Edith Cowan University

Research Online

ECU Publications Pre. 2011

2001

Learning objects: supporting flexible delivery of flexible learning

Ron Oliver
Edith Cowan University

Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks

Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of: Oliver, R. G. (2001). Learning objects: supporting flexible delivery of
flexible learning. Proceedings of 18th Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary
Education. (pp. pp.453-460). Melbourne, VIC. ASCILITE. Available here
This Conference Proceeding is posted at Research Online.
https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks/4781
LEARNING OBJECTS: SUPPORTING FLEXIBLE DELIVERY
OF ONLINE LEARNING
Oliver, R. (2001). Learning objects: supporting flexible delivery of flexible
learning. In (G. Kennedy, M. Keppell, C. McNaught & T. Petrovic (Eds.) Meeting
at the crossroads: Proceedings of ASCILITE 2001, (pp 453-460). Melbourne: The
University of Melbourne.

Ron Oliver
Centre for Research in Information Technology and Communications
Edith Cowan University
2 Bradford St,
Mt Lawley, 6050.
r.oliver@ecu.edu.au

Abstract
There are now many educational organizations and institutions that have
decided that flexible delivery and on-line learning are strategies that they are
keen to pursue. While many educators value online delivery of programs for
the flexibility and opportunities offered, the environment offers far more than
these outcomes alone. Online delivery supports and encourages very
powerful learning environments and has the prospect to transform education
if approached in the correct fashion.

But across the world, conventional approaches to the design and

development of online learning environments in higher education frequently
result in many lost opportunities for both teachers and learners. These losses
often arise as a consequence of a failure of many teachers to see the “big
picture” when creating their own learning settings. This paper seeks to
explore this big picture by examining the notion of reuse and recycling in
online learning. It explores the concept of learning objects and how these
can and should be considered in the design and development stages of online
learning. The paper discusses outcomes and presents findings in the context
of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework Online Product
Development, Review and Evaluation project , a large Australian project
seeking to develop world class online learning products.

Abstract
World Wide Web, flexible delivery, instructional design, learning objects,
online learning, reusable resources

Introduction

For many years, people have been critical of the development processes often used in building
instructional and educational software systems (eg. Bates, 1999). In many instances, the development
has resembled that used in cottage industries where a small number of people take responsibility for all
aspects of the process and where the product is destined for small-scale use in limited settings (eg.
Hanley, Schneebeck & Zweier, 1998). Bates (1999) uses the term lone ranger to describe much of the
development occurring in educational institutions where many enthusiastic novices work independently
on small scale projects to support their own teaching.
Many barriers exist to hinder the move to online learning. Among these the major impediments are
recognised as stemming from the organisational factors associated with systemic change (eg. Anderson
& Downes, 2000). With the increased uptake of online delivery within education, many writers are now
questioning conventional development strategies and exploring more efficient and more productive ways
to design and develop online learning materials. Strategies and activities that are currently being used in
different settings to create more cost-effective solutions for online delivery of educational programs
include:

• The development of national frameworks to support and develop on-line learning resources
(eg. Anderson & Downes, 2000; ANTA, 2001; Education Network of Australia);
• The development of libraries and databases of online learning resources for sharing and reuse,
for example, Ariadne: http://ariadne.unil.ch/, MERLOT: http://taste.merlot.org/, LRX:
http://www.lrx.com.au/, and SoURCE: http://www.source.ac.uk/);
• Consortia among institutions to create larger markets, for example, Universitas 21:
www.universitas.edu.au; and
• The development of specialist organisations that broker instructional materials, technical
delivery support and learner support services for institutions (eg. Farrell, 2000).

Within and among all these various activities, there is a high degree of activity that extends across
all phases, from design and development of online learning materials through to implementation
and delivery strategies. It is within the context of design and development that this paper is set.
There is growing recognition that the design and development strategies of online learning
materials have to this point been very insular and localised and people are beginning to recognise
the advantages of more open and outward looking approaches. In particular, the forms of design
and development undertaken are starting to follow some fundamental patterns and processes that
provide scope for reuse and recycling of the constituent elements. Critical to the success of many
of these activities is the concept of learning objects.

