Learning Objects and Instruction Components

The learning object (LO) model is characterized by the belief that we can create independent chunks of educational content that provide an educational experience for some pedagogical purpose. Drawing on the object-oriented programming (OOP) model, this approach asserts that these chunks are self-contained, though they may contain references to other objects; and they may be combined or sequenced to form longer educational interactions. These chunks of educational content may be of any type—interactive, passive—and they may be of any format or media type. A learning object is not necessarily a digital object; however, the remainder of this paper will focus on learning objects that are exclusively digital.