After discussing DyKnow products for the past few weeks, it's time to switch gears. I have been assigned "Learning Objects" as my second blog topic and will be reporting on these now, along with any other interesting technology news or sites I come across.
There are many different ways of defining the phrase "learning objects" in education, but the one that seems to be the most prevalent/accepted is David A Wiley's. According to Wiley, a learning object is "any digital resource that can be reused to support learning... The main idea of 'learning objects' is to break educational content down into small chunks that can be reused in various learning environments, in the spirit of object-oriented programming" (see site linked above). In other words, learning objects are digital materials that come in relatively small chunks and can be used in many different lessons. Various websites can be considered learning objects, as can PowerPoints, animations, videos, podcasts, and other digital materials.
Many websites have been designed to collect and host learning objects so that educators can find ones that match their units. One site, called "LOLA Exchange," has a helpful video showing why the exchange of learning objects is beneficial. Check the site out here and watch the very brief introductory video.
This weekend I will search for some K-12 library learning objects to make this concept a little more clear and relevant. :) In the meantime, please feel free to post any initial reactions!
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3 comments:
OK maybe I am slow, but I am not sure how to utilize learning objects?? I understood your description and I looked at the link you provided, but I guess I am not getting it :-)
I agree with you! It's taken me a while just to understand what learning objects are and why this topic has been assigned!
Here's my best explanation at this point: Learning objects are basically any type of digital aid that can be used in your lesson and can be resued for other lessons. A videotaped experiment posted to the Web, for example, is a learning object that can be used in a seventh grade science class in one school and a tenth grade biology class in another school, depending on the context in which it is presented and the discussions/ assignments that spring from it.
The goal of learning objects seems to be to provide students with a variety of smaller chunks of information in a lesson instead of presenting them with a continuous lecture that is much less stimulating and does not appeal to various learning styles.
Library PowerPoints, video clips, or even short digital scavenger hunts could all be considered learning objects that are relevant to us. I will find a couple of examples to post this afternoon.
I hope this helps to clarify a somewhat vague topic! :)
The definitions of learning objects were cumbersome and not really helpful. I think I finally understand what they are but that was more but what you wrote than by the definitions.
I look forward to learning more about this topic especially since it sounds like it could be relevant to us when we have our own LMC.
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