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Learning Objects: Trends and Opportunities

A Report on the March 2005 Microsoft Learning Objects Summit

In the next few years, schools throughout the world have a remarkable opportunity
to revitalize the learning experience in primary, secondary, and higher education.
Using the latest research on how people learn, best practices in education, and
powerful technology tools, educators, content developers, and technology
companies can work collaboratively to invigorate teaching and learning by:
• Making the curriculum come alive
• Engaging and motivating students of all ages
• Supporting “just-in-time” learning—the right content at the right time for
every student
• Customizing academic content to meet the needs of individual students, reach
diverse student populations and satisfy local expectations

The key to creating this unmatched learning environment is digital content, also What Are Learning Objects?
known broadly as learning objects. Learning objects are digital chunks of content In traditional classrooms, learning
or curriculum that can be highly interactive, flexible, manipulated, reusable, and objects include maps, globes,
soon, accessible from any digital device—desktop or laptop computer, cell flashcards, and books—any object
phone, or MP3 player, for example. that aids thinking, learning, and
comprehension of academic
There is every reason to believe that learning objects are becoming a major content. In 21st century classrooms,
trend that will increase in importance over the next few years. In March 2005, learning objects increasingly will be
the first Microsoft Learning Objects Summit in Redmond, Wash., attracted high digital—available anytime,
interest, drawing education representatives from some 20 countries. At the anywhere, online.
summit, participants discovered that conditions are ripe for an explosion of
digital content in the education enterprise: Today’s learning objects can
• Educators are overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the potential transformative incorporate an interactive mix of
value of digital content for teaching and learning multimedia animation, graphics,
audio, video, and print making for
• Early applications demonstrate promising model practices and highlight the
rich, engaging, and relevant learning
potential benefits of learning objects for schools, teachers, and students
experiences that appeal to tech-
• Technology solutions are available, affordable, and easy to use savvy students. The Wisconsin
• Emerging business models showcase the possibilities for creating, storing, Online Resource Center describes
distributing, and managing learning objects learning objects as smaller units of
learning, typically ranging from 2
In this white paper, we’ll explore the trends and opportunities of learning objects to 15 minutes in duration. Further,
in education, starting with the applications presented at the summit, which will learning objects may feature built-
help redefine the learning experience around the world. We will consider how in assessments, so students can get
educators, publishers and other content developers, and technology companies chunks of content that are just-in-
can develop win–win partnerships to create, distribute, and manage learning time, just-enough, and just-for-
objects. Finally, we will offer recommendations for key stakeholders to jumpstart them—and find out immediately
the use of digital content—and enhance learning—everywhere. how well they are learning.
Adding Value to Education with Digital Content
Here’s an example: students can use
At the Microsoft Learning Objects Summit—which drew broad representation a learning object to master the
from universities, publishing companies, public television, and ministries of Cartesian coordinate system in
education from some 20 countries—presenters from Finland, Australia, and mathematics by manipulating and
Brazil highlightedthree very different approaches to creating and using learning plotting points on the x and y axes
objects. Indeed, the countries diverge in their rationales for developing digital of an interactive graph, getting
content, but their solutions converge on the power of learning objects to help instant results as they work through
them accomplish critical educational goals. The applications in these countries the exercise. The learning object can
underscore the ways in which learning objects have the potential to “break be used in addition to or instead of
the mold” in content development, delivery, and management in education. an algebra textbook or pencil-and-
paper graphing. Educators can
Moreover, the experiences from these promising model practices suggest that decide how and when to use
the emerging use of learning objects will have a profound and positive impact learning objects—for whole-class
on teaching and learning. Learning objects can serve as agents of change, presentations, small group work or
making learning more fun, interesting, and provocative for teachers and one-on-one learning activities for
students alike. Teachers can have more control over the learning environment, students who need extra practice or
selecting learning objects that help them meet their objectives and weaving an accelerated pace.
these new resources into their pedagogical repertoire. Students can be more
engaged in in-depth inquiry into academic content that is at once sophisticated, By definition, digital learning objects
