The Art of Knowledge
Ask Yourself
When are they going to make it so that people can manipulate the entire system? I read these entire things online about LOMS and SCORMS and find out slowly over the days that this stuff isn't fun and I grow weary of reading the same things written by the same people who are chasing a single acorn around a tree that could yield millions of acorns.
Nobody wants to interact with something they don't understand. Nobody wants to drive a car they can't operate or use all the functions of. Nobody wants to play a sport when they don't know the rules. Let's look within ourselves to design a system that people can interact with and provide their own path. Not saying that they will learn about Ping Pong all day, but give them a guide. Give them the mapping skills and system skills to be able to interact with the system.
This rule is applicable even to myself. I love this industry. I love it and see it going to the forefront of the future of not only technology but social interaction as well. For developers to make it so technical that nobody wants to play with it is wrong. It is wrong the same way elite colleges have rituals that other people don't understand. You are forced to look from the outside in, with your nose pressed up against the glass wanting to be included. If I could get a grasp on half the acronyms and name droppings flying around I'm sure I would be in that elite circle. I can guarantee my future success via diligence and networking. Unfortunately, the drive I have is not precipitous to everyone else. We need to make these systems viable in all walks of life to all people. Do not make elite systems. The more people that are able to play with them the more they will want to play with them, and eventually the more they will want to use them.
Look at blogging. It is easy. People love it and they learn from it. The can interact with it. Even people who aren't tech savvy can set up their own XML and RSS feed to link to other blogs and share information. Look in this direction not in the direction of building LMS systems or LOMs or God knows what else. Look to the people (I sound like Tim...I guess I'm eating my own words...but it's a long road to the light).
I have no doubt that the road to develop this is arduous and long. The money is vacant and the accolades are few. Don't let that blind you from why you got into the industry in the first place, to help people. Design the systems to help people not to impress the CTO in the boardroom. Listen to the masses of users out there screaming for ease of use and interaction.
Education is the future. We need to look to the next 10 years or 50 years to really understand where this technology will lead us. There are people out there doing good things, but I see them and the ones who follow them getting bogged down in technical relationships with the software or with the standard. Think to yourself if you merely have fun making this product or whether or not you have fun using it. It doesn't need to be Grand Theft Auto. The key is to make it simple to understand so people can manipulate it.
One more point, I have noticed lately the resurgence of the History channel and The Learning channel and book stores. Why would people go to a bookstore or flip on the TV to learn? One, they are starting to realize that learning is now part of their everyday life and that by not learning they are choosing failure, whether it be social conversation or their jobs. Learning has become evident to our own success. We now know that our jobs are not safe. We know that there are younger people willing to take less money in order to follow an ideal that we once believed in. They realize their own archaic nature and are attempting a fix. Think about the number of middle aged MCSEs there are out there. Think about the learning transition they used and what jobs they had prior. People go where the jobs are, and then people learn via instruments they feel comfortable with. Hence they learn via libraries, book stores and television. They can manipulate these mediums of information. They may not be able to thoroughly manipulate the Internet. Or they may feel as though the repository of information is unreliable or to use my own phrase "shady". Why would I pay $99.95 for an online course to be an MCSE when I can go to B&N. It's more comfortable that way. Make systems that allow people to feel comfortable. This means training them on the system and involving them in the system to the point where they feel as though it's their desktop and they are merely dragging and dropping.
Link posted by JVMM : 6:46 PM