formal objects (e.g. a Flash simulation for using safety equipment, a template for a problem-based learning course, or a lesson on using blogs in the classroom) versus informal objects (e.g. a web page put up by human resources to give an overview of company policy, etc.).

I am still wrangling with this but, as a designer, I use formal repositories and informal links to informational sites when creating learning experiences. It is nice to have a repository I can access with all of the relevant instructional graphics for a particular topic at my fingertips. Not to mention that these are vetted from a copyright perspective so I know I am working with elements that will not put me in legal trouble. Is formal/informal a worthwhile distinction? From an epistemological perspective, probably not. From a pragmatic perspective, maybe...

Posted by Rovy at February 23, 2005 4:45 AM

Comments

Alan Levine (original poster) made a comment here and now it is gone due to an operator error (i.e. my stupidity) during a spam comment purge :(

He said that he does not really care whay you call it but that there has to be some demarcation between simple web pages and learning content (I think, Alan feel free to correct I am working from memory here).

Thanks for comment. Sorry for the deletion!

Rovy

Posted by: Situativity at February 23, 2005 1:08 PM