enticing, and meaningful to their lives. are:
Self-contained. Each learning
Technology—and imagination—makes it possible for virtually anyone to object is a stand-alone unit of
create digital content that adds value to the education enterprise. Summit learning that can be used
participants, in fact, envision “societies of creators” who are actively engaged independently.
in forging life into learning and who are inspired by the possibilities now at
Reusable. A single learning object
hand.
can be used in multiple contexts for
multiple purposes.
Model Practices in Europe
Flexible. Learning objects can be
In Finland, a Publishing Company Accelerates e-Learning
combined with larger collections of
content, including traditional course
More than 70,000 teachers, students, and even parents routinely take advantage
materials and other digital resources,
of a publishing company’s repository of 5,000 learning objects, resulting in
to create whole units of study.
700,000 learning activities every week—including continuing education for
parents. Customizable. Content providers,
educators, and students can tailor
SanomaWSOY, the leading Nordic media company with operations in 20 or update learning objects to meet
countries, spearheaded the service through its subsidiary, SanomaWSOY their needs.
Education, Europe’s sixth largest textbook publisher. The traditional publisher Accessible. Every learning object is
is focusing on creating more digital content in response to Finland’s e-learning “tagged” with descriptive metadata
policies, which mirror the European Union’s. that includes the title, author, date,
and file format, which allows people
Finnish students are expected to be proficient in information and to search for, update, and manage
communications technologies (ICT) literacy, defined by the Programme for it easily.
International Student Assessment (PISA) as “the interest, attitude, and ability Interoperable. Learning objects can
of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication be designed and used on standard
tools to access, manage, integrate, and evaluate information, construct new technology hardware and software.
knowledge, and communicate with others in order to participate effectively
in society.” Specific ICT literacy goals vary, depending on the academic subject.
Clearly, integrating ICT literacy into the curriculum requires incorporating
technology and digital content into the learning experience, according to Learning objects are available and
SanomaWSOY Education’s Mikko Laine. “These ambitious targets cannot be can be useful in virtually every
met without a lot of resources,” he told summit participants. “There have been academic subject and topic—for any
experiments around the country, and without the content they cannot scale age group. They are stored in
up. One of the key success factors is having the relevant content available.” clearinghouses, known as
With its basic content package of 5,000 learning objects for languages, repositories, which can be public or
mathematics, and science, SanomaWSOY Education is meeting that need. private, free or commercial. Here
Learning objects are straightforward; in science, for example, students can learn are three free, public repositories to
how to use a microscope slide. explore:
Multiple Educational Resource for
Municipalities, which are responsible for providing K–12 schooling in Finland, Learning and Online Teaching
subscribe to the company’s learning object repository, known as Opit. These
(MERLOT) www.merlot.org
education agencies pay an annual fee of 17 Euros per subscriber; each subscriber
gets a personal account. The hosted service includes training and support for Shared Learning Object Portal
school administrators and teachers. Environment (SLOPE)
http://slope.senecac.on.ca
SanomaWSOY Education, which uses Microsoft’s software platform, still considers Wisconsin Online Resource Center
itself primarily a textbook publisher—but the company no longer thinks about (Wisc-Online)
textbooks alone. Instead, learning objects complement textbook learning. Indeed,
http://www.wisc-online.com/
the company is participating in an ambitious project, known as Universal
Sources: Learnet, available at
Curriculum, to offer content and e-learning technologies for K–12 learning
throughout the world. To learn more about this project, visit http://learnet.hku.hk/objects.htm
universalcurriculum.com. Learning Objects Portal, available at
http://ilearn.senecac.on.ca/lop/
Model Practices in Asia information/information.htm
In Australia, Government Customizes Content and Learning Design
Wisconsin Online Resource Center,
available at
The ubiquity of technology is the driving force behind Australia’s push to
incorporate digital content into education. There, the strong technology http://www.wisc-online.com/
infrastructure has heightened concern that Australia would be flooded with
content from outside the region—leaving students without the Australian point
of view on content, teaching, and learning.

To balance this cyberinfluence from abroad, Australia is creating learning objects that are customized for the country’s
students, teachers, and curriculum. The initiative, which includes New Zealand, is led by The Le@rning Federation—a joint
venture of the Curriculum Corporation, an independent education organization owned by all Australian education ministers,
and education.au limited, a national agency owned by the government and its education and training ministers.

