The Learning Object Database
Over the years, I have taught numerous history courses for a number of institutions and I have found that the material I use for these courses often overlaps. For some time now I have given thought to how I can construct such a database that will help me organize this material and make it easily accessible based on the learning objectives for a given class. I am hoping that as I continue this course, I will learn how to construct such a database as I have not been able to come up with a good way to do so yet. How can the variety of learning objects, i.e., URLs, videos, audio clips, jpegs, etc., be easily stored in an Excel spreadsheet, Word table, or other system?
Mica,
Good ideas. Keep them coming. These all take time but are worth it.
Donald:
Having all of these items in "one place" is often a good way to go. However, having "native" versions of these materials is always a good idea as well. As compatibility issues come up and as certain file types get "phased out," you may have to go back and use some type of app to convert something to a more usable format.
On another note, it's often tricky to make a lot of these items available to students via LMS as oftentimes the institution ends up owning that content. Therefore, something you spend a lot of time developing and curating (handouts or specific assignments or resources, perhaps) can become property of the school. An odd consideration.
Broderick,
Templates are helpful to students and using them to help students achieve the learning objectives is great. Thanks!
Donald,
I strongly believe in storing Excel and Word files in order to create a variety of templates to construct a well structure database with specific learning objectives.
Donald,
The learning objects that you are creating are very helpful, but as you note, how you store and use them can be equally important. Thanks!
