This document proposes a model for developing learning objects (LOs) centered on the teaching-learning process. The model uses two pedagogical tools - Content Maps and Dependency Maps - to structure LOs according to the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) standard. Content Maps provide a graphical representation of course content hierarchies. Dependency Maps show relationships between educational objectives and required behaviors based on Bloom's taxonomy. The proposed model aims to standardize LO presentation, improve planning and reuse, and address common problems in LO development like unclear navigation structures.

1. A model of learning object centered on the process teaching-learning
Thiago Reis da Silva1, Rommel Wladimir de Lima2, Carla Katarina de Monteiro Marques3, Hugo
Henrique de Oliveira Mesquita4, Roberto Douglas da Costa5, Rodrigo Medeiros de Azevedo6, Selma
Márcia Pontes Teixeira da Rocha7
Abstract  This article presents the advantages of modeling LO is a digital resource that can be used as an aid for
a Learning Object using the SCORM standard, based on teaching-learning and it has the ability to be reused in
tools centered on the teaching/learning based on various contexts in order to facilitate the acquisition of
pedagogical theories and statements. For this, the teaching knowledge [20].
tools: Map Content and Dependency Map, which is In this context an LO is any resource digital that can be
developing a methodology for planning disciplines, are reused to support teaching [21]. Therefore, it is understood
thought of as models for learning objects. Thus, the that the LO favor a new conception of teaching/learning,
representation of these tools as Learning Objects enables its supported by technology, characterized by promoting the
greater sharing and reuse. construction of knowledge through interaction. In this
perspective, the increasing use of LO activities to support
Index Terms  Learning Objects. SCORM. Planning of the teaching-learning demanded several initiatives to
Teaching-Learning. standardize the specification, construction and identification
of these [5].
INTRODUCTION In the case of standardization of LO were defined
several recommendations concerning the metadata
With the constant advances of Information and cataloging and characterizing the LO and also
Communication Technologies, the Distance Learning over recommendations on how these can be encapsulated OA and
the Internet, has been suggested as a potential solution to how their content can be browsed [23].
bring knowledge to more distant places [4]. An example is Currently the standard in evidence [1] is SCORM
the Learning Objects (LO) [22], which according to [20] created by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), which
matches any resource to support learning, for example, presents itself as a reference model of LO shareable. The
animation software, a Web page, an image, among others. focus of SCORM is the auto-learning, i.e., the student
This generic definition promotes a variety of forms of interacts exclusively with the material without interference
creations and uses of LO in the teaching/learning [14]. But, from other players in sequencing. The SCORM incorporates
these multiplicities of ways to use their reuse difficult, various specifications of LO and thus becomes compatible
especially with regard to other LO [18]. In this sense, the with various Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) [17].
process of developing LO, must follow rules of In this perspective, the use of LO in teaching has not
standardization and pedagogical features. only advantages, there problems and/or disabilities related to
In this context, this article aims to present the potential their development. According to [6] and [15], among the
benefits promoted the development of a model of OA, the major problems faced in the creation of LO include:
use of teaching tools in conjunction with the Sharable a) Navigation Structure: LO in the navigation
Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) standard [1]. structures are not clearly defined, and the concepts
For this, the pedagogical tools will be used proposal in [9], and relationships are not always represented a way
Content Map and Dependency Map, whose creation process to identify the best way to navigate between them;
is a planning methodology for discipline, focused on the b) Transcript written media to electronic media: in
process of teaching/learning. developing the content of OA is very difficult to
find a structured way of transcribing a content
LEARNING OBJECTS AND THE STANDARD written by an electronic content, enabling its reuse
SCORM in different contexts;
1
Thiago Reis da Silva, Master in Computer Science at the Graduate Program in Computer Science – UERN/UFERSA.
2
Rommel Wladimir de Lima, Teacher Graduate Program in Computer Science – UERN/UFERSA.
3
Carla Katarina Marques de Monteiro, Teacher Graduate Program in Computer Science – UERN/UFERSA.
4
Hugo Henrique Oliveira Mesquita, Bachelor of Computer Science at State University of Rio Grande do Norte – UERN.
5
Roberto Douglas da Costa, Master in Computer Science at the Graduate Program in Computer Science – UERN/UFERSA and teacher Institute Federal of
Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte – IFRN.
6
Rodrigo Medeiros de Azevedo, Bachelor of Computer Science at State University of Rio Grande do Norte – UERN.
7
Selma Márcia Pontes Teixeira da Rocha, Master in Computer Science at the Graduate Program in Computer Science – UERN/UFERSA.
