Recycle that Content, Creating Reusable Learning Objects
In the Spotlight: Pithamber Polsani
Pithamber Polsani is big on recycling but we're not referring to bottles, newspapers and aluminum. We’re talking about learning objects.
A learning object, and specifically in this case a Reusable Learning Object (RLO), is defined by Dr. Polsani as a "self-standing and reusable unit of content that has a pedagogical purpose." Found predominantly in an online distance education environment, "upon interacting with an RLO, the user acquires measurable conceptual, factual or practical knowledge." The bottom line is that RLOs allow an instructor to take content and objects and use them for different reasons, purposes and modules.
Dr. Polsani, a former assistant professor of Spanish literature, believes that faculty members possess a great wealth of knowledge that can be put to good use in developing RLOs for online learning programs. However, due to time constraints, the lack of required technical expertise or sometimes even the interest to do so, large areas of content that might otherwise be utilized in online learning are not being tapped.
Taking advantage of his ongoing relationship with the LTC, Dr. Polsani enlisted the help of Center personnel to create an easy way to develop RLOs. The challenge was to design an RLO authoring system that would require minimal technical knowledge and expertise on behalf of the user — in this case the instructor. He wanted instructors to not feel burdened by the navigational issues of HTML and other software technicalities. The goal then was to create an easy-to-use, intuitive interface allowing instructors to focus primarily on the creation of their content.
Collaboration to create such a system began with Dr. Polsani talking to Jim Reynaert, a former principal applications systems analyst at the Center, to decide just what was possible. When it was decided that XML (Extensible Markup Language) a web design programming language, was to be used in the process, Dr. Polsani made the communication process easier by teaching himself XML, although his self-instruction wasn’t required. XML was chosen because of its flexibility to render results into various file formats, including HTML, PDF and even voice files. This flexibility was key in the development of the authoring program. The goal was to have a choice of presentations available to the students so that they could choose options for RLO viewing, considering the variety of learning styles.
Above all, the authoring system would allow easy collaboration between faculty members and designers/programmers. The instructor would develop and provide the content and the designer/programmer would create the presentation or the navigational scheme within which the content would be inserted.
Dr. Polsani was encouraged to become more technically adept and to strive for new goals after collaborating with the LTC. Without the help of the LTC, he said, the project would not have been possible. Although he had both the theoretical understanding and the intuition for how technology could be incorporated into development of reusable learning objects and instruction in general, he needed help to translate ideas into practical applications.
If you're finding that intuition and theory just isn't getting the job done when it comes to using technology to its fullest, please contact us. We can make your ideas come to life.
Rewview Dr. Polsani's paper, Use and Abuse of Reusable Learning Objects.
For more information on RLOs check out:
Reusable Learning Objects: What Does the Future Hold?
Learning and Training Innovations Magazine
How to Design Recyclable Learning Objects
ELearn Magazine
