Dear Horse God, about those Digital Learning Objects

Fry: Dear Horse God, I know I don't usually pray to you. Sometimes I doubt you even exist,  but if you're willing to grant me luck... please... stamp your hoof for once.  Futurama

I have been holding back, waiting, just waiting, for the Horse God to stamp her hoof for once about Digital Learning Objects.  Because it didn’t seem to matter how many times I searched the Kia ora and welcome to Te Pātaka Matihiko Our Digital Storehouse site, I just didn’t get it. 

I couldn’t understand why a seemingly retro notion of “knowledge as an object thinking” was being celebrated with such (e) froth and (e) frenzy by our pro constructivism Ministry of Education. 

I wanted to ask why such a pedagogically parlous ict initiative was being funded across state, territory, and federal governments of two countries.

“The Learning Federation (TLF) is an exciting and innovative project that employs emerging technologies to produce world-class online curriculum content to encourage student learning and support teachers in Australian and New Zealand schools. TLF is an initiative of the state, territory and federal governments of Australia and New Zealand.”

I wanted to find out if any one else was asking the same questions I was.

After reading up on the promises made about Digital Learning Objects in the research literature, I remained sceptical. 

After checking out the “New Zealand gateway to the collection of quality learning objects being produced under The Learning Federation (TLF) initiative”, I remained sceptical. 

After talking to New Zealand teachers who were trialing the digital objects, I remained sceptical. 

After experimenting with some of the Digital Learning Objects, I remained sceptical. 

I might have remained sceptical … smugly cynical is a comfortable life_hack – an amusing place to play. 

My mistake was to pursue the reality of these objects in the  Learning Federation Showcase – After all  I reasoned, it would be within the bounds of common (e)sense to suppose that a showcase is where one would plonk the best evidence digital learning objects.   

Scepticism was no longer enough – rampant incredulity made me mute, and was directly responsible for my retreat to the Horse God.

And the final trigger, the "digital learning object catalyst" for an approach to The Horse God  - the New Zealand created showcase digital learning object  - Te Porere - the flag of  Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki, c1860s   

I know the Te Pātaka Matihiko site offers elaboration for the bewildered – aka

For further information about this initiative, please email Joy Hooper, ([email protected]),

but when you are bewildered enough to talk to The Horse God, an email to Joy seems manifestly inadequate. 

So did the Horse God stamp her hoof?  You betcha …   

Comments

[Leigh Blackall]

http://teachandlearnonline.blogspot.com/2005/12/choking-on-artichoke.html

[Leigh Blackall]

http://web.archive.org/web/20041019162710/http://rclt.usu.edu/whitepapers/paradox.html

The method learning object proponents have evangelized as facilitating reusability of instructional resources may in fact make them more expensive to use than traditional resources. We have demonstrated that the automated combination of certain types of learning objects can in fact be automated. However, it would appear that the least desirable relationship possible exists between the potential for learning object reuse and the ease with which that reuse can be automated: the more reusable a learning object is, the harder its use is to automate. Identically, the less reusable a learning object is, the easier its use is to automate. This discovery is depressing, indeed.

[Graham Wegner]

My copy of CEGSA RAMpage magazine tells me that both the Aussie and Kiwi governments have committed more than $100 million to the Learning Federation project for 8000 Learning Objects. Using my LO calculator that works out to twelve and a half grand per object. That's for an object that might (emphasis added) get used once a year in a lesson to show a one off concept if at all, while our schools cry out for more funds to keep their ICT basics up to date. And who's designing and creating these objects - I've yet to meet an actual teacher who has contributed to this expensive experiment. A lot of eggs in that particular basket - keep the cynicism going, a lot of educators don't know what a Learning Object is supposed to be but unfortunately are super impressed and feel that the bleeding edge must be close by.

[Leigh Blackall]

I wrote a script for a Learning Fed object once. They spent a hell of a lot on that script, then decided not to produce it. I thought it was a really good script too and have been trying to get them to release the rights to it so I can pursue its production elsewhere - ie web2 where.