Enter the cavalry

Two developments give us some hope that we can meet the challenges of constant change and individual differences – one is new technology, the other a new way of thinking. The technology has been around a while now, in the form of personal computers and networks, and has made it easier for learners to access courses on a self-study basis or, with other learners, in virtual classrooms. Convenient, cheaper, more efficient, but still canned courses – the same experience for every learner regardless of their existing skills and the jobs they undertake.

The new thinking is more significant and is not necessarily confined to technology-assisted learning. It is based on a new paradigm, in which training is no longer offered as ready-made, shrink-wrapped products, but is instead built to order from a large variety of basic ingredients. The offering is a personalised learning path. The ingredients are learning objects.

Let’s just clarify what we mean by learning objects. A learning object is a component of a learning programme. It could take a number of forms: information material; practical exercises (questions, games, simulations, assessments, etc.); descriptions of, or instructions for collaborative activities (which could include non-digital events); and composites, e.g. interactive tutorials. In case that’s not clear, that means we’re talking about more than your typical, interactive self-study e-learning materials. Learning objects provide a gateway to any learning activity you can conceive, online or not, and to all sorts of documents that could conceivably support learning and performance.

What makes a learning object different from any old web page, Word document or other digital resource, is that it is provided in the context of a learning objective and a process or method. Both the objective and the method can come from a number of sources: from the author of the object, and explicitly stated as part of the object itself; from a mediator (administrator, teacher, trainer, coach, supervisor, parent, etc.) and referenced separately from the actual object; or from learners themselves, whether or nor explicitly stated. This means that learning objects can work with any pedagogy, from the most authoritarian to the most liberal.