May 1, 2004

By Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti

The online classroom interposes the online interface between the instructor and the student. If the text and images used to present the course material are dull and lifeless, students will not engage as fully in the learning process. An online distance education course depends upon its interface to engage the student, introduce him or her to the content, and assess the student’s mastery of the material. One way to do these things is with the use of interactive multimedia elements, also known as “learning objects.” These learning objects allow students to have immediate feedback on their learning in a way designed by their particular course instructor. There is one problem, however. Creating these learning objects can be “hideously expensive,” in the words of Jeremy Dunning, professor of geophysics at Indiana University in Bloomington.

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