Learning Objects

With the proliferation of on-line learning courses and materials, the Web is now replete with vast
amounts of duplicated data and information. Early designers of Web-based materials focused
heavily on developing on-line content and the majority of Web courses were based on delivery of
these resources. Current design processes are now looking to maximise the reuse of learning
materials and this has led to a number of reconsiderations in terms of the design and development
of on-line learning settings.

Reusable learning objects are now being seen as the fundamental components and building blocks
of on-line learning courses. A learning object is any entity, be it digital or non-digital that may be
used for education and training (IEEE, 2001). In the context of on-line learning, these objects
take such forms as Web pages, pdf documents, database applications, animations, Java applets,
Powerpoint presentations and Quicktime movies. In the context of the Flexible Toolboxes,
learning objects take a broader context and form and are defined more in terms of their educational
properties, for example as learning elements, modules and assessment items.

The concept of online learning courses based around the use of reusable learning objects selected
from large databases and repositories is not new. Even before the advent of the Web, such
visionaries such as Ted Nelson (Nelson, 1965) and Roy Stringer (Stringer, 1992) were describing
settings where information and course design was based on the use of resusable objects taken from
interconnected digital libraries. The development of the Web has made possible such visions and
much of the contemporary work in the field of online learning design and development is based, or
influenced, in some way by the concept of such entities.

The entities needed to realise the visions of reusable digital objects are, in essence, digital forms of
conventional libraries. Emerging storage and networking technologies have contributed
significantly in recent years to the development of quite powerful functionalities for digital and
multimedia libraries. The development of standards for the storage, cataloguing and classification
of digital elements has significantly enhanced the discovery and delivery capabilities of the digital
data within these networked systems.

Within educational contexts, the development of learning objects as an underpinning characteristic

of the design of online learning environments involves two main considerations in the design
process: the design of learning tasks and the selection of learning resources. While the concept of
learning objects is relatively easily discussed and described in general terms, it becomes a little
more complex in the operationalisation stage. In this stage, it is essential to discover the precise
forms that learning objects can take.

Contemporary Learning Designs in Higher Education

Contemporary online learning development in HE is moving away from the notion of learning
settings being comprised of pages of electronic text, to more deliberately planned learning designs,
learning tasks and processes structured in deliberate ways. In previous settings, instructional
design had focused on developing pathways for learners through learning content, whereas in
contemporary settings the designs are now focussing on providing learning activities that bring
about planned learning outcomes.

In previous settings, learning content was chosen in the initial design process and the instructional
design concerned itself with creating tasks and challenges that helped learners to understand the
content being presented and to consolidate their knowledge acquisition. In online settings, these
types of activities tended to represent situations where students learned from the information
presented by, and through, the technology (eg. Dehoney & Reeves, 1999).

In contemporary settings, instructional design places far less emphasis on content and information
as knowledge to be learned. It looks to the provision of learning designs that guide learners
through roles and responsibilities that reflect real and relevant applications and contexts. A
principal aim of the instructional design is to create student-centred settings that support students’
development of self-learning, metacognition and collaboration with others. The content becomes a
means to an end rather than an end in itself and learning is mediated by the technology
applications (eg. Duschatel, 1997).

Contemporary forms of instructional design can be well supported by the concept of learning
objects. The critical factor required for success is the separation of learning designs and learning
resource (eg. Oliver, 2001). In conventional settings, learning objects have tended to contain a
blend of information and instruction. Instructional designers have previously been inclined to
create learning materials where the voice of the teacher was carried through the description of the
content. While this created a perfect setting for an instructional text, it created very limited
settings for learning and even more limited settings for reusability and reuse of the learning
materials.

The learning environments that promote the objectives of contemporary teaching are well
supported by online learning settings constructed with learning objects (eg. Downes, 2000). Some
learning objects can be used as the framework for learning designs while others can be used as the
resources to support learning.

Objects for Learning Design

There are a number of software tools available today that can be used to develop online learning
environments based on particular learning designs. In this context, a learning design represents a
deliberate set of learner activities and roles within a specific context whose completion is likely to
bring about the development of particular forms of knowledge, skills and understanding. A role-
playing activity is a good example of a learning design. It represents a planned and coordinated
set of tasks within a setting, the process of which will cause conceptual change among the learners.
The levels and forms of conceptual change will depend very much on the background of the
learners, their roles and responsibilities within the activity and the forms of collaboration,
articulation, reflection and self-regulation involved.

