Don't Bloggerize eLearning
Greg Ritter,
Ten Reasons Why,
Apr 16, 2003
In his newsletter last week, George Siemens called for simplicity in e-learning standards. This item responds to that plea, arguing that "Dumbing down the standard won't make a difference, except to potentially rob the teaching and learning community of potential functionality." The argument is based on the idea that people do not choose to adopt standards, they choose to adopt software, and the software they will choose will be easier to use if it employs appropriate standards. Maybe. But the history of standards says otherwise. SGML existed for years before HTML, and while it supported some powerful applications, document creation remained the hands of an elite until HTML came along, and with it, a bevy of simple editors. Complicated standards result in complicated and inflexible software, exactly what people don't want and don't choose. It's not a case of 'dumbing down' standards, it's a case of choosing intelligently the things people need to communicate, rather than blindly trying to hit the target through volume. And the discussion continues: George Siemens Responds to Ritter; Ritter's reply.
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