What are Learning Objects and why would you want to use them?

There are a variety of definitions and understanding about learning objects; but essentially learning objects are small, reusable chunks of digital instructional materials. The main idea of learning objects is to break instructional content down into small chunks to be used and reused in various learning environments to teach a concept, build a learning unit, or an entire course.

Some learning objects have no implicit instructional objective—they can be blocks of text, photographs, illustrations, animations, or video clip. These digital objects can be combined with instructional strategies such as discussion, role-playing, and collaborative learning to achieve an instructional goal.
Some do have a specific instructional objective, such as graphic describing a conceptual relationship, a game to help memorize facts, or a simulation used to assess mastery learning.

As a faculty member, building or developing complex digital materials may seem daunting. However, in the world of reusable learning objects—all that is required is to link to one. Of course to be effective, this presumes you've evaluated and sequenced the learning object in an instructionally sound environment.

Resources 

• New Media Consortium Learning Objects White Paper
• Connecting learning objects to instructional design theory: A definition a metaphor, and a taxonomy.

Learning Object Repositories

• Merlot
  MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students in higher education. With a continually growing collection of online learning materials, assignments and reviews, MERLOT helps faculty enhance instruction.
• Maricopa Community College
  The Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX) is an electronic warehouse of ideas, examples, and resources (represented as "packages") that support student learning.