News & Events
November 26, 2003
How Can We Avoid the Pitfalls of Learning Objects and use them Effectively Instead?
By Brian Lamb, Office of Learning Technology
Last month our intrepid e-Learning insider, Brian Lamb, wrote about learning object repositories and described some of the larger collections of educational resources available to instructors. This month, he writes that there’s more to using learning objects effectively in higher education than just finding them.
Learning Objects Part 2: Pitfalls and Progress
Some bold claims for the potential of learning objects (LO) were made when the concept was introduced a few years ago. It was promised that they would revolutionize education. They would lead to online learning environments that could inexpensively deliver personalized and dynamic instruction to individuals. Needless to say, this vision has yet to materialize, and there is increasing skepticism being voiced about the value of learning objects in general.
There are plenty of reasons why learning objects have yet to fulfill their promise, but most pitfalls boil down to three issues: pedagogy, intellectual property, and workload.
This short piece does not pretend to be a comprehensive examination of these issues. But here's a short overview of these concerns, some strategies to address them, and some reasons to believe learning objects are powerful tools for teaching and learning.
#1: Pedagogy - Where’s the learning?
When some proponents use the term “learning objects”, they imply a vision of online teaching that is dramatically different from what we currently have.
We are asked to imagine a world where teaching and learning is almost completely automated: Every “chunk” of information in a lesson is broken down into the smallest size possible. Each bit of learning content is rigorously “tagged” and packaged so that a powerful content management system can automatically put together customized lessons. These lessons are created according to an individual’s strengths, weaknesses and learning objectives, and they can be accessed anytime or anywhere.
Such a system might be useful in corporate settings, or for teaching relatively straightforward concepts or skills, such as how to configure an Excel spreadsheet.
But it invokes ominous, even Orwellian associations to many teachers. They argue that breaking lessons and instruction down into atomic parts, which separates content from context, is an absurd practice. The technical focus of the learning objects enterprise has prompted a wide backlash, with skeptics arguing that it creates “education as if engineers did it.”
This communication breakdown is unfortunate and need not be the case. Rather than pushing automated delivery systems, software developers might concentrate on building tools that make it easier for instructors to collect and re-present digital resources. For their part, instructors already re-use and re-combine educational materials, such as textbooks, syllabi, and lesson plans. Their skills for critical assessment and contextualization are vital to the creation of meaningful online learning experiences as they are in the classroom.
As an example, see this month's article about UBC's Arts ISIT, who recently launched what they refer to as Learning Object Template Tools - or LOT tools. These are two new online tools that faculty and students can use to easily create their own multimedia learning tools with their own content. Essentially, Arts ISIT has created learning objects that in turn create learning objects.
#2: Intellectual Property
“How do I protect my work online?” “How can I assure attribution?” “How might I recover the costs of producing my resource?” “How do I know if I can use this learning object?” Answers to the questions surrounding intellectual property and educational multimedia could fill a book – and boy, do I wish somebody would write one.
The policies and procedures around digital rights management are presently in flux. It’s not quite online info-anarchy and there are helpful online destinations to visit.
- If you have found a resource online and want to know if you need to license it, eduSource Canada has produced an excellent “Guide to Online Content Use”. This site uses background information and a slick “permissions wizard” which makes it much easier to determine whether you can use a type of content or a particular item.
- If you are willing to share your work, but wish to assert copyright, check out Creative Commons. It has already released a set of copyright licenses (and the tools for creators to help choose the best one), and efforts are underway to extend CC’s reach to educational contexts, and to Canada.
- Hosted by UBC’s University-Industry Liaison Office, Flintbox offers secure hosting as well as commercial and non-commercial licensing frameworks for UBC researchers. If you believe that your multimedia has commercial potential, Flintbox has an e-Commerce capability that allows end-users to pay directly through the site.
#3: Work, work, work
Learning objects demand new approaches in the way we create, manage and use digital resources. The broader online learning community is changing rapidly as a result. For instance, current versions of WebCT support importing and exporting standards-compliant “content packages”. This means that creating learning objects will much easier, and will require little additional effort on the part of instructors when they create their courses.
Nonetheless, there is much uncharted territory, and as a result “best practices” is often expressed by those in the field as: “hey, that looks cool!” The University of Waterloo has posted a number of interesting learning object reuse stories that illustrate how people across institutions, disciplines, and systems can use resources. But every situation is different, with its own requirements, and is bound to face its own particular challenges.
Thankfully, practices are evolving, and progress is being made. Tools, techniques and partnerships are emerging rapidly, and many of them are in place at UBC. The university has committed significant resources and effort toward developing a community of practice dedicated to using and reusing educational multimedia effectively. Last month’s article describes some of the other activities related to Learning Objects at UBC.
While the challenges reviewed here will require continued attention, the progress we're making suggests there is more reason than ever to believe that learning objects will ultimately be of benefit to higher learning.
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Contact: Brian Lamb
About e-Learning
UBC's e-Strategy, which includes e-Learning as a key component, helps find creative ways to use technology to enhance learning. e-Learning improves the overall learning experience of UBC’s community by providing tools and infrastructure for using technology in innovative and effective ways and strengthening and coordinating support networks. Thousands of UBC students go online daily to engage with fellow students, and faculty, and access course content in new ways.
About UBC's e-Strategy
UBC's e-Strategy enables students, faculty and staff to excel in one of the world's leading universities by enhancing learning, research and community through leading-edge technology initiatives.
e-Strategy is a guiding framework to align UBC's technology initiatives with the university's strategic goals. Activities include project development, information and resource sharing, and setting long terms goals for technology at UBC.
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Other stories from the November issue of e-Strategy Update :
New e-Learning Tools Make It Easy for Faculty And Students to Create Media-Rich Learning Resources
UBC Science Researcher Receives Prestigious e-Learning Fellowship
New Workshop Gives UBC Staff The Skills to Change and Improve Processes
How Can We Avoid The Pitfalls of Learning Objects and Use Them Effectively Instead?
Adopting New Technology Can Feel Like Riding a Rollercoaster, But UBC Is Right on Track
Tell us your e-Strategy story!
E-mail the e-Strategy team at
e-strategy@ubc.ca. |
