This document discusses trends in instructional design through learning objects. It outlines how learning objects can contribute to designing multimedia materials by moving from teacher-centered to learner-centered education, diversifying and flexibilizing educational offerings, promoting open and distance learning, and optimizing resources through shared projects. Learning objects provide cultural and economic advantages by reducing costs through sharing and supporting constructivist approaches by giving students experiences. Key trends include the reusability, scalability, interdisciplinarity, and generativity of learning objects.

1. Currents trends in Instructional
design through Learning Objects
CAROLINA SANMARTÍN
UOC 2009

2. Are units of
digitized
information, cla
ssified and
distributed by
means of
domains and
accessible for
different types
of users
Learning Objects

3. Contribution of LO to desing of multimedia materials
 Moving from teaching-centred to learning-centred educational
 Need for diversification and flexibilisation of the educational offer
 Promotion of open and distance educational modalities
 Internationalisation of educational programmes,
 Requirement of quality criteria and standards that permit programme
and system interoperability
 Optimisation of resources by fostering shared projects between
institutions
 Constitution of a market in which knowledge acquires value according
to the broadness of the contexts in which it is used

4.  Provide cultural and economic
Learning advantages
Objects…  Reduce costs by sharing products
 Are specially indicated for
constructivist approaches as they have
great potential in providing the
students with experiences

5.  Reusability (within organonizations and outside
them: networks)
TRENDS 

Scalability
Interdisciplinarity
Facilitate instructional  Generativity
design  Large networks of objects and community of users
Optimize resources  Reach quality by looking for expert suppliers in
each area of knowledge
Raise quality of
learning  LO as exchange values
 Syllabus flexibility
 Take objects as units to structure courses (in a
shared and networked System). Functions:
 external to the object: by articulating several objects in
a programme;
 internal to the object: guide for actions that can be run
in the object.

6. LO feeds Knowledge Management Systems
(repositories) and Instructional Design
processes, considering:
TRENDS
Problems
Repositories Tasks
Skills
products
any other type of categorisation
Repositories permit a tangible approach to the
organisation's knowledge capital and offer
the possibility of combining knowledge units in
multiple ways in accordance with specific
qualification needs.

7.  Management of institutions based
LO are useful on e-learning
for…
 Design of digital learning
environments
 Design of multimedia materials
 Teaching with the use of
information and communication
technologies