Learning Objects, Type II Applications, and Embedded Pedagogical Models

In this paper we consider the extent to which learning objects that focus on higher level thinking might be seen as Type II applications, as defined by Maddux, Johnson, and Willis (2001). We conclude that learning objects are at best hybrid applications, with some Type I and some Type II characteristics. We also consider whether the educational effect of a learning object is attributable to the technology or to the pedagogical model embedded in the learning object. We discuss this question in the context of a study of middle-school students' mathematical thinking while performing some investigation tasks using learning objects and some without. We suggest that a learning object may be seen as an instance of the pedagogical model embedded in its design, and that different instances, even ones where technology is not used, are educationally equivalent. That is, it is the pedagogical model and not the technology that provides the predominant educational effect. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.