Evaluating the effectiveness of digital learning objects: Student perspectives and issues of design

Abstract

The changing characteristics of the student body in British higher education require institutions to become flexible in their use of educational material. The opportunities offered by the rapid emergence and adoption of digital forms of delivery have been embraced and offer one response to this need for flexibility. This study reports an attempt to isolate and evaluate the educational benefits offered by different sorts of digital learning using focus groups of students. The findings suggest that learning objects are popular and effective, and that single-medium objects (audiofiles), in particular, enjoy a high frequency and flexibility of use. There are, however, indications that the use of digital materials leads to strategies of learning that may isolate students.