My Learning Object

Thanks Edmund for your very constructive comments. I agree with you that the object can easily be divided into its respective parts (nouns, verbs, sentences) to ensure no-one is lost or no sections are missed. The rationale for having it as a single object was to create opportunity for advancement for fast learners. My own daughter whipped through the "nouns" section but had to concentrate a bit more on the verbs and sentences. She is 8 and has been learning Italian for approximately 6 months.

To overcome a possible "disorientation" problem, I tried to heavily scaffold the navigation and provide the opportunity in each section to go back to the previous section. The commencing audio also outlined the structure and intended sequence of the lesson. Whilst "curiosity based" mouse clicking may initially occur, to complete the quizzes, students need to have either completed the relevant section or otherwise already have that knowledge. Further, each section builds on the prior knowledge, so that use of the nouns learnt in the first section are included in the "verb" section and again both the same nouns and verbs are included in the final section for completing sentences.

I was very aware of a possible information overload in the "verb" and "sentence" section but I did try very hard to restrict the information provided to that necessary to convey the fundamental difference in the construction of the Italian verb and definite article versus the English verb and definite article. Some slides do contain a lot of text but it was necessary to juxtapose the Italian text with its English equivalent in order to both support an understanding of the new language and highlight the differences.

I am not sure I entirely follow your concern about there being "no concrete knowledge being gained". The knowledge I hope is being gained is the acquisition of the new language, by seeing it, hearing it, being asked to repeat it, understanding its meaning (supported by use of graphics and native text) and recognising differences between it and the native language. The quizzes designed to test comprehension are based on self-assessment. They provide immediate feedback and offer the opportunity for revision. I opted for multiple choice because I wanted the quiz itself to support the learning - with 3 options, a student will ultimately make a correct choice and thereby have the correct answer reinforced.

I do take your point about there being no tangible end product and a print option on the quizzes may address this. The main aim of the object however was to have it available for students online or on CD Rom so it could be accessed from home to support classroom learning. The acquisition of language relies heavily on practising the language, which is difficult if you have forgotten how to say the word.