January 19, 2007
RLOs or TPOs?
David Seah : A Chindogu Clock for Procrastinators
Remember RLOs? The term "Reusable Learning Object" has not disappeared but it has left the headlines of every learning conference brochure. I think the more meaningful work of sustainability and instructional use based on concepts of reusability has begun to emerge as the theme, rather than the earlier focus on a specific technology (a good thing).
In the spirit of creating more acronyms, however, I would like to offer a new object type: TPO** or Thought Provoking Objects (not to be confused with TPS Reports). Where RLOs focus on content, TPOs focus on getting you to think about things from a different perspective.
This idea came to me based on a new widget created by David Seah. His Procrastinator's
Clock is for those self-aware procrastinators who set their clocks ahead to get them to a destination on time. As David states, however, we know we set the clock ahead and by how much so the help is minimal. His clock varies the amount of time the clock is set ahead so that it eliminates the ability to know how far ahead you are running, thus modifying the person's behavior. The whole thing is done somewhat tongue-in-cheek to bring up a point about time.
David notes:
So why go through all this trouble to make a clock that’s sometimes fast and sometimes not? FEAR, UNCERTAINTY and DOUBT, my friends! If you use this clock to keep appointments and deadlines, and you really care about being on time, you have to assume that the clock might actually be telling the correct time though it’s likely to actually be up to 15 minutes fast. Yikes! All that anxiety should give you a good kick in the pants to get moving, because you can’t really trust the clock to be anything but on time, even though it probably is fast....I offer this clock in the spirit of Chindogu, the Japanese art of creating almost useless objects
The clock gave me a short, extreme burst of thoughtfulness around my own time management. It was not content, it did not give me 3 plus or minus 2 learning objectives like some versions of RLOs, but it was amazingly thought provoking. I could easily see pointing students in a time management class to this TPO. You could then ask them to develop thoughts about the clock and hypothesize about its use for themselves. In just showing this fun little applet to a few colleagues, brief conversations ensued about our own time management styles.
Does anyone else have examples of TPOs out there on the web?
**Disclaimer: I am not actually encouraging the use or creation of more acronyms. TPO is a weak attempt at instructional acronym humor. Please do not use this acronym at home.
Posted by Rovy at January 19, 2007 9:10 AM
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