A model to support a learning object repository for web-based courses

The demand for digital learning content has been increasing in the last years and the advent of the Learning Objects (LO) concept has the goal of mitigating some of the difficulties related to authoring such kind of digital content, by proposing a reusable model and an open metadata standard classifications for them. Nevertheless, digital learning content authoring is often an expensive and time-consuming task that requires many distinct professional skills. One attempt to overcome it is the adoption of Learning Object Repositories (LOR), in order to smooth LO manipulation experiences for teachers and content authors. Some of its keys characteristics are: to promote LO dissemination and reuse to users in a unified spot; and, to serve LO through flexible searches and enforce a metadata standard classification. This paper proposes an innovative repository model to support LOR and their use in web-based courses in the context of an specific LMS, the Moodle environment. The model is flexible, enhances digital content searches and can be fully integrated with an institutional LMS. Moreover, it offers a social environment for peer evaluation and, more important, information about the student performance, resulting in an efficient evaluation of the available contents.