Learning Objects

I made a pretty major mistake in my last readings. I read the Bannan-Ritland article first. By the end of the article I had learned a lot about different theories and what the authors would and wouldn’t include in learning object. However, I was still confused as to what a learning object was.

I then read the Wiley article and realized it was a simpler concept than I had thought. The idea as I understood it was that learning objects are empty containers of constructivist learning that include little or no context.

The Koppi article stressed the need to have a searchable database of learning objects. So that educators could find the correct one for their specific needs.

In his ITT paper Merrill seemed to be concerned with what he sees as a growing emphasis on content and less on instructional strategies.

Then I looked at Dr. Oliver’s lecture and I got it a little more. My main concern with learning objects is that they are de-contextualized. The authors admit that it takes a lot of time to create a good learning object. Then the teacher/instructor has to provide the context.

I’m sure there is a place for these re-usable objects. However, since creating multi-media environments that are constructivist are becoming easier and easier to create I’m not sure I see the long term benefits.