1 Learning Objects – Andy Sawyer

To kick off I think it’s worth reminding ourselves here that the reason we’re looking at learning objects is because learning is our business. The learning object approach has claimed to offer significant advantages to other ways of handling learning data. It provides us, as museums, with a way of adding value to our content.

In terms of defining what a learning object is there is no agreed definition. The one that’s currently going round is any digital resource that is used to support learning.

Frances Lloyd-Baynes: It does depend on who is supplying the metadata. Their plan in testing and utilizing Steve is to control who is imputing the content and to essentially have an invited group of people to utilize Steve to catalogue their objects.

There are some issues in my mind about the learning object approach. One is an issue around metadata and how that’s created. One is that the semantic web is meant to be democratic and so on.

(More to come from Andy)