Reusable Learning Object Strategies

Reusable Learning Objects (RLO’s) offer flexibility, ease of development and deployment, but they are not successful unless they are applied in a strategy.  The reason for applying a strategy to RLO’s is to be objective, focusing on intended performance as a result of a learner’s training.

There are many different strategies centered on RLO’s.  On a more basic level are the strategies discussed by Hodgins in his paper The Future of Learning Objects.  According to Hodgins, there are three RLO strategies that will determine success.  These are either being used currently or will be in the near future:

1. Make it relevant, make is easy- for RLO’s to be readily adopted they must be deemed by learners as high-value.  They must be conceptualized, designed, constructed and selected quickly and easily.  The technology to facilitate this must be easy to use, but the underlying complexity of the technology doesn’t have to be rudimentary, nor should it. Learners are primarily concerned only with what is being presented to them and in context to their learning needs.
2. Connect everything to everything – RLO’s by their nature have a high potential for digital connectivity.  Leveraging technology can bring connectivity to a whole new level through the use of metadata (descriptive information to categorize and catalog content) by supplying a basis for making connections between RLO’s and people.  Technically, new paradigms emerge of sharing information by promoting blended learning solutions.
3. Everything is “just” a node – Learning content, or RLO’s, are decentralized, thus leaving the decision and control of what needs to be learned in the hands of the learner.  Because everything (the RLO’s) are on their own, yet connected to one another through relational metadata, learners approach their learning needs in a contextual fashion whereby based on their need they are able to pull together the “nodes” or RLO’s they need, assemble them and consume the learning when needed.

Cisco Systems have long been using RLO’s in their learning and have created detailed strategies that have evolved over the years to become more effective.  Their RLO’s are structured to give objects the necessary context to ensure a meaningful experience for the learner.  It also allows for RLO’s to be leveraged in problem-based learning, exploratory environments, performance support systems, job aids, help systems or blended learning solutions.  The strategy Cisco employs is focused on design, development and implementation of RLO’s with the underlying philosophy that if these areas are taken care of, the training will be effective creating a better learning experience and accommodate multiple approaches to learning.  This strategy is expressed in Learning Object Development (LOD) stages:

1. Granular analysis – determining performance objectives based on specific audience(s).
2. Design and mine – where the training solution is structured, objectives captured and content types identified.  It’s also an opportunity to find what is currently out there on the subject and leverage from the content if possible.
3. Reuse and develop – actual development of the training solution, reusing (if possible) learning objects in existence and forming the training in context to the training need.
4. Delivery and reference – the training solution is delivered in a variety of formats and chosen learning architectures.
5. Lifecycle maintenance – once a learning object is created, it can then be maintained over the course of its lifecycle.  A change to a single learning object that is shared among many different training solutions can be updated in one location and published to many destinations.

All throughout these stages, evaluation takes place to make improvements to the development process or impact of the overall learning experience.

Whether the strategy is the basic model illustrated in the Hodgin’s paper or the detailed Cisco Systems model, they do work and make an immediate impact when applied.  In 2003, ASTD awarded General Motors an Excellence in Practice Citation for illustrating their blended approach to performance-based training among auto mechanics at their dealerships.

The problem that faced GM in 1999 was that mechanic training became too expensive.  Traditionally, it was instructor-led training over the course of several days.  The training grew far too complex as GM began introducing more models into the marketplace.  With more models came more demand for training that would have forced GM to expand its training infrastructure nationwide at a cost too great for the company to meet and continue to support.

The solution was to restructure the delivery of training by using E-learning as a delivery method including the use of video, web-based, computer-based and interactive distance learning.  This reduced the number of training facilities needed and increased the availability and effectiveness of the training.

Although there as no mention of the use of learning objects in the paper highlighting the reasons behind awarding the citation, it is conceivable that GM made use of learning objects in a strategy to accomplish their goal of reducing training costs and creating effective performance-based learning among their mechanics.

RLO’s may have been used for web-based and computer-based instruction where the “basic building blocks” of mechanics are developed (such as Electronic Fuel Injection or ABS Breaking Systems), but when accessed by the mechanic who is taking a service course on a specific model of vehicle, the RLO’s are assembled and presented in an organized fashion in context to the model they are studying.

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On their own, RLO’s are just “nodes”, as mentioned in Hodgin’s paper, but if they are brought together in a strategy (whether basic or detailed), the learner has a better experience resulting in better performance.

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