Learning designs can often be described in decontextualised fashions but are always applied in a
specific context. It is possible, for example, to build a learning object to act as a framework for the
role playing activity described above. The object might take the form of a Web-based database
that a teacher could use to create a setting for a particular subject context. The information and
content required to support the role playing learning activity could also be learning objects chosen
from a repository. The overall learning setting for the whole activity could be delivered to
students through a standard courseware delivery system, such as WebCT or Blackboard. Such a
system would also provide various forms of learner support such as discussion boards,
noticeboards and chatrooms supporting the various forms of learner interaction.

The Australian Flexible Learning Framework Online Product Development, Review

and Evaluation Project

There is currently a large amount of development activity surrounding Web-based materials that is
looking to promote and encourage the notion of learning objects as the building blocks of online
learning settings. A major project within Australia that is promoting these principles is the
Australian Flexible Learning Framework Online Product Development, Review and Evaluation
project funded through the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). For details on the
Australian Flexible Learning Framework see www.flexiblelearning,net.au

The mission of ANTA is to ensure that the skills of the Australian labour force are sufficient to
support internationally competitive commerce and industry and to provide individuals with
opportunity to maximise their potential (ANTA, 1998). ANTA’s agenda has been to deliver
training more responsively and efficiently and to a wider catchment area (ANTA, 1998). The
Authority recognises that technological advances have been the catalyst for new forms of
educational and training communication systems and that the demand for, and supply of
vocational education and training is globalising. Consequently it has enacted and sponsored
strategies to encourage the vocational education and training providers to provide more flexible,
technological-based, delivery for domestic and international markets. ANTA recognised that
implications of technology advances and globalisation required new ways of creating and
customising training material (Eccles, 1998). The Toolbox initiative was one of ANTA’s strategies
to encourage development and delivery of more flexible learning materials for the training market
– particularly for online learning. Since 1998, ANTA and the Australian VET sector has invested
over $20 million in “toolboxes” with the aim of producing a smorgasbord of multimedia resources
from which providers can pick and choose in designing online training programs (Eccles, 1998).

The setting of a national framework with many discretionary elements provided a perfect
opportunity for the Australian National Training Authority to explore the concept of online
learning and in particular flexible forms of resource development and delivery to support learning.
In the first instance, any products developed in this setting would have widespread application
providing significant economies of scale. Secondly, the use of on-line technologies appeared to
provide and promote the many forms of flexibility associated with the delivery of the Training
Packages in the national setting.

The guidelines describing the Toolbox philosophy are aligned very much with those of the design
and development of learning objects. Toolboxes are expected to allow for wide applicability
across the target audience for whom they are intended. For this reason they are expected to be
flexible, portable to a range of delivery platforms, and readily customised. They are designed to
be:
• developed with readily available non-proprietary development software to facilitate
customisation and reuse;
• developed with HTML code where customisation can be anticipated, with more sophisticated
development software (eg. Flash) reserved for components that are unlikely to be changed;
• platform independent resources which allow for maximum portability to delivery platforms;
• devoid of rigid structuring devices locking the learner into particular learning pathways;
• developed using a file and directory structure that facilitates the location or selection of a
particular learning object, as well as the use of the whole Toolbox;
• usable across a variety of platforms and browsers;
• consistent with the W3C content accessibility guidelines; and
• to embrace the EdNA metadata standard, a variation of IMS metadata standards used in the
Australian educational setting.

The experience of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework Online Product Development,
Review and Evaluation project to date has involved the development of online resources for over
25 Training Packages. This has been an enormous undertaking and represents the development of
on-line resources for nearly 500 discrete units of study. The experience of the project has been to
identify some critical factors associated with the design of flexible online learning resources which
support customisation, and reuse, the principal characteristics of learning objects. These factors
are summarised in Table 1.

