Reusable Learning Objects

The concept of reusable learning objects (RLO) is not new, but not everyone just getting into DL knows about them or how they can help make developing a course easier. The idea is simple. A RLO is any component of instruction (this is my own definition by the way) that can be reused by others in other courses. These components may be videos, Flash interactions, PowerPoint presentations or even interactions, animated illustrations, and so on. In practical terms, this means you don't have to reinvent the wheel for every course you develop. This is especially true for standard courses: Psych 101, American History, Biology 101 and so on. Someone, most likely, has already developed some kind of instructional component to teach a particular concept. And if they are willing to share it, why develop one yourself?

The hard part of this is finding those RLOs. There are some efforts under way to catalog and make such RLOs available to others. Here are a few:

http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/mlx/index.php
http://www.wisc-online.com/default.asp