The multidisciplinary initiative brings together primary and secondary educators as well as e-learning, assessment, and
publishing experts, according to the Le@rning Federation’s Susan Atkins. These teams of people rely on pedagogical
research to shape learning objects. For example, research on successful learning shows that students need to be actively
engaged in learning, making meaning, building on existing knowledge, asking questions, investigating problems, and
creating new knowledge. Designing learning objects with these educationally sound principles in mind is important to
the Australian developers.

The starting place for developing learning objects, then, is answering questions, Atkins said: What’s the approach to
learning that we want to get? Who are the learners and their capabilities? What’s important in the learning design? How
can learners use the functionality of technology to unpack their own information?
Learning objects framed by these questions, Atkins reported, can:
• Simulate concepts Frequently Asked Questions About
• Encourage interactive exploration Learning Objects
These questions emerged from
• Support self-paced learning
discussion sessions at the Microsoft
• Provide differentiated instruction for diverse student populations and students Learning Objects Summit.
with different learning styles
• Encourage collaboration Who creates the content?
• Integrate digital content and the real world Anyone with access to common
technology hardware and
• Present a theme which can lead to exploration of a local issue pertaining to
productivity software can create
that theme
learning objects. This includes
individual teachers and students, who
Model Practices in Latin America
can use templates for learning objects
In Brazil, Students and Teachers Create Their Own Learning Objects to design and customize content, as
well as traditional content providers,
At the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, 15- to 18-year-old secondary school such as publishing and media
students are creating their own learning objects—and sparking synergies and companies. Education agencies, such
collaborative efforts throughout their schools and the university. as ministries and departments of
education and local school districts,
Dr. Cesar Nunes, a physicist and musician, is coordinating the project, which is can develop content as well.
supported by Microsoft, through the university’s Virtual Didactic Laboratory. He
shared several learning objects created by his students, including these two Who owns the content?
concepts: Digital Rights Management (DRM)
• A trapeze artist demonstrating that changing the mass of falling objects changes remains an international issue
the rate of descent dependent on the laws, legal
precedents, patents, and practices
• Two trains moving towards each other at different speeds, with the “controller”—
that differ from place to place.
in this case, the learner—responsible for figuring out when the trains will
Content developers may choose to
collide
make learning objects available for
• These are classic physics problems that students turn into visible, animated, free or at a cost through licensing or
and interactive inquiries for themselves and others, since the learning objects subscription fees to a learning objects
are reusable. repository. There are opportunities
as well for education institutions to
Creating learning objects that capture scientific concepts gives students an active create learning objects and make
role in learning as well as in applying the knowledge they are acquiring, Nunes them available on the open market.
said. Further, the project draws on the interests and talents of students and
teachers throughout the university. Teams of Nunes’s secondary school students Who manages the content?
work together to develop the ideas and write the scripts for learning objects, Managing the plethora of learning
which are then reviewed for pedagogical usefulness by the university’s education objects that will be created in the
faculty. Once the scripts are finalized, students from the university’s arts and coming years is a major issue.
architecture programs create the animation. And then students in the university’s Standardized formats for metadata,
computer engineering program produce the final product. the descriptive tags that state the
title, author, date, and format of the
Secondary school teachers and university professors participate as well, fostering learning object, will help address this
issue. Content and learning
cross-school and -department collaborative relationships and interest in digital
management systems will help
content that did not exist before, Nunes says. “The schools where projects have
people and organizations keep track
been initiated have changed,” Nunes says. “The students and teachers want to
of, arrange, search, update, and access
produce things. The students can start building peer-to-peer repositories and
their collections of learning objects.
networks of exchanges.”
The project, which began as a small pilot, has expanded to five secondary schools.
Plans are in the works now to expand the project further to the entire state of How can content be shared?
Sao Paulo. Learning objects developed according
to open, international standards of
Making the Vision of Learning Objects a Reality: interoperability can be shared with
Where Do We Go from Here? anyone with a reliable Internet
Educators, publishers and other content providers, and technology companies connection. Microsoft supports the open
clearly have an interest in infusing learning objects into K–12 schools and higher Sharable Courseware Object Reference
education, as the inspiring presentations and spirited information sharing at the Model (SCORM) suite of technical
Microsoft Learning Objects Summit made clear. standards that enable Web-based
learning systems to find, import, share,
Yet there remain real, but surmountable, challenges to transforming schools into reuse, and export learning content in a
21st century learning environments that take full advantage of digital content. standardized way. A technical challenge
Summit participants raised these broad themes: for the future is developing similar
• Will educators embrace digital content, engaging learning environments, and standards that enable people to share
changes in teaching practice? content on an array of portable digital
• Do schools have the technology infrastructure to make this happen? devices, not just computers.

