Quality for Reuse - From Analysis to Daily Use of a High Quality LOR
Introduction
The Q4R project (www.q4r.org ) aimed at providing a Quality Assurance workflow model for educational or training organizations that want to integrate a Learning Object Repository (LOR) to facilitate exchange of learning objects among teachers, trainers, students and/or other staff, such as i.e. training managers and instructional designers. We have called this model the Quality for Reuse Model or Q4R Model. This model introduces the main activities and resources necessary to build and maintain a high quality LOR.
What is a Learning Object (LO)?
A lot of discussion and many definitions have been given, but for this project, we decided to use the IEEE’s definition of a what a LO is:" Learning Objects are defined here as any entity, digital or non-digital, which can be used, re-used or referenced during technology-supported learning."
The LO is described by its metadata in the metadata record, which in turn is a structured xml file. This metadata record permits the user two search in all fields or by specific metadata. It also permits to accumulate annotations on a specific resource.
What is a Learning Object Repository (LOR)?
Equally a lot has been written on learning object repositories, how to build them and how to classify them (use our Q4R Repository to find resources). A digital repository is a system that “enables the storage, discovery and retrieval of metadata and/or electronic objects stored at a local or distributed level” (The JORUM Team, 2006, p. 8).
For our study, we have used the following characteristics to identify a LOR. A repository:
- Is a Web or client-based based software application
- Stores a metadata record describing each stored Learning Object (LO) as well as its physical file or it stores only a record with an URL to access the LO. Some make the difference by calling the storage of metadata records only a Referatory, and Repository when the physical file of the LO is also stored and managed.
- Provides authenticated user interface for submission of LOs and creation of metadata
- Provides public user interface for searching, browsing, displaying, storing and retrieving
McGreal (2007) has come up with three types of LOR’s, namely
- Type 1 hosting primarily content
- Type 2 hosting metadata records with links to the location of the LO
- Type 3 hosting content and links to external content.
What is quality?
The following two definitions give an idea about how vague the term quality is, and that it implies that criteria and rules have to be defined.
"Quality is fitness for use." (J.M. Juran, ed. Quality Control Handbook 1988) and “Quality is to anticipate and honor the need of an intending user (Anil Kohli, 2004). In this project, the following dimensions of learning object quality have been examined and detailed:
- Pedagogical Quality refers to enforcing sound instructional design principles
- echnical Quality refers to compatibility and interoperability issues the LOR and its LOs
- Cultural Quality refers to an awareness of cultural factors affecting the design of an LO, its adaptability and flexibility to be used in a global community.
- Accessibility Quality refers to technical features of an LO that makes it usable to users with different types of handicap (blind, hearing impaired, etc.)
- Ergonomical features making the LO user-friendly and therefore of higher quality.
What is quality assurance?
Quality assurance refers to all strategies, resources, tools and control measures that are put into place in order to ensure quality in a LOR. A set of predetermined and systematic activities necessary to provide appropriate satisfaction by the users of a Repository. The Quality for Reuse KIT contains all what is needed.
What is meant by reusability?
We adhere to the following definition "Reusability is the extent to which an LO can operate effectively for a variety of users in a variety of digital environments and a variety of educational contexts over time. LO reusability is affected by technical, pedagogic and social factors applying to both initial development and subsequent reuse." Extracted from Palmer & Richardson, 2004.
Hodgins (2006) differentiates between ‘reuse’ and repurposing. Reuse refers to the use of an LO without modification, while repurpose refers to the use of an LO with modification. In this project, we have defined three types of Reusability. All strategies aim to ensure these three types of reusability that we have distinguished between. They are briefly described below:
Pedagogical Reusability
- Use learning object as an example or inspiration
- Use the learning object as is
- Use a learning object by adapting it by
- recomposing using several LO’s to build new;
- decomposing and using parts;
Technical Reusability
How the LO is
- Compatible with different educational standards
- Free of technical errors
- Platform independent
Socio-cultural Reusability
The adaptation and flexibility of a LO to take into account:
- General cultural and social expectations and diversity
- Teaching and learning expectations and diversity
- Differences in the use of language and symbols
Interesting article: Use and Abuse of Reusable Learning Objects (Polsani, R. P. 2003) http://jodi.tamu.edu/Articles/v03/i04/Polsani/#2.2
Role descriptions
Six roles were identified as the most common according to our study involving the examination of about 300 repositories. A role refers to what an end-user can do in the LOR, it could be likened to system rights. Each end-user has certain rights depending on his her membership type. For example, an Instructional Designer may be both Contributor and Reuser as well as Indexer, whereas a learner might be only a Reuser but obviously also a Contributor. The table below describes major functions and responsibilities for each role.
| Actor Role |
Description of tasks |
| LOR Management Team |
This team consists of representatives from all types of stakeholders (administrators, teachers, learners, tutors, moderators, etc.). Its main responsibility is to analyze needs and elaborate quality assurance strategies accordingly. This team is also in charge of getting the LOR built or networked, technical and organizational architecture and the choice and elaboration of policies. |
| LOR Manager |
Clarifies needs, solicits LO contributions, informs end-users about new LO’s, maintenance problems, errors, guidelines etc., maintains and monitors quality in the LOR, reports errors and suggestions to the LOR Management Team |
| LO Contributor |
Respects policies, proposes new or existing resources, provides minimal metadata about the LO |
| LO Evaluator |
Respects policies, uses evaluation grids or other instruments to evaluate LO, reports to contributor whether LO is accepted or not, send accepted LO’s to the LO indexer role. |
| LO Indexer |
Respects metadata guidelines and policies, enters and verifies metadata, participates in elaboration of metadata guidelines and reports interoperability errors. |
| LO User-Reuser |
Consults and respects policies, evaluation instruments and guidelines according to need, reports usage of LO as well as quality according to the LOR’s annotation criteria or other feedback mechanism. |
Table 1 – Description of LOR Actors roles
What are Job Aids?
A job aid is a document that helps a user to carry out a specific task at a specific moment. Job aids corresponds to the ‘Just enough, Just in time’ paradigm, meaning that the user is informed about only what he or she needs at the time of executing the task, alleviating longwinded explications or looking through hand and or reference books, tutorials etc.
It is worthwhile to elaborate job aids when there is a large community of users having to do the same type of tasks (Rosset, 2006).
Useful resources
'Just in time' and 'just enough
Willmore Consulting group presenting 10 Job Aids formats