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Mutated learning object

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jbmurray (talk | contribs) at 05:48, 30 April 2008 (→Learning objects and other 'things': You know, none of this is actually about "mutated learning objects." If it really has to go somewhere, then Learning object would be the place). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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There are two categories and definitions of learning objects:

  • A contextual learning object (CLO): a chunk of instruction or a supporting mechanism that has been originally designed to have specific meaning and purpose to an intended learner, so that meaningful knowledge and/or learning can be derived from it, applied, linked to other knowledge, or simply retained.
  • A mutated learning object (MLO): a learning object that has been re-purposed and/or re-engineered, changed or simply re-used in some way different from its original intended design - to one with a different implicit or explicit purpose, and/or outcome, and/or learner, while retaining an acceptable level of (educational) validity or use.

Understanding MLOs and CLOs

Over the last decade or so, Internet technologies, and in particular, learning management systems (LMS) have given us an introduction into the possibilities of organizing and delivering knowledge. The marriage of advanced learning technology and knowledge management has left us with a relatively new tool, which attempts to better satisfy the global need for lifelong learning content. Enter the learning content management system (LCMS), and the coming-of-age of reusable learning objects.

There has been some concern in the educational community that recent moves towards standardization in the e-learning arena have many negative pedagogical connotations. Consider large, college systems that have been utilizing LMS's such as WebCT for the last decade or so. One can imagine the sheer multitude of online artifacts that were, and still are being created. The concept of cataloguing and reusing these resources only makes good sense. Until recently, there was no standardized, unified way to define and catalogue chunks of educational content. Not only were these chunks difficult to create, find, share and reuse, there was no easy way to migrate them from system to system, whether they remained individual or as an integrated part of a larger unit of educational content. This in essence, is the driving force behind e-learning content standardization, and concerns about the educational validity of these objects may be exaggerated. At the end of the day, how these objects are used may in fact be much more important than what they are, as their context of use also defines or determines what they are.


The Context of the Terms MLO and CLO

New LCMS’s and market hype have drawn new attention to the area of chunking and re-purposing content to satisfy the need for improved educational content creation processes and products. A learning object can be compared to just about any other type of educational ‘thing’, whether an entity, process or activity, that should be designed properly, using proven principles of learning theory and instructional design in order to be pedagogically viable and/or sound. This suggests that there is perhaps a bare a minimum requirement for a learning object, which may include associations to a learning objective, an instruction/information output, an outcome and an assessment (even if it's only subjective assessment), but for the most part, the object may just be one of those ‘things’ that is useful in creating effective learning, with or without specific attributes or conditions attached. Who is (re)creating the learning and to what end is what really matters.

Any tool or process that assists in the improvement of education is a welcome one, and human factors will ultimately determine how it evolves. New tools for the masses to create education might just lead to a proliferation of bad education. The terms contextual learning object (CLO) and mutated learning object (MLO), can further assist us in appreciating the meaning, definition, identification and specificity of some types of learning objects.

References

  • Gagne, Robert M. (1999), "???", in Reigluth, C.M. (ed.), Instructional Design Theories and Models, Volume II, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. ???-???, ISBN 0-8058-2859-1
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