© 2013 ICECE March 03 - 06, 2013, Luanda, ANGOLA
VIII International Conference on Engineering and Computer Education
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2. c) Disability pedagogical: in general, the development To provide a graphic display of the discipline syllabus
of LO have been more important than the technical or course, the CM has to be created. For this, a planning
perspective outlook pedagogical; methodology guides the teacher in the development of CM
d) Integration with VLE: when the academic and promotes planning discipline.
community, industry and government failed to
reach an agreement on what standard to use in the
development of OA, although the standard SCORM
is in evidence [1];
e) Presentation of LO: the generic definition of what
may be an OA provides a wide variety of shapes
and designs of the present educational content,
which makes it difficult reuse.
To address these problems, this model uses two
pedagogical tools that work the process of teaching and
learning. The next section presents these tools.
CONTENT MAP AND DEPENDENCE MAP
According to [14], the tool Content Map (CM),
presented in [11], aims to strengthen the teaching/learning
process by providing a more meaningful content [2] for
teacher and student. For the teacher, the tool has a planning
methodology that guides the development of the same MC
and promotes the discipline of planning, collaborating with
the learning process. Figure 1 shows an example of an CM
containing the first level of viewing the contents program
illustrated in Figure 2.
FIGURE. 2
EXAMPLE PROGRAMMATIC CONTENT FOR THE DSICPLINA IN
OPERATING SYSTEM. FONT: ADAPTED AND EXCERPTED FROM
[19].
Based on the concepts of Concept Maps [11], CM
strengthens the learning process of students through the
graphical visualization of the course syllabus or course. The
Planning Methodology supporting the teacher in creating the
discipline, assisting in the development of CM consists of a
FIGURE. 1 set of interactions where the teacher answers the questions
EXAMPLE OF A CM. FONT: ADAPTED AND EXCERPTED FROM asked by the tool. At the end of the interactions result is that
[19]. CM is then displayed by the teacher [16].
In CM, relations between concepts are hierarchical, with The other tool proposed by [9] and presented in [8] is
the Dependency Map (DM). The DM is a pedagogical tool
content more introductory occupying the top of the chart and
consists of a set of Educational Objectives, presented
the most complex driving to the base [10]. This way of
graphically, and interrelated through Bloom's Taxonomy [3].
viewing a relationship is based on the fact that a more
The DM generally consists of an educational objective
complex content needs or rely on content simpler with
and a set of behaviors required to achieve this goal. Both the
whom it relates. Assim, a relação entre o conteúdo de duas
educational goal as the behaviors needed to achieve it, are
indica ao aluno que ele precisa entender os conceitos do
defined according to the existing categories in Bloom's
conteúdo mais fácil de ser capaz de compreender a
Taxonomy.
informação no conteúdo mais complexo.
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3. The highest level of the DM represents the educational LO SCORM under represent the Sharable Content Object
objective, belonging to a particular class of taxonomy, (SCO), with all the technical requirements necessary to
defined by the teacher to explain what he expects of students satisfy the requirements of interoperability and reusability of
in relation to content. After this first level, the DM shows the LO on the internet. To meet the technical requirements, the
dependence relationship between that initial goal and any LO must be packaged and labeled, following the SCORM
number of behaviors, the lower class, which can contribute standard. This includes metadata that describe: (a) package
to achieving the initial goal. This dependency relationship is content and their individual basic components, (b) the
repeated, with the DM may contain as many levels as organization and the order in which digital resources are to
necessary, to achieve the simplest class of Bloom's be delivered and (c) the related physical files, such as
Taxonomy or until it reaches a behavior that does not require images, files eXtensible Markup Language (XML), among
dependencies. Figure 3 illustrates an example of a DM. others.
The import step is the step where the teacher can
perform the import model. This step is required when the
teacher check for possible adaptations of the model created.
For the OA is exported, the teacher makes planning and
discipline determined will be as the composition of the
learning unit based curriculum (Figure 1). During the
planning of the learning unit, i.e., the subject or course, the
LO will be produced , consisting of a set of HyperText
Markup Language (HTML) pages, images, files like PPT,
PDF, audio and video among others. Consequently, the
teacher makes the export files produced to meet the
proposed framework. The model will be exported in a ZIP
file. The encapsulation of the model in the ZIP file assures
the availability and access to search in VLE.
The ZIP package consists of two elements: the first
element is an XML file - imsmanisfest.xml, known as
manifest, which describes the structure of the object and its
content; the second element, are multimedia files
FIGURE. 3
EXAMPLE OF A DM. FONT: ADAPTED AND EXCERPTED FROM
themselves, for our context, these files are text, HTML
[19]. pages, PDF, DOC, and others.