Characteristic Evidence in Design

Interoperability Interoperability describes the capacity of items of software or hardware to work
together. In the context of online learning, interoperability is usually associated
with the design of Web-based resources that can operate across various forms
of hardware platform, browser type and courseware delivery system. In the
design and development of Web-based learning materials, interoperability can
be considered at various levels. Some strategies supporting interoperability
include: use of HTML standards; prescriptive use of Javascripts; use of plug-
ins; use of standard screen sizes and colours; use of styles and style sheets;
and standardised file organization and structure, file naming conventions and
file sizes etc.
Organisation Online learning environments are comprised of many individual elements. In
order to be reusable, these elements need to be organised and classified in
ways that encourage and facilitate discovery and relocation. A critical factor in
designing learning settings that encourage this is the use of metadata
standards. These standards need to be applied in consistent and reliable ways
to ensure the integrity of the resources in instances where they are sought for
reuse.
Scalable Use Often when online resources are developed, they are designed with the
immediate context in mind. Reusable objects need to be designed in ways that
are flexible enough to cater for levels of use that may exceed (or fall within) the
immediate setting. Scalable materials can be used with cohorts of 10, 100 or
1000. When scalability is not considered in the design phase, reusability can
become quite limited.
Customisation Reusable learning objects can serve many new purposes if there is some
scope in their design for their use in alternative contexts to be considered.
Customisation of learning objects can take many forms including teachers
being able to choose between elements, making minor textual changes to
elements, changing Web links etc. In instances where different forms of use for
the objects may exist, customisation is enhanced by the provision of choices
and options in the forms of application made.
Learning Designs The design of learning objects where the instructional elements are separated
from the resources and media elements provides many opportunities for reuse
and resource sharing. The separation creates the possibility of customisation
of both the learning activities and the supporting resources and high levels of
flexibility in the choices made about each. The use of generic learning designs
is an invaluable strategy supporting this characteristic.

Table 1: Characteristics supporting the design of reusable learning objects

The Challenges
As well as demonstrating the strategies and processes that can support the design of flexible
learning settings based on reusable learning objects, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework
Online Product Development, Review and Evaluation Project has also served to provide evidence
of challenges that act to constrain the achievement of the full potential of this design philosophy.
Table 2 lists the challenges that have become evident through the progress of this project

Challenge Evidence and Implications

Granularity The project has identified a number of difficulties and issues associated with the
development of a functional definition for the concept of a learning object. The
term means different things to different people and the lack of consistency in
definition and description has proven to be limiting in terms of developing a
common understanding and sense of application. In particular the notion of
grain size and scope of learning objects is an area that requires immediate
attention.
Learning Designs The development of generic learning designs that support the use of learning
objects has been both a support and a challenge for the project. It provides a
challenge because it supports contemporary teaching approaches and
encourages student-centred learning while teachers and students are
predominantly proponents (and experts) in more conventional modes. The use
of these design forms can act to discourage teachers whose preferred
instructional formats are more in line with conventional than contemporary
learning strategies.
Storage The development of reusable learning objects is one phase in the project but
developing a means to store the objects in repositories that can serve them
represents perhaps a bigger challenge. Most institutions are comfortable with
serving materials from local servers. They are perhaps less comfortable with
serving the material of others or providing open access to other institutions to
their own resources. Developing systems that encourage and support resource
sharing is a challenge yet to be faced by most providers of online learning.
Discovery The Web is a large place and the whole intention of reusable learning objects is
to cut down on the duplication of objects. But providing sound and reliable
ways for others to discover learning objects that are available for reuse is yet to
be achieved. Within the Web, it is impossible often to distinguish between
proprietary resources and those that can be freely used and amended. As
learning designs become more and more based on the use of reusable objects,
there will be a growing need for systems that market and discover the available
resources and provide some sense of their value and quality.
Sharing Coupled with the need for discovery is also the need for some systems to be
generated that can manage the resource sharing activities. Some resources
cannot be provided free of charge. The best resources will cost money to
develop and developers will need to recoup costs if they are to continue their
developments. Automated systems will need to be developed that can track
resource sharing and provide some efficient means of calculating and
determining costs and managing the payment of such.

Table 2: Challenges to developing learning designs with reusable learning objects

At this stage in the Australian Flexible Learning Framework Online Product Development,
Review and Evaluation project, the Project Managers are now exploring strategies associated with
the storage and dissemination of the learning resources. At the current time the processes are
providing the means for use and reuse of learning objects within the various discrete projects to
support flexible use and customisation. The next big challenge for the project and its national
body is to consider ways and means for the vast arrays of resource elements, learning objects, to
be stored and accessed in a fashion which would make them usable between and beyond the
immediate projects for which they were created. This is clearly a challenge which when solved
will provide guidelines for the large-scale dissemination of many other sources of other reusable
learning elements currently in Australian education hyperspace.
Implications for Practice

Most of the activities associated with designing online learning environments based on the
principles of reusable learning objects are being reported by the developers of large projects.
Within most institutions, there is growing awareness of these approaches but until now, there has
been relatively little activity undertaken to ensure or guarantee that online learning settings are
being designed in ways that promote flexible use of the learning resources. This paper has
discussed the basic principles behind the design processes and provided examples of projects in
the local setting where such initiatives are being undertaken.

