Jacques du Plessis

An Incremental Approach To Implementing a Web Course: The High Points and Pitfalls in North America and South Africa

ConclusionOur premise, that involvement with Web-based instruction proceeds best incrementally, has been explored in a variety of examples. A range of options, as well as a strategy for dealing with them systematically, has been presented. Our four-step model, adapted from an earlier one by DeBloois & Alder (1973), has four levels: awareness, faculty support, faculty skills, and departmental effort. Practitioners in higher education in the 21st Century will need to capitalize on creative ways to build Web resources, used one at a time, into existing courses, leading to enhanced learning opportunities for students and faculty alike

Securing learning in learning objects

This paper advances a framework that assists instructional designers to secure learning in learning objects. Anchored in constructivism learning theory, the framework also offers an effective approach for utilising learning objects in e-learning instruction so learning is facilitated, promoted, and optimised.

Learning Objects: Using Language Structures to Understand the Transition from Affordance Systems to Intelligent Systems

There has, of recent, been a marked interest in the utilization of learning objects, specifically on the potential of granularity and reusability to make instructional development more efficient, and learning experiences more customized and meaningful . Juxtaposition of affordance systems and intelligent systems reveals powerful possibilities for granularity and reusability. Biology, architecture and language are investigated as systems to explore the role of granularity and reusability, in the quest to better define current perceptions of learning objects in the realm of design and technology in instruction. The notion of subsystems, and the rules that apply within each system (intra-systemic rules) and between subsystems (inter-systemic rules) as it extends to holistic purposes, defines the role of granularity. The inverse relationship between granular reusability and learning-objective specificity is addressed. In conclusion, learning objects within the virtual context are evaluated to identify commonalities and patterns to inform the design and development of future learning objects, and to clarify granularity and how it impacts the scale and scope of reusability.

Learning objects in learning organisations: a knowledge management perspective

Within the context of knowledge management, this paper explores how communities of practice (CoP) can be used as a framework in the process of creating, using, and reusing learning objects in learning organisations. The focus of this paper is not on how to create, use, and reuse learning objects. It is on the pertinent role of knowledge management and its tools in the process of creation, use, and reuse of learning objects in learning organisations.