Learning Objects Survey:
“Learning Circuits Learning Circuits and the Learning on Demand program of SRI Consulting Business Intelligence are co-sponsoring an online survey to gauge interest in and use of learning objects by e-learning adopters. Respondents will be provided with a full copy of survey results; portions of the results will also be published in an upcoming Learning Circuits article.” (Note: the survey is NOT intended for e-learning vendors or consultants.)
I’m a big proponent of the idea of learning objects, but I guess I can’t respond to the survey since I work for an e-learning vendor. I understand the intent of those conducting the survey. What they might be missing is that the drive for learning objects probably isn’t going to come from content consumers, but from content providers.
I presented on this topic at the plenary panel of last year’s Association of American Publishers conference, “Professional/Scholarly Publishing in the 21st Century.” The short version of my argument: learning objects are the most cost effective way for content providers to develop and sell content that will be used in e-learning.
I’ve been toting that flag for several years now, but since, in my current position, I actually work with most of the major publishers, I’m actually getting to see (and make) it happen. Content providers are catching on that just “putting a textbook online” is a lousy business model and eagerly moving toward a modularized “learning object” approach to delivering content.