January 2005 MERLOT

Reusable Learning Design Guidelines

OVERVIEW FOR MERLOT

Copyright 2005 Reusable LearningThis work is licensed under a Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0

Creative Commons License (see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0/).

January 2005 MERLOT 2

The Reusable Learning Project

Goal: Increase the value and impact of the NSDL by increasing the reusability of its content

Deliverables– Workshops– Web site (www.reusablelearning.org)– Reusable Design Guidelines (

www.reusablelearning.org/guidelines)– Suggested policies for collections– Impact through implementation

Added Deliverables:– Examples and best practices– Learning content and opportunities

January 2005 MERLOT 3

Who Wants to be a Reuser?

Authors / Creators– Reuse content created by others (and themselves)– Repurpose and integrate content into their own work

Instructors / Teachers– Reuse content that supports their pedagogy and

learning objectives– Assemble content from multiple sources

Students / Learners– Access content for learning– Want content that fits their situation and learning style

January 2005 MERLOT 4

Reusability Factors – Author Perspective

Can I find appropriate

content?

May I use or modify the content?

Is the content any good? Is it right for

my audience?Do the structure,

look and feel work?Can I change them?

Can I access it?Can I download it?

Can I edit it?

January 2005 MERLOT 5

Reusability Factors – Instructor Perspective

Can I find appropriate

content?

May I use or modify the content?

Does it fit mymethods & goals?

Can my students learnfrom it?

Are the structure,look and feel

suitable?

Will it work onmy computer? On my learners’

computers?

January 2005 MERLOT 6

Reusability Factors – Learner Perspective

Can I find appropriate

content?

May I use the content?

Can I use just the parts I need? Can I go through it

the way I want?

Can I access it? Will it run on

my computer?

Does it providewhat I need?

Can I learn from it?

January 2005 MERLOT 7

May I use the content?RIGHTS

Can I access it? Will it run on

my computer?

INTEROPER-ABILITY

Can I use just the parts I need? Can I go through it

the way I want?

DESIGN: STRUCTURE &PRESENTATION

Does it providewhat I need?

Can I learn from it?

DESIGN:CONTEXT &PEDAGOGY

Can I find appropriate

content?METADATA

Reusable Design Guidelines

January 2005 MERLOT 8

Reusability – Collection Perspective

Can my users find what they

need?

May my content be

used?

Is my content good?Is it right for

my audience?

Is my contentdesigned for optimal

use?

Can mycontent be

used?RIGHTS INTEROPER-

ABILITY

CONTENT POLICIES

QUALITY

METADATA

January 2005 MERLOT 9

Who are the guidelines for? Authors (developers, etc.)

Maximize reusability by– Informing authoring & design processes– Defining requirements for tools

Collections, digital libraries and librarians

Support reuse and encourage reusable design by– Informing metadata, rights & content policies and practices– Suggesting requirements for interfaces– Providing information for contributors

January 2005 MERLOT 10

Preliminary Evaluation of MERLOT

Metadata– Merlot supports a rich metadata model

Rights– Rights information should be more complete

Interoperability– Some information is provided– We’d like to investigate this area in more detail

Design for Reuse– How can we raise awareness of how to design for

reusability among MERLOT contributors?

January 2005 MERLOT 11

For Example - RIGHTS

All resources should provide:– Links to terms of use– Links to a source for obtaining additional permissions

Collections should make a small set of licenses available to contributors

– The Creative Commons is the most frequently referenced source of such licenses.

– Need a license selection and assignment service

MERLOT currently supports a “Copyright and / or other restrictions” yes/no flag (see http://www.merlot.org/artifact/AddArtifact.po )

January 2005 MERLOT 12

Current MERLOT Rights Information

When submitting resources

When searching for resources

January 2005 MERLOT 13

RIGHTS INFO IN SEARCH and SUBMISSION

Rights information

January 2005 MERLOT 14

RIGHTS INFO IN SEARCH RESULTS

Rights information Link to detailed

rights information

January 2005 MERLOT 15

Creative

Commons

License

Readable by humans

Link to a version for the

lawyers

January 2005 MERLOT 16

For Example – DESIGN ISSUES

General Terminology and Graphics Navigation Access to usage instructions, modification

instructions, source code– Note that there are considerable additional

requirements here if ADAPTATION of resources is supported (as opposed to ADOPTION of resources as-is)

January 2005 MERLOT 17

BEFORE – Graphics and text specific to an educational level

January 2005 MERLOT 18

AFTER – More general terminology and graphics

January 2005 MERLOT 19

BEFORE – Learning Objects Not Self Contained

Learning objects split

over multiple, non-

contiguous pages-----

Two learning objects start

on same page

Reference to an

external text

Explanations and solutions not linked to problems.

January 2005 MERLOT 20

AFTER – Self contained learning object

Problems grouped

with solutions

and separated

into problem-solution blocks

Direct link to reference information

Solutions and explanations linked

to problems

January 2005 MERLOT 21

(Solution on Next Page)

January 2005 MERLOT 22

BEFORE – Forced, embedded navigation

Quiz not available

until the end

January 2005 MERLOT 23

BEFORE – Forced, embedded navigation

Page forward and

back navigation

only

January 2005 MERLOT 24

AFTER – User selects navigation path

January 2005 MERLOT 25

AFTER – User selects navigation path

January 2005 MERLOT 26

BEFORE – No Usage Instructions or Source Code

January 2005 MERLOT 27

AFTER – Easy to find links to code and modification instructions

January 2005 MERLOT 28

AFTER – Modification instructions and source files

January 2005 MERLOT 29

AFTER – Source files available

January 2005 MERLOT 30

Possible Actions

A. Implement more complete rights options

B. Evaluate current interoperability metadata

C. Evaluate the need to more fully support Adaptation of resources– If there is a need, consider developing “sub-

collections” with reusability characteristics supporting adaptation

D. Disseminate Reusable Design Guidelines specifically for MERLOT contributors– What is the most effective way to do this?

January 2005 MERLOT 31

What Next?

New Reusable Learning web site– Current site supported research and workshop activities– New site designed to act as an information and learning

resource on reusability and on how to apply the guidelines– Targeted for completion in Q1 of 2005

Provide 2 hour online seminar to MERLOT editors– More fully explain the Reusable Design Guidelines– Schedule for April?

After the seminar, evaluate the possible actions