Learning Objects: Resources For Distance Educa- tion Worldwide

This article discusses the topic of learning objects in three parts. First, it identifies a need for learning objects and describes their essential com-ponents based on this need. Second, drawing on concepts from recent developments in computer science, it describes learning objects from a theoretical perspective. Finally, it describes learning objects in practice, first as they are created or generated by content authors, and second, as they are displayed or used by students and other client groups. The Need for and Nature of Learning Objects Some Assumptions and a Premise Before launching directly into a discussion of learning objects, it is important to examine some assumptions and a premise. The first assumption is that there are thousands of colleges and universities, each of which teaches, for example, a course in introductory trigonometry. Each such trigonometry course in each of these institutions describes, for example, the sine wave function. Moreover