D7.1.1

=E–learning resources are packaged and stored for reuse. =

Evidence
It is argued that a major economic and efficiency advantage of e-learning is its potential for sharing and reusing learning materials (Jochems et al., 2004; Weller, 2004; Wiley, 2000). This view has given rise to a revision of learning materials as ‘learning objects’ in a ‘learning object economy’ (Campbell, 2003). The realm of learning objects is prominently promoted through the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM®) approach (Dodds and Thropp, 2004), which specifies a technical framework to standardise the creation, use, sharing, and reuse of learning objects. There are several definitions of learning objects, ranging from ‘…reuseable bits of learning content’ (Sloep, 2004, p. 139) to ‘…any entity, digital or nondigital, which can be used, re-used, referenced during technology supported learning’ (IEEE, 2005).

One of the incentives fuelling interest in e-learning is the expectation of reduction in the cost of education (Usoro & Abid 2008). This must actually be assessed. This is particularly so when Green (1994) notes that rapid expansion in university student numbers may be in tension with public expenditure worries. One way which e-learning could conceivably reduce costs is if learning resources, once created, can be re-used in a variety of different instructional contexts. This is particularly so if the resources possess interoperability such that they are independent of both the delivery media and knowledge management system. Reusability accords value to a learning resource (Polsani 2003).

Learning object sharing and reuse is, as Pegler (2005) discusses, a ‘hot topic’ that involves considering a wide range of conceptual approaches, including understandings of roles that learning objects may play in the future of e-learning (Bennett and McGee, 2005).

Resources
Evidence of capability in this practice is seen through the creation and use of metadata standards and templates along with repositories for storing and accessing course resources for reuse.

Wright et al. (2009) describe how e-learning materials for an MSc course were successfully developed from the outset with reuse across three separate institutions in mind. These developers ensured that cross-referencing between learning objects was explicitly prohibited so as to maximize subsequent recombination. This then necessitated a ‘sacrificial’ learning object to introduce each unit. Collaboration between subject specialists and learning technologists is emphasized.

Strijker and Collis (2006) describe an approach to identifying contextual dimensions of learning that assist with the clarifying the reuse capabilities of learning objects. There are five categories of dimension each with contexts ranging from systemic to personal. The dimensions are: cultural, ranging from systemic industrial through domestic, civic, opinion, and mercantile, to personal inspiration; learning approaches, ranging between acquisitive and participative; incentives, from organisational to personal; work processes from formal systems to personal habits; and storage that uses a repository system or is held locally (p. 92). Strijker and Collis propose a profiling tool based on this approach that enables values to be plotted on each dimension and thereby providing strategic information about the potential reusability, or otherwise, of learning objects: ‘The Learning Object Context Profiling Model can help increase awareness of stakeholders align the dimensions in a systems-oriented way…to make a reuse strategy successful’ (p. 94).

It is suggested that ‘Repurposing’ rather than ‘reusing’ might be more appealing to academics (Littlejohn 2003). At the University of Durham reusable content has been redeployed across several modules and a range of student activities have also been reused including online discussion tasks, group projects, and simulations. Also course designs that have proven effective are redeployed. At the end of the academic year the course is ready for the next year. Also, the use of metadata is essential to make the resources searchable. This is important because some LMSs are not good at enabling reuse and sharing of resources, so a central repository of reusable and repurposable materials is essential. Many academics complain that learning object reuse drives a reductionist fragmented pedagogy. However, a student centered approach can be taken with reuse of problem-based learning tasks for example.