The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Susan Metros Deputy CIO & Professor The Ohio State University Kathleen Bennett Web Instructional Technologist University of Tennessee Veronica Diaz Research Associate Virtual Adaptive Learning Architecture University of Arizona Featured Session

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Why learning objects? Learning Objects chosen as an NLII Key Theme Select “Learning Objects”

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects What are learning objects? A learning object can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as an ocean!

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects What are learning objects? “Any digital resource that can be used to support learning” (Wiley, 2000) –Reusable –Stand-alone and media independent –Tagged and referenced –Assigned ownership and a price –Peer evaluated

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects What are learning objects? LEGOs Atoms Grapes Snacking Metaphors

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects What are learning objects?

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects What are learning objects? The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects The vision “ We are on the verge of being able to provide learning customized for each specific learner at a specific time, taking into account, their learning styles, experience, knowledge and learning goals.” (Schatz, 2000)

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Examples of learning object projects and repositories MERLOT Wisconsin Online Interactive University, Berkeley /IU/Interactive University, Berkeley

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Our mission “We believe that every citizen should be able to access the education and training that they need, at any time in their lives, and when and where they need it.” Dr. Tony Bates Open Learning Agency

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Key issues Pedagogical –Quality Assurance –Example: Wisconsin Online –Example: MERLOT Technical –Meta-tagging –Intelligent searching Culture of the university –Course development models: what comes after the “lone ranger”? –Faculty development models: change management

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Initiatives and trends Initiatives –Dublin Core –IMS –OKI –CanCore Trends and visions –Redefining faculty roles –Developing the “commons of mind” –Consortia

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Uses in instruction Instructor as researcher Resource model Course design by learning preferences Course/content adaptation

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Impact on improving teaching and learning Retraining via technology Innovation and creativity in the classroom Building campus community Information distribution

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects Conditions for successful implementation Organizational mission(s) & institutional duality Implementation into traditional educational models Incentive structures and individual benefits Support resources

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects What are the right questions for institutions to ask? 1.Who will populate and maintain the repositories? 2.Who will tag the content? 3.How will learning objects align with learning management systems? 4.How will faculty and students react to a pedagogical shift towards LOs? 5.How can faculty development staff model change to create and support the use of LOs? 6.How will institutions incite faculty, support development, protect intellectual property, and fund this activity?

The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning Objects: Current Status of Digital Resource Collections Eduprise: A Collegis Eduprise Company –David McArthur, Senior Consultant The Ohio State University –Susan Metros, Deputy CIO & Professor University of Arizona –Veronica Diaz, Research Associate –Amy Metcalfe, Research Associate –Beth Harrison, Faculty, East Asian Studies University of Tennessee –Kathleen Bennett, Web Instructional Technologist Companion Concurrent Session Following this presentation 11:40 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Grand Ballroom B&C