17 August 2010
I have just been reading the article Phillipa sent to me via a comment on my blog and found this defintion of a learning object from the British Journal of educational technology 2010:
"A learning object is defined by The Le@rning Federation as a reusable computer-based
resource comprised of one or more files of material that might include graphics, text,audio, animation, calculator and interactive notebook and that is designed to be used as a stand-alone learning experience."
15 August 2010 I love learning objects. I use them quite a lot in my lessons with my current class of 6/7 students. The ability for the students to not only have fun whist learning but the information that they garner, collect, and then synthesis using these objects is fantastic. My most recent is the Maggie O Rourke object on my weebly website A journey to Eureka. I place the object into a learning path and this provides me with passwords the students use to access the object in the computer lab or at home on the virtual classroom.
I use the learning federation objects the most as they are easy to access and have already been screened for educational use so you know they will work in the classroom.
You do need ensure that you provide worksheets or specific questions that the students need to answer by using some of the objects oitherwise they can become purely a time filler or game in the students eyes.
I have also used the gizmo tools referred to in moodle. I used this system for a Science lesson on tides and also one for natural and processed materials. The objects are well scaffolded for teachers with great worksheets and answers to them as well once you become a memember.
The learning objects enable you to create visually engaging hand on lessons but as many teachers are only just discovering these tools it is important to ensure your students know how to use them and do not assume they can do all the task and leave them to it. Guide them through the object show them as a group first and then give them an instruction and task sheet to follow so they can naviagate thhrough them as some are quite complex.
(image courtesy of clipart)
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about learning objects. These are one of the tools I will be including as a must have in my synopsis. It is interesting that you say that it is important to ensure that LO's do not become a game or time filler. I did some research on this and found a couple of good articles which address this point specifically. I used a vending machine object recently with my year 2 class and it was not until I reflected on the lesson that I realised how much more detail I could have gone into as far as picking apart the opportunities that the LO offered to scaffold their learning.
Learning Objects and Engagement of Students in Australian and New Zealand Schools
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=15&sid=831d988c-27c9-4bcb-80e5-b0b5135fd73c%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ872746#db=eric&AN=EJ872746
Great Phillipa Thank you for your comment and I will read the article and let you know what I think. I love learning objects so am interested to hear what the experts say.
ReplyDeletePhillipa I really apprecaite you sharing this article with me. It is going to be so useful for my synopsis. What I am most pleased about is the observations I have made about ensureing students are not just left to it but guided with the objects by teachers to esnure students have an understanding of the tasks is discussed by literacy experts!
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