D7.2.2

=E–learning design and (re)development procedures include explicit consideration of reusing pre-existing resources before new resources are created. =

Evidence
Reusing pre-existing learning resources may be financially economical and save on staff preparation time. There is also the potential benefit of limiting ‘scope creep’ in courses where there is less rigorous definition of the original authoring scope (Wright et al. 2009). These authors also note that the ease of updating learning objects and the avoidance of duplication all helps with the workflow of course review.

Ongoing design and development of the physical e-learning infrastructure should be done with an awareness of reuse as well as an appreciation of the rapid pace of change and development in this area.

E-learning results in digital content that can be re-used, or can be designed to be re-used (Bates 2007). This digital content has value and therefore needs to be managed. It is this value that compensates institutions for the investment in e-learning. Institutions should be considering how best to create digital content so it can be re-used. Also, who owns the copyright for the content once it has been created? There are a range of possibilities from making content freely available to charging for everything. Bates (2007) recommends that an explicit plan be developed for how the institution proposes content management.

Chang (2004) Reusable e-learning materials offer a competitive advantage over interactive multimedia due to cost-effectiveness [this actually needs to be assessed]

Resources
Teaching staff should be provided with training and support in the creation and reuse of resources as well as incentives to both create reusable resources in the first place as well as enable reuse. Chang (2004) suggests that in order to encourage educators to create and importantly to share reusable e-learning materials, then we must engage educators in the creative process, provide a forum for circulating ideas and resolving problems, obtain user feedback on effectiveness, and offer practical workshops with hands on experience.