The following information is taken from the Learning Objects Program Recommendations:
II. Background
For the last seven years, the IPSE grant program has supported the development of complete online courses and, more recently, instructional modules. Although past recipients have been strongly encouraged to provide public access to materials develop with grant funds, in reality most of the content resides behind password-protected institutional course management systems. Moreover, very few of the courses and modules have been constructed in a manner that facilitates reuse of the smaller components comprising the whole. Thus, even when the materials developed with grant funding has been made publicly available, they cannot be easily incorporated into different learning contexts.
In winter of 2003/2004, the IPSE Program Development team was asked to consider expanding or shifting the focus of the IPSE grant program to include explicit support for developing learning objects with the goal of increasing the impact of the content developed with grant monies. A task force of eight campus instructional technology leaders representing seven IHETS member institutions was convened to study the issues and issue a set of recommendations. During the fall 2004 semester, the Learning Objects Task Force (LOTF) reviewed existing literature about learning objects, interviewed directors of two large-scale learning objects initiatives, and conducted two statewide surveys, one targeted at college and university distance education faculty and the other at instructional technology professionals.
III. Learning Objects Task Force Recommendations
Although there are still many questions to be answered and issues to be resolved regarding learning objects, both within Indiana and nationally, surveys conducted by the LOTF suggest there is sufficient faculty and staff interest to justify at least small steps toward supporting development of learning objects. The task force therefore recommends expanding the scope of the IPSE grant program to include support for the development of learning objects. To maximize the potential for success, the task force suggested the following guidelines for program implementation:
- A new Request for Proposals for learning-object development with different requirements and evaluation criteria should be developed, with perhaps a rolling deadline or proposals considered as submitted rather than on an annual basis.
- Since levels of interest and adoption vary among and within institutions, initially the program will likely attract only early adopters. Education and training are critical to cultivating broad statewide interest. During the first few years, funds should be set aside from the grant budget to develop a comprehensive training program for faculty and instructional support staff.
- In the first year, the recommended budget for the learning objects program is $100,000 with as much as half of that amount dedicated to support and training efforts. The balance of the annual grants budget ($150,000) will be used to support course and module development. The funding formula should be evaluated on an annual basis and is expected to change as awareness and interest in learning objects increases.
- The maximum award for a single object should be $5,000 with a maximum of $20,000 for a collection of four or more objects.
- To encourage widespread interest among faculty, the program should cultivate the development of learning objects that:
solve a particular instructional challenge or problem
are highly visual and interactive
focus on a single concept or learning objective (highly granular)
provide a engaging learning experience that cannot be easily duplicated through more conventional means
offer opportunities for active learning, problem solving and analysis, data manipulation and interpretation, exploration and discovery, and/or self-assessment - Project evaluations should similarly emphasize the impact on student learning
- To maximize the likelihood of use and re-use, the learning objects program should strongly encourage:
collaborative projects that span multiple departments, colleges, campuses, or institutions
community, cohort, or discipline-based projects
projects that will serve large numbers of students (e.g., large enrollment courses) - To encourage a culture of sharing, the program should require that all funded learning objects:
be made publicly accessible
be submitted to MERLOT
be submitted to Indiana repository/referatory, if created
include Dublin Core metadata - If resources permit, learning object clearinghouse should be created for Indiana in the form of an online repository or referatory. Such a system could provide opportunities to centralize metadata creation and storage, accommodate user ratings and comments, and increase awareness and recognition for developers.
- The task force recommends the following short-term goals for the program:
Positive impact on student learning (must be part of the program evaluation)
Solve specific, well-defined instructional problems
Increased interest in developing learning objects
Increased interest in using learning objects developed by others
Improved understanding of learning objects and the issues surrounding them - For the long term, the program should seek to:
Increase sharing of instructional content
Increase availability of high-quality instructional materials
Increase institutional collaboration
Create an Indiana-based repository or referatory
Secure national recognition of the program and associated results
Secure additional funding for development - Progress toward goals should be evaluated on an annual or bi-annual basis, with specific metrics defined for each goal.
IV. Financial Implications
No additional funding is required for implementation. However, moving forward with the learning objects program will reduce the available support for development of complete courses and instructional modules. The shift from funding complete courses to instructional modules to self-contained learning objects represents a change in emphasis that has been occurring not only in Indiana, but also nationally. By supporting the development of content that can be used by multiple faculty and students in multiple learning contexts, we have the opportunity to magnify the impact of our scarce grant dollars and to foster a culture of sharing between and among our member institutions.
