Is the Academy Ready for Learning Objects?

Abstract

Are the instructional infrastructure and academic culture of higher education ready to deliver and embrace learning objects? The answer is “yes,” but not at a level that suggests massive institutional transformation-- yet. The promise remains too tenuous, the risk-reward ratio too high, and the sense of urgency too low for the majority of faculty to change their current practices. Nonetheless, learning objects-- right-sized content that may be re-used, re-contextualized, and re-purposed—bring with them small seeds of change that likely will grow vigorously in the future.