The Hindu : Learning object repositories

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 17, 2003

Business

Business

Learning object repositories

THIS WEEK's column explores the potential of learning objects and the web repositories that help us locate them.

Anyone who has had the chance to develop a complete course material knows how difficult and time consuming the process is. We need to update the course content with new information and make sure that latest techniques/methods are adopted. Generally the instructor builds the whole course, which encompasses components such as content of the lessons, exercises, tests and the like, from scratch.

One obvious drawback of the traditional course creation process is the waste of time and resources as there is no proper mechanism to re-use a resource developed for some other course. Imagine a chemistry teacher developing a course on molecular structure. As part of this course, she may have to create a module on atomic structure and related information. It is quite probable that a physics teacher has already developed a full-fledged module on this subject as part of his course on atomic physics. So, if the chemistry lecturer can access this module and incorporate it into her course, she can save a lot of time and money. As most of the course materials are created in digital form that can be easily replicated/distributed via the Net, this kind of module sharing becomes easy. Ideas of this nature have evolved into the concept of on-line learning objects. Here, any self-contained course resource can be considered a learning object. It can be a photograph, a PowerPoint presentation, an article, or an interactive Flash movie. In fact, any teaching resource that can serve a specific learning objective can be considered a learning object.

Once a learning object is created with specified standards, it can be re-used in different courses or contexts. For example, the interactive Java tutorial on "Human Eye Accommodation'' (http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/humanvision/accommodation/index.html) can be used for a course in physics as well as for a biology course. So, the major characteristics of a `learning object' are: it should have all the features that serve a specific learning objective (self-contained) and must be re-usable in different learning contexts. For more details: http://learningobjects.wesleyan.edu/ about/index.html.

Once the concept of learning objects becomes popular and enough of them are made available to teachers/students, creating a course will boil down to just collecting appropriate learning objects that meet the course objectives and assembling them logically. On the Net you will find several sites that provide links to learning objects on various subjects. These services are called on-line learning object repositories.

Learning object repositories

A web-based application that can be used to store/find/distribute learning objects is called an on-line learning object repository. Many repositories that host feature-rich, powerful learning objects are in place. Some repositories act as `learning object' search engines, which provide links to sites with learning materials that match a search criterion. Now, let us have a look at a few popular repositories.

Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT — http://www.merlot.org/Home.po) is a free, open-source search service that can be used to locate the URLs of learning objects related to one's subject of choice. The MERLOT database, which can be browsed by subject, contains information on a wide variety of learning objects, which fall under a range of subjects that include music, accounting, business law, economics, mathematics, chemistry and biology. Through this search engine you will be able to spot learning materials that can enrich your learning experience. For example, if you are a student of economics or business management you may like the interactive tutorial on `Elasticity' available here: http://hadm.sph.sc.edu/ Courses/Econ/Elast/Elast.html.

Maricopa Learning eXchange

As per its site (http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/mlx/index.php), the Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX) is "an electronic warehouse of ideas, examples, and resources'' that support learning. The site hosts several learning objects related to diverse subjects such as computers, communication, dental hygiene, management and philosophy. When you access a search result, the service will take you to a `Packing Slip' page that provides a detailed description of the selected learning object. CAREO http://www.careo.org/: CAREO (Campus Alberta Repository of Educational Objects) is a learning object repository whose primary objective is "the creation of a searchable, Web-based collection of multidisciplinary teaching materials for educators.''

Resources

The Instructional Use of Learning Objects (http://www.reusability.org/read/): An on-line version of a book on Learning Objects.

A primer on Learning Objects: http://online.bcit.ca/sidebars/02 november/inside-out- 1.htm.

Learning About Learning Objects (http://www.learning-objects.net): An excellent site for learning more about learning objects.

Wisconsin On-Line Resource (http://www.wisc-online.com/index.htm) — A repository worth checking.

Gateway.org (http://search.thegateway.org/ — A gateway to educational materials.

Google Deskbar

Suppose you are on the application MS-Word,composing an article and want to have a quick search with Google to access some web resources related to a subject. As usual, to accomplish this, you need to fire up the browser, move to Google and type in the search string. It is obvious that you would be better off if you have some mechanism that allows you to type the search string and invoke the Google search process directly from the desktop. Google Deskbar, the new toy from Google, does exactly this.

The Deskbar, after installation, becomes a part of your taskbar; whenever you want to do a Google search, access the bar by pressing `Ctrl+Alt+G" and enter your search string. You can use the deskbar to access other Google services that include Google News (by typing Ctrl+N) and Google's calculator (just type the mathematical expression) also. For more details, visit: http://toolbar.google.com/deskbar/.

J. Murali

Email the author at: murali27@satyam.net.in

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