The use of learning objects as a component of the design and development process of online
learning settings provides a number of advantages which value add to the process. In the first
instance the fragmentation of the development into objects provides strong incentives and supports
for contemporary instructional design which focuses on the provision of authentic contexts and
settings for learning. In the second instance, the process recognises and supports the reuse of
learning materials, and creates opportunities for large scale savings in both development times and
costs. It is highly likely that the principles described in this paper will soon become common
elements of online learning design and development at all levels.

References

Anderson, T. & Downes, S. (2000). Models and Strategies Towards a Canadian On-line
Education Infrastructure. The Multi Media learning Group Information Highway Application
Branch Industry Canada. Available at:
http://www.schoolnet.ca/mlg/sites/acolccael/en/resources/R01_Anderson_Downes/index.html
[Accessed June 2001]

ANTA. (1998). A bridge to the future: Australia’s National Strategy for Vocational Education
and Training 1998-2000,. Australian National Training Authority, Brisbane.

ANTA. (2001). Australian Flexible Learning Framework for the National Vocational Education
and Training System 2000-2004. Brisbane, Queensland. Australian National Training
Authority.

Bates, A. (1999) Thinking Digitally: Restructuring the teaching environment for technological
change. Keynote address presented at Ed-MEDIA 1999 ,Seattle.

Cardoso de Oliveira, C. (2000). Cooperative Learning Centre: Concepts, standardisation issues

and commercial approaches. Universidade do Porto. Available:
http://www.ercim.org/publication/ws-proceedings/DELOS9/Pap3.pdf [Accessed June 2001].

Dehoney, J. & Reeves, T. (1999). Instructional and social dimensions of class web pages. Journal
of Computing in Higher Education, 10(2), 19-41.

Downes, S. (2000). Learning Objects. Available:

http://www.atl.ualberta.ca/downes/namwb/column000523_1.htm [Accessed June 2001].

Duschatel, P. (1997). A Web-based model for university instruction. Journal of Educational

Technology Systems, 25(3), 221-228.

Eccles, C. (1998). A New Training Culture for Australia: The Right Stuff, Australian National
Training Authority, Brisbane

Farrell, G. (2000). Current international and domestic status of online delivery in post-secondary
education. The Multi Media learning Group Information Highway Application Branch
Industry Canada. Available at: http://www.schoolnet.ca/mlg/sites/acol-
 ccael/en/resources/R03_Farrell/index.html [Accessed June 2001]

Hanley, G,. Schneebeck, C. & Zweier, L. (1998) Implementing a Scalable and Sustainable Model
for Instructional Software Development. [on-line] Available at
http://www.cdl.edu/html/syllabus98.html [Accessed June 2000]

IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (2001). Draft Standard for Learning Object
Metadata. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Standards Department.

Nelson, T. (1965). A file structure for the complex, the changing and the indeterminate.
Proceedings of the ACM National Conference.

Nelson, T. (1980). Replacing the Printed Word, in (S.H. Lavington, ed.) Information Processing,
Proceedings of IFIP 80 World Computer Conference. North-Holland Publishing Co. (pp,
1013-1023).

Oliver, R. (2001). Seeking best practice in online learning: Flexible Learning Toolboxes in the
Australian VET sector. Australian Journal Of Educational Technology, 17(2), 204-222.

Stringer, R. (1992). Theseus: A project at Liverpool Polytechnic to develop a hypermedia library

for open and flexible learning, International Federation of Library Assistants, 18(3), 267-273.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge the kind assistance of Mr Nic Pearl and Ms Vivienne Blanksby
for advice and guidance in the preparation of this paper.

Copyright

Copyright © 2001 R. Oliver.

The author assigns to ASCILITE and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this
document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright
statement is reproduced. The author(s) also grant a non-exclusive licence to ASCILITE to publish this document
in full on the World Wide Web (prime sites and mirrors) and in printed form within the ASCILITE 2001
conference proceedings. Any other usage is prohibited without the express permission of the author(s).