Services for Learning

As part of SCORM, ADL teams have worked on basically how to structure and sequence content to the learner and package it for the learning management system or repositories. However what they have not woked on is a standardized set of learning and collaboration services for SCORM compliant content to come alive.

In the Web 2.0 transformation, it has become simpler to envisage content being supported by collaborative learning to create more effective and enduring learning experiences.

A recent proof of concept that I worked on with Servitium, the company I help run in India, was one in which the underlying engine recognized meta-tags (descriptive keyword based tagging) on a frame of content and brought up a relevant list of resources and people who the learner could collaborate with (a)synchronously. Wouldn’t that transform learning altogether? Imagine having an “Ask the expert” service being serviced by experts within the organization as and when needed! And that too within a WBT!

What if all the fantastic services being offered for almost every possible way of collaboration (Flickr, Webex, Citrix Gotomeeting, Skype, IM clients, Youtube etc.) were to follow a SCORM or other Services Specification?

What if frameworks such as the LearnOS and JISC could provide the underlying integration design for such services?

Conversely, how would Personal Learning Environments be able to integrate SCORM content and merge into the knowledge and learning map for each individual? Could a PLE become a SCORM repository client?

How will the boundaries between structured and unstructured learning blur – because, let’s face it – each has their place under the sun and any attempt to peg a “2.0” method of learning over any other traditional “1.0” method of learning is disconcerting. They need to be seen together.