Developing the New Web-based Training Environments: towards an Instructional-based Learning Object Strategy Vassilis Karamanis 1 , Panagiotis Zaharias 2 , Angeliki Poulymenakou 2 1 Department of Informatics 2 Department of Management Science and Technology Athens University of Economics and Business, 10434 Athens, Greece Email: {bk,pz,akp}@aueb.gr Abstract. Learning objects have changed the way computer-based instruction is viewed and used and have provided new opportunities for delivering customized and personalized e-learning. Since so far there are a lot of research and development efforts concerning the technical implementation of the learning object concept and the interest for the subsequent development of standards is very high. Nevertheless the learning object concept, as used in design and development of e-learning, has also instructional – pedagogical value to offer. This paper discusses a research effort aiming to develop a web- based training service by stressing the instructional benefits of the learning object-based implementation. During this effort a certain strategy guided the whole design and development process while certain learning theories were associated to the learning strategy followed. The idea behind this association was to highlight the advantages from applying the learning object idea to create appealing e-learning courses for adult learners; advantages that are not directly related to any technological or standard implementation but contribute a lot to the pedagogical quality of an e-learning service which is usually underestimated or neglected. The main purpose of this effort was to prepare, structure and develop web-based courses and training materials in a way that would provide sound instructional benefits to the main recipients of such services: adult learners and trainees. 1 Introduction The idea of learning objects has been embraced by more and more researchers and practitioners that create e-learning experiences, and implementation standards have been developed to support this trend. As a consequence, a lot of conversation is undergoing on the technical aspect and use of learning objects, which unquestionably changed the way e-learning is viewed and presented opportunities for offering customized and personalized learning. However, there are numerous opportunities not only for the technical aspects of e-learning but for the instructional/pedagogical aspects as well, which most of the times are neglected. That is exactly the idea behind this paper, to describe and illustrate the instructional benefits from applying a reusable learning object strategy developed by Cisco [3] to an undertaken e-learning project called TrainSEE (see acknowledgements).