{"id":374,"date":"2026-08-28T15:55:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T22:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru314\/?p=374"},"modified":"2026-09-05T12:55:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T19:55:52","slug":"can-ai-finally-build-the-learning-object","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru314\/can-ai-finally-build-the-learning-object\/","title":{"rendered":"Can AI Finally Build the Learning Object?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A reflection on Weller’s Learning Objects chapter in 25 Years of Ed Tech: When technology combines reusable content with adaptable personalized learning.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lego
Note:<\/em> Lego bricks self-assembling into a block. From Explaining Generative AI: One Lego Block at a Time<\/em> by Shekhar Sarebahi, 2023. https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/explaining-generative-ai-one-lego-block-time-shekhar-sarebahi\/<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reading Weller\u2019s 25 Years of Ed Tech<\/em>, I was surprised by how immediately the concept of learning objects made sense to me.<\/strong> As a designer and developer, I am accustomed to thinking in terms of modular, reusable components that make products and systems easier to maintain, scale, and adapt. Weller describes learning objects similarly: educational content broken into reusable pieces that can be assembled into different learning experiences (2020, p. 50). My first reaction was therefore: Of course. Why wouldn\u2019t we build learning this way?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 7, and particularly the podcast discussion, made me question that instinct. One problem with learning objects was that the more reusable an object became, the more context had to be stripped away. Yet context is often what makes learning meaningful (Weller, 2020, p. 52). The supplementary podcast also highlights how concerns about intellectual property, attribution, and the perceived commodification of teaching contributed to resistance to sharing (Pasquini, 2020). This resonated with my experience in post-secondary education. When I began teaching in 2018, I was surprised that faculty did not routinely share course materials. Coming from an agency environment, I was used to designing systems so that someone else could pick up the work if I was unavailable. During the pandemic, these concerns became even more visible as faculty worried that online materials could turn their expertise into easily transferable commodities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still believe strongly in reuse. However, I am increasingly interested in the relationship between technology-mediated content and learning. A reused learning object can deliver information, but it cannot necessarily reproduce the relationships, context, feedback, facilitation, and community surrounding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I find particularly interesting is how familiar the promise sounds today. With AI capable of manufacturing learning objects at enormous scale, the cost of producing content drops dramatically. More importantly, AI may address one of the central problems Weller identifies: context. Rather than creating a highly contextualized object that is difficult to reuse, AI can potentially adapt a generic object to an individual learner by personalizing content, adjusting learning pace, and providing real-time feedback (Tan et al., 2025). In this sense, AI could make the learning-object vision more achievable than its creators imagined. Consequently, if AI can generate the objects and adapt them to the learner, what remains uniquely human about teaching?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet personalization is not the same as context, feedback is not the same as dialogue, and AI alone is not a Community of Inquiry. Tan et al. (2025) identify privacy concerns and institutional support as significant barriers to adopting adaptive learning platforms. Perhaps the history of learning objects reminds us that making content cheaper and faster does not necessarily make learning better. The challenge may ultimately be less about what the technology can do than whether it creates a learning experience that faculty and students value enough to adopt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footnote:<\/strong> AI was used to improve the language in the final draft of this reflection. All ideas are authentically mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pasquini, L. (Host). (2020, December 24). Between the chapters: Learning objects [Audio podcast episode]. In 25 years of Ed Tech: The serialized audio version<\/em>. OpenEd. https:\/\/25years.opened.ca\/2020\/12\/26\/between-the-chapters-learning-objects\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tan, Le Y., Hu, S., Yeo, D. J., & Cheong, K. H. (2025). Artificial intelligence-enabled adaptive learning platforms: A review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence<\/em>, 9<\/em>, 100429. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.caeai.2025.100429<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weller, M. (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech | Athabasca University Press<\/em>. Aupress.Ca. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.15215\/aupress\/9781771993050.01<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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