RLO Development: Examples

Below are some example RLO specifications (MS Word format), and links to the RLOs that were developed from them, to give you an idea of how one has led to the other. Specifications are often 'non-standard', in that the author hasn't used a standard form, or perhaps has used a form but has added files with images, data tables, additional information and instructions, and so on. This is particularly the case for authors with graphical imaginations, who often find it easier to draw their own images, either electronically or on paper, than to describe them on paper.

It's important to note that the specification is never detailed enough to develop a RLO from, regardless of how much developer and content author try to tie things down before development starts, and that much of the final RLO is negotiated between developer and author(s) during the development stage, a process known as 'iterative development' in software development circles. [1].

Example RLO specifications
RLO title & Specification Notes
Acids, Alkalis & Bases: an Introduction
Specification
This is a 'non-standard' specification drawn up by the author, Jennifer Dandrea, in which she's included images drawn by herself.
Concentration Gradients
Specification
A 'standard' specification, drawn up on the standard spec pro-forma, where the author describes the required images in text.
Confidence Intervals
Specification | Data tables
A specification drawn up on the standard form, with an accompanying document with data tables to be used in the RLO.
Positive and Negative Predictive Value of Diagnostic Tests
Specification | Additional info/images (Powerpoint)
The main spec document is standard, and the author has added images, text and instructions in an additional Powerpoint file, as these just wouldn't fit into a standard form.

 

[1] However, the textual content of the RLO should be nailed down after Stage 1 Peer-review, not least because this is the basis of the recorded narration and any textual changes would require re-recording of that part of the narration, which in turn requires getting the 'voiceover artist' back into the recording studio and trying to set up conditions as close to that of the first recording as possible so that the new recording doesn't sound markedly different from the original.