• What is the business model for creating learning objects?


• How will the issues of ownership, storage, distribution, management, and
sharing be resolved?

Microsoft intends to be a key player in collaborative efforts to provide solutions to these challenges and make the vision of
learning objects a reality. “Education at Microsoft is about enabling people to realize their full potential,” said Microsoft’s
Lisa Brummel of the Home and Entertainment Division. “Bill Gates is passionate about learning and what Microsoft can do
in the realm of education. That helps the overall mission of the company.”

As a technology company, Microsoft will never provide the entire solution for incorporating digital content into education.
Rather, the company will be aggressive in forging partnerships, creating market opportunities, and contributing better
technology tools that make it possible for people to engage students in learning, enhance everyday learning experiences
and deliver educational value.

Microsoft’s Solutions for Digital Content

At the core of Microsoft technology solutions for education is Microsoft® Windows®, the company’s popular family of
operating systems.

Built on this platform is the Microsoft Office System of productivity products, which this year will be customized for educators
and students with a product known as Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office, according to Marcia Kuszmaul of the Education
Products Group. Learning Essentials, which is available through Academic Volume Licensing, features:
Educator and Student Centers that enable educators and students to start common assignments and tasks quickly through
a customizable interface.
Templates for Microsoft Office Word®, Microsoft Office Excel®, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint® that help educators
and students get beyond the blank page and produce high-quality work. The 64 templates for students assist them with
writing projects, science reports, and presentations—and even applying to college. Educators will find 117 templates for
classroom handouts and presentations, grading rubrics, classroom management, and more.
Side-by-side Project Assistance for “just-in-time” guidance and coaching from leading education publishers and expert
Office users. Handy Checklists help track progress within an assignment.
Toolbars that bring together Office resources and commands for writing, math, science and foreign languages.
Tutorials from leading education publishers with academic guidance for students and best practices for educators to
help them complete their work. For example, the 28 student tutorials include The Writing Process, which helps students
successfully complete the four basic stages of writing. The Designing Great Projects tutorial, which outlines the characteristics
of successful project-based instruction, is one of 39 tutorials for educators.

A Content Development Kit, based on Microsoft Office InfoPathTM, a part of Microsoft Office Professional, is available
for creating additional xml-based content for Learning Essentials. The kit includes built-in templates that publishers and
educators can use to design their own learning objects—customized for the content and learning experiences they want
to create.

Some teachers may be eager to develop learning objects, such as tutorials or lesson plans, from scratch. Other teachers
may prefer to adapt learning objects produced by other educators or commercial publishers. And still others may want
“off-the-shelf” learning objects available from repositories. Most likely, teachers will mix and match these approaches.
In any of these scenarios, however, Microsoft software productivity tools will aid the process—and put educators at ease
about the pedagogical and technical aspects of using learning objects routinely to engage students.

To create the content for Learning Essentials, Microsoft partnered with a number of leading education publishers, such
as Pearson Prentice Hall and the Great Source Education Group, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company. Microsoft is
pursuing partnerships with other publishers around the globe to create relevant local content as well. In the Microsoft
Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, for example, the company is working with Cambridge University Press
and Oxford University Press.

This is one kind of business model that Microsoft believes will be more common in the future—technology companies
and education content developers collaborating to create customized solutions for teaching and learning.
The partnerships will be different for every development opportunity as the demand for digital content—still an immature
industry—grows.

Microsoft’s support for learning objects extends beyond the desktop to the technology infrastructure, including Learning
Server (in early development), Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server, and Windows Media digital rights management
(DRM). These content and learning management systems allow people to store, protect, securely deliver, and share
learning objects and other educational content easily. That’s because Microsoft products are based on internationally
accepted standards for learning objects, such as SCORM.

