This document discusses a longitudinal study of online role plays used in Australian higher education from 1990 to 2006. It found that 82% of role plays were reused with the same learning design rather than a different one. It also examines four case study online role plays in detail to analyze the various types and nuances of reuse by other teachers and universities. Based on these findings, the document considers whether learning designs should be purposefully created with this type of localized reuse in mind rather than assuming reuse will be by unknown teachers. It identifies factors that influence the reusability of learning objects and role plays.

1. Rethinking Reusability: implications from a longitudinal study of online role play in Australian higher education Prof Sandra Wills University of Wollongong enrole.uow.edu.au

4. Reused role plays 1990 - 2006: different teacher or same teacher different university or same university (n=45) 18% reused same role play compared with 82% same learning design

5. enRole, Research, wRite, React, Resolve, Reflect: developing and using online role play learning designs

6. Affordances for uptake of online role play in Australian universitiestop three affordances are shaded

7. Four Australian online role plays:their partners in reuse

8. Reuse of case study role plays 1990- 2009(16 types of reuse)

9. Four case study online role plays: nuances of reuse by others (further 12 types of reuse)

10. Implications If this is the reality of reuse in higher education, should we design purposely for this type of reuse? or If reuse is meant to be “transfer to unknown teacher” what else should we be doing to better design for reuse?

11. Summary of factors influencing reusability in four Australian role plays

12. Fifteen factors influencing design of Reusable Learning Objects Cost? swills@uow.edu.au