DLO Design Key Principles

DLO Design Key Principles

1. SEQUENCE: all learning object must be presented in a sequence, but learners need to be able to access them in any order

2. INTERACTION AND INTERNALIZATION: Each learning object must contain information necessary to complete an action later.

3. INDEPENDENCE: DLO must be able to provide students with all the necessary information to complete a task, unless they are part of a blended-learning experience.

4. VARIETY: when designing learning units, variety of actions plays a key role to keep students engaged.

5. SIMPLICITY: it's important to keep DLO simple and accessible to all students. When DLO are too complex, students might get frustrated easily.

6. CHALLENGING: DLO should be designed to address students mastery level, they should include practice of content, not just mechanics (clicking, dragging, etc.)

7. IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK: instant notifications enhance the learning experience

8. HITS & MISSES COUNT: this provides students with feedback on their thinking process.

9. MEANINGFUL FEEDBACK: when completing an online task, students need to get important feedback to help them make decisions about their learning process.

10. TYPE OF USE AND TIME: DLO can be used individually or in groups, and must consider an effective use of time when the DLO is designed, presented, and completed.

11. RANDOM DISPLAY: when possible, DLO should be able to be presented at random, specially when being used for assessing and evaluating performance.

12. COMPLEMENTS: it's desirable to include complementary materials or resources to provide more learning opportunities for students interacting with DLOs.