Learning Objects and Standards
This page provides links to resources that deal with the concepts of learning objects and learning standards.
Articles in date order, most recent first.
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E-Learning standards update
“Here’s a non-technical look at evolving e-learning standards, what the standards intend to achieve, the key players involved in developing the standards, and some implications for the future.” Ryann Ellis, Learning Circuits, July 2005
Added: 9 July 2005
Reviewer’s Note:
A nice overview with particular look at SCORM
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Packaging and publishing learning objects: best practice guidelines
“With an increasing number of different learning platforms now in use in compulsory education, the wide adoption of a standard, consistent and technically robust method of exchanging learning content packages between systems is essential to the future growth and success of ICT in education.” Becta, January 2005
Added: 16 March 2005
Reviewer’s Note:
“The guidelines are aimed at developers who are already involved in the provision of digital learning content, as well as those who would like to get involved. They are not exhaustive by any means, but they do represent a practical guide to help ensure that your content is accessible and interoperable across learning platforms used in education.”
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SCORM
“This is an overview of the Sharable Courseware Object Reference Model. It’s hard to make technical standards understandable (much less interesting). Nonetheless, here’s the cliff notes version of what you need to know about SCORM.” Randall House Associates
Added: 6 March 2005
Reviewer’s Note:
A quick survey of SCORM
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An introduction to AICC, SCORM and ISM (XML)
“This course defines the common e-Learning standards in use today along with outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each standard.” ReadyGo, 2004
Added: 5 February 2005
Reviewer’s Note:
Looks at the 3 main standards
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eLearning and content management: one can help the other
“Organisations considering implementing an eLearning initiative which already have a content management system, might be surprised by how well the two can complement each other.” Bret Freeman, Content-Wire, 26 January 2005
Added: 26 January 2005
Reviewer’s Note:
The case for using a content management system within e-learning
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Learning objects: a practical definition
“Learning objects make it unnecessary to have thousands of iterations of the same teaching point. Metadata makes it possible to select and integrate relevant learning experiences from a relatively small library of learning objects. Reusable learning objects permit lessons to be generated and customized for specific groups or even for individuals. Extensive research and development has led to a vocabulary of specialized terms to define learning objects.” Rory McGreal, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, September 2004
Added: 1 November 2004
Reviewer’s Note:
Rory McGreal provides a rationale to relate variations in terminology into a single practical definition of Learning Objects.
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Guidelines for authors of learning objects
“Included topics are the range and types of learning objects, pedagogical and design considerations, as well as discussions of standards, metadata, interoperability, and reusability.” NMC
Added: 21 May 2004
Reviewer’s Note:
Available as a 1.6 Mb downloadable PDF file
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Learning object repositories
“Given the ongoing diversity of opinions on the defining attributes of Learning Objects, it comes as no surprise that this is reflected in a similarly broad array of mechanisms and facilities designed to harvest, metadescribe, and distribute them for reuse. Though commonly known as Learning Object Repositories, they may also be found designated as Learning Object Libraries , Virtual or Digital Libraries , or even as Referratories .” Graeme Daniel, wwwtools for teachers Newsletter, 3 May 2004
Added: 3 May 2004
Reviewer’s Note:
“A Learning Object Repository is a searchable database that houses digital resources and/or metadata that can be reused to mediate learning.”
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Learning Objects 2004
“the available body of Web-based resources is as vast as it is diverse, beyond the capacity of individual educational practitioners to accurately choose the best suite of resources for particular learning outcomes - they simply don’t have the time to preview everything on offer. The problem is digital, and requires a digital solution: enter the concept of Learning Objects, fuzzy though it may still be, and ideas on how they may most effectively be delivered to learners.” Graeme Daniel, wwwtools for teachers Newsletter, 18 April 2004
Added: 19 April 2004
Reviewer’s Note:
A collection of links and resources about learning objects.
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Standards: Do we really need them?
“I have decided to write this article because I became gradually interested with online collaboration technologies and with their ability and potential to influence and shape the kind of future we are going to be living in.” Luigi Canali De Rossi, Robin Good, December 2003
Added: 30 December 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
The issues around standards
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Shareable Content Objects (SCORM): Whole course design and implementation issues
“As rich-media e-Learning increasingly becomes the educational resource of choice, specifications like SCORM become increasingly important. Yet we are only beginning to identify best practices to support the different contexts in which people learn. This wide-ranging article shares the author’s experiences and research with Sharable Content Objects (SCOs) and the issues that SCOs raise” Joel McKinney, eLearning Developers Journal, 22 December 2003
Added: 30 December 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
You will need to register with the eLearning Guild to access this article
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Making sense of learning specifications and standards: A decision maker’s guide to their adoption (2nd edition)
“The area of learning standards is one of the most powerful and misunderstood aspects of the e-Learning revolution. As organizations make significant investments in digital learning content, they seek greater assurances of portability and reusability. Organizations also desire the ability to more easily store, search, index, deploy, assemble, and revise learning content.”. Industry report from the Masie Centre
Updated:: 21 November 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
You can download the PDF file for FREE.
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Dr Ed’s SCORM Course from JCA Solutions
“This is ADL’s SCORM course for managers, authors, instructional designers and developers of online courses who want to comply with the requirements of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORMTM). Author: Dr Ed Jones of JCA Solutions.
Updated: 8 July 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
Want to find out more about SCORM (and learning standards) - try this online course
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Technology for sharing: researching learning obects and digital rights management
“They have explored the brave new world of learning objects - teaching resources which can be anything from a word document to a journal or a multimedia presentation. They have investigated ways to store, share and recontextualise these resources including digital rights management and the use of metadata.” Sam Meredith, Peter Higgs and Tim Hand
Added: 10 May 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
Impressive 126 page PDF document
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Reusing online resources: a sustainable approach to e-learning
“Welcome to this Special Issue of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education, which is ‘reusing’ the Reusing Online Resources book as the point of departure for online discussion” Edited by Allison Littlejohn, JIME, April 2003
Added: 20 May 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
Summaries of the chapters online
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SCORM
Deployment Issues in an Enterprise Distributed Learning Architecture “SCORM incompatibility across multiple Web domains is not a frequently discussed problem, but it exists, and in some organizations presents a major obstacle to enterprise-wide distributed learning. In this article, you will learn how these issuesmay affect your organization, and some strategies that may help you work around them.quot; Jeffrey C. Engelbrecht, eLearning Developers Journal, February 2003
Added: 19 February 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
Reviewer’s Not: Covers the important issue of SCORM compatability with LMS and content
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Content management
“Content management holds the promise of better organization, increased access to resources, greater organizational effectiveness…for those who dare slog through the process of setting up a content management system - a task often more onerous than dealing with unorganized content.” George Siemens, elearnspace, 23 January 2003
Added: 10 January 2003
Reviewer’s Note:
An excellent discussion of content management
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