Re-orienting "at risk" literacy learners through multiliteracies development with "learning objects" enacting authentic comprehending and composing contexts on-line

A project funded by the state and federal governments of Australia and New Zealand is developing online interactive learning objects designed to support "at risk" middle school students in developing the multiliteracies needed for effective comprehension and composition of traditional and electronic multimedia texts. Two samples of \´authentic\´ online learning contexts are described and viewed online, a technical overview is provided and feedback from school-based trials of the learning objects is discussed. The sample learning objects can be viewed at http://lex.thelearningfederation.edu.au (user name and password available upon application to the authors).