Microsoft will continue to expand the features of these products and develop new products for the education market.
Key areas of innovation for the future will be supporting education standards with learning objects, improving search
experiences for students—the thrust of many educational experiences—and improving technologies that enable efficient,
affordable mobility.

Next Steps and Recommendations

The core revelation at the Microsoft Learning Objects Summit is this: We have reached a point at which technology is
more than a set of powerful productivity tools and more than an ever-expanding array of entertainment devices.
Technology can help deliver unmatched learning experiences in communities, schools, and homes around the world.
Learning objects galvanized participants because they clearly enrich the quality and dynamics of teaching and learning.
Yet their full potential for engaging students in academic discovery cannot be captured without serious attention to the
human, organizational, and technical issues that summit participants raised.
Learning objects should not be patched on to the learning experience. Rather, they should be woven into the fabric of the
educational mission as part of the arsenal of strategies schools use to improve teacher practice and student achievement.

To that end, Microsoft offers these recommendations for helping students realize their potential with the help of learning
objects.

• Recommendations for Educators


• Explore the nexus between pedagogy and technology.
• Build the technical infrastructure that will support the learning experiences you want to create.
• Explore options for accessing learning objects.
• Support teachers and administrators with professional development.

Learning objects can help you meet your educational goals—but only if your goals are well understood. What kind of
teaching and learning experiences are valued in your educational setting? Do you expect students to use learning objects
for drill and practice exercises or for inquiry-or problem-based learning? Do you want to make it possible for teachers
and students to create their own learning objects? The answers to these kinds of questions will drive decisions about your
technology infrastructure, access to learning objects, and professional development.

For most education agencies, it may take at least three years to plan, budget for, modernize or build technology
infrastructures that will support up-to-date digital content. To be successful, make sure you work with vendors who
understand the learning environment you want to create. And make sure you build community support and understanding
for the changes you plan to make.

The field of learning objects is wide open, immature, and changing rapidly. Educators, and especially curriculum specialists,
should stay current on emerging sources of repositories. Consider partnering with other education agencies, content
developers or technology companies to gain access to repositories—or to develop your own.

Finally, educators will need pedagogical and technical support to incorporate learning objects into everyday teaching
and learning.

• Recommendations for Content Developers


• Take stock of your content.
• Think through business models.
• Look for partnership opportunities.

Content developers have reservoirs of content that can be used to create learning objects. How is it digitized? How can
you adapt it?

Are there opportunities to expand your products and services to existing customers? Do you anticipate opportunities in
new markets, such as international business spurred by ICT literacy requirements for education? What kind of partnerships
do you need to cultivate to develop these new opportunities?

Do you want to create learning objects that complement, supplement or replace printed materials? Do you want to create
a repository? How will you provide access to it? What decisions do you need to make about digital rights management?
Do your employees need more or different skill sets? Answers to these kinds of questions will drive your business
strategies.
Content developers that are not traditional providers to the education market, such as media and entertainment companies
and nonprofit organizations, will see opportunities in the field of learning objects as well. Teaming up may be an innovative,
win–win solution for capturing emerging educational markets.

• Recommendations for Technology Companies


• Take a fresh look at the education market.
• Anticipate high interest in learning objects.
• Plan for one-to-one computing, widespread wireless zones, greater mobility, and access.

Educators around the world are beginning to realize that technology can help them reach their educational goals—improving
student performance, engaging students in learning, making learning relevant to the world, giving teachers better classroom
resources and changing instructional practice, for example. As technology becomes ever more powerful and affordable,
educators increasingly will consider what it can offer to schools.

Technology companies should be prepared to offer solutions that will help educators use learning objects easily and effectively.
This will require an expanded focus on the education market—and not just the technology experts, but also the curriculum,
teaching, and learning experts.

It is just a matter of time before every student has a low-cost laptop or tablet device. Some communities already are moving
forward to set up broad “hot zones” of wireless Internet service and access. Soon, portable devices will have the full functionality
of computers. These developments are givens; technology companies should plan for them as they make way for digital
content.

To Learn More
Visit http://www.microsoft.com/education/schooloffuture.aspx to find out more about Microsoft’s vision,
strategies, and plans for the School of the Future, a model of 21st century learning for future generations.

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