The convergence of Content, Competencies and Context, a topic that I presented at the AAEC eLearn 2006 event, enables us to take advantage of some of the real substance lurking behind what is often too much hype surrounding things such as Web 2.0. As Tim Berners-Lee noted about the web, most of what is talked about as Web 2.0 is really just getting to what he had in mind all along. His thoughts parallel my own on Learning Objects. We are only now starting to see the realization of the vision that I first had back in 1990 for truly personalized content that led me to create the original Learning Object model.
For example, more people are starting to recognize that “Reusable Learning Objects” are NOT what they want, because there is an inverse relationship between the amount of context and the amount of reusability. As we get better at creating highly-personalized learning objects or content that is “just right” for one person at any one time in one context, then its reuseability gets closer to zero. If the learning object or content is just right for only you and only for today, then this becomes the only time and situation that this exact assembly of content or Learning Object is of value.
However, we also have to have the maximum amount of reusability if there is any hope that this can scale up to provide the massive amounts of content that we need to meet the needs of every person (all 6.4 billion of us and counting), every day. And we CAN have this, but NOT at the assembly level, but rather at the opposite end of the spectrum—the very small components or “raw assets” of content.
The often-used comparison to Lego blocks works very well here; it is the individual blocks that have the greatest reusable value, which makes Lego so enduring and enables the creation of any assembly imaginable from these individual blocks. The assemblies can be unique and “just right” yet you can disassemble them back to individual blocks which can in turn be used to create any number of other unique assemblies.
Check out the graphics in the presentations bleow or download my presentation slides (PPT format, 6.9 MB) for a clearer explanation of all this and some working examples.
Well, that's going to have to do me for today. Unfortunately the quake seems to have shaken my vocal cords rather badly. I just made it through the presentation today, but there’s not much left of my voice now so I’ll sign off and try to get it back in shape for the next stop in Taipei on Wednesday.
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