MODEL DEVELOPED
The creation of an LO is a task that requires intense
work and as important as the knowledge about the
development of computational tools, you get a sense of how
the construction of knowledge occurs [22]. However,
organizing this knowledge to produce something attractive
to apprentices can become a complex task considerably. In
this perspective, we propose a model of LO developed based
on pedagogical tools CM and MD, following the SCORM
standard, as implemented in the VLE Modular Object-
Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (MOODLE) [13].
The proposed model does not address the evaluation
activities for LO parts of students, teachers and other users.
The proposed LO model is centered on SCORM
standard, this standard helps provide specifications for the
reusability of object and, in this context, the focus of the
model developed here is the production and reuse of LO.
Therefore, the development process, this OA model,
consists of two steps, which aim to organize and systematize
the construction of the model, the step of importing and
exporting.
In step export contains OA in its entirety, ready to be FIGURE. 4
used and reused in VLE in accordance with SCORM. These MODULE DEVELOPED. FONT: ADAPTED AND EXCERPTED FROM
[19].
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4. To assist in these two steps, a module was developed in of processes of creation, and management of learning
Moodle (Figure 4) to export the courses developed in the content.
form of LO, based on SCORM, to fasten the main features As noted in Section about Learning Objects and the
thereof that are interoperable and reuse of content. Standard SCORM the lack of a homogeneous structure in
This module is compliant with SCORM 2004 the presentation of LO complicates its reusability and can
generating a content package type ZIP that contains the harm your understanding. In this sense, the use of
manifest file, file with the information from OA and other presentation templates followed by CM and DM, and
files that are SCORM standards. These files are compressed provides a unique way to display the LO model provides a
according to the Content Aggregation Model [1], which framework for standardization of presentation, without
makes reusable LO in any VLE compatible with SCORM. restricting the ability to generalize the same.
After the step of exporting the model is generated. In Besides worrying about the content presented, the
Figure 5, there is illustrated the metadata stroke according to modeling of LO in the context of CM and DM also seeks to
the program contents shown in Figure 2. For this, it must be improve the learning process by helping the teacher in
tested, in order to make sure your content package is correct planning discipline at the same time provides a common
and working properly. To test the metadata created by the model for these objects. With this, the LO becomes an
LO model, we use the tool Reusable E-Learning Object instrument in aid the teacher in planning their discipline,
Authoring and Delivery (Reload Editor) [12]. It is possible based on pedagogical theories tools used by CM and DM.
to run and play functionality SCORM content package With the use of these theories, it is expected that this new
without the need to include it in VLE. model of LO may also contribute to the learning process.
Thus, the standardization of LO in the SCORM
standard, using the pedagogical tools CM and DM will serve
as the base structure for teachers, students and other
stakeholders to plan, build new LO and reuse within a single
structure, other LO. These LO present all contents
(information) in a graphical format so that the process of
teaching/learning becomes easier. The OA model focuses
primarily assist the teacher in planning a course or
discipline.
Thus, among the advantages that this model of LO, can
bring to the teaching / learning process, we can highlight
[16]:
a) An integrated planning methodology based on
Educational Objectives (methodology of creating
the CM and DM);
b) Using pedagogical theories already consolidated
(Meaningful Learning and Bloom's Taxonomy);
c) Standardization of model presentation of the LO
(the object will be displayed graphically, following
the model of CM and DM);
d) Increased reusability of LO (the model used enables
integration between objects. For example, certain
FIGURE. 5
METADATA PRODUCED BY THE MODEL OF LO. FONT: ADAPTED
content in an MC can reference another LO).
AND EXCERPTED FROM [19]. Thus, this model of LO aims to reduce the difficulties
mentioned earlier in section about the LO, through its
The intent of the model presented in this paper is LO, modeling as CM and DM. These tools will be used as
with the help of the Concept Maps, provide a mechanism cognitive strategies for acquisition and representation of
that shows the relationships between content, enabling the knowledge and/or information during the drafting process
perception of verbal and visual hierarchical relationships and reuse of Learning Objects and the Standard SCORM for
between the main concepts of the content covered. planning activities of a course, module, among other
activities.
Advantages of Model
According to [7], to promote the reuse of educational
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
content is necessary to encourage its standardization in order Whereas an LO may be a digital resource, the main idea
to function properly in any VLE. Standardization will allow of this paper is to develop a model of LO standardized using
easy reuse, portability of content created, the standardization the concepts that define an LO so that it meets mainly the
© 2013 ICECE March 03 - 06, 2013, Luanda, ANGOLA
VIII International Conference on Engineering and Computer Education
80

5. characteristic of reusability. For this work, we adopted the [9] Lima, R. W.; Fialho, S. V. Introducing assessment into the teaching-
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9th IFIP World Conference on Computers in Education, Bento
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the learning environment to the needs of students. As future proposta de padronização de Objetos de Aprendizagem com base em
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