Programmed obsolescence in eformation

The development of e-learning is part of a process of programmed obsolescence. Indeed, once an online course has been designed, it has hardly been published before the countdown to its end has begun. Patiently-constructed pedagogical grains quickly risk being forgotten. Why is this? Several dimensions of premature aging are observable:

1) Content itself

With data circulating more rapidly on the Internet, the public has the opportunity to find fresh information at another point on the network. Pedagogical content therefore competes with a multiplicity of sources. When this content is fixed by video or audio mediatization, or in a format such as Flash, the adaptation effort is considerable, if only to keep up with accelerated news. An e-learning offering therefore requires constant updating, which is not without its challenges, given the omnipresence of technology.

2) Software: standard deployment languages and platforms

The mediatization of content is subject to a number of choices:

• the development language: there's nothing in common between Basic, with which we marvelled at seeing the word "hello" appear on our computer screens in the early days of computerization, and HTML, with the design of tags for browsing the Internet, to take just one example;
• the standards that facilitate or make impossible the implementation of content on platforms, such as Scorm and xAPI, evolve regularly. These technical formats are imposed when a digital resource is deposited on a platform. The latest xAPI standard makes it possible to record a wide variety of learning experiences. The switch from Flash to scorm format has rendered all Ffash content obsolete, and necessitated a complete re-editing of training programs. The XApi standard will bring its share of adaptations.
• the choice of proprietary or open-source platforms, geared to the needs of managers (management indicators, learning analytics) or learners (flexibility, chosen pace, self-monitoring of activity) is also important, as it shapes the architecture of the systems and the type of resources they contain. Each time a platform is upgraded, parameters and data are updated, adding to the effort required to develop content. Parameterization efforts are significant in terms of administration, access, evaluation, opening up the security platform to the outside world, and so on.

3) Hardware

The switch from floppy disks to rigid disks, and then to USB keys, has resulted in millions of users losing their data, because they have not invested the time to make backups in the dominant formats. Part of the data had to be completely reconstituted in a space of just 30 years. A soap bubble forms, grows, bursts and another appears. There is little continuity. Only a few teams, like those working in the nuclear industry, are meticulous enough to keep up with changing versioning and, above all, to maintain the human skills that make it possible.

Hardware is also about the types of screen with which everyone approaches content. Reading on a cell phone, a tablet, a computer or even an interactive whiteboard changes the size of the screen presentation and the possibilities for interaction. So-called responsive environments are designed to adapt to the specific needs of each hardware and even each manufacturer (Mac or PC), in Android or iOS environments.

4) Design and appropriation engineering

Content is increasingly designed in teams and in association with stakeholders, who also change as content evolves. Content designed in partnership with an institution depends on the life and politics of that institution, but when content is co-designed, the effect of appropriation by the co-designers is lost when everything has to be redone. Staff turnover contributes to the loss of uses, which are sometimes difficult to appropriate.

5) Uses

The content produced for e-learning is designed according to the uses imagined by the designers, but the actual uses depend on a chain of actors and intermediaries who invent the best appropriation for their specific needs and situations.

Depending on their technological sensitivity and technical expertise, instructors, trainers, organizers, learners and managers learn to adapt to each other's constraints, forming a more or less effective system of action. A change in variables disrupts a system that is all the more fragile because it is recent and has required a substantial initial investment on the part of everyone involved.

Conclusion

Faced with the programmed obsolescence of e-learning, there are several possible strategies:

• buying content and programs off the shelf
• industrializing the production process;
• development with authoring tools;
• low tech and free web tools;
• resource referencing;
• open education and alliance;
• weighted eformation choices.

There are few miracle solutions when it comes to content, which is why we need to focus on methods that empower learners. Let them be their own learning levers, capable of finding and devising ways of acting to resolve the questions they ask themselves.

Sources

Easy LMS What is SCORM? Definition and meaning
https://www.easy-lms.com/fr/aide/base-de-connaissances-lms/scorm-c-est-quoi/item10195

E-learning specifications and standards
http://www.e-teach.ch/pdf/Presse_FI_standards.pdf

How it works - HTML language
https://www.commentcamarche.com/contents/498-html-langage

Is there a place for the learning data scientist - Denis Cristol
https://cursus.edu/11074/y-a-t-il-une-place-pour-le-metier-de-data-scientist-de-lapprentissage

Usabilis - Adaptive website http://www.usabilis.com/responsive-web-design-site-web-adaptatif/

Open Education blog - what does it mean?
http://blog.educpros.fr/matthieu-cisel/2016/04/24/lopen-education-au-fait-quest-ce-que-ca-veut-dire/

Accurate mobile reporting of your learning activities: LRS and xAPI standards - Denys Lamontagne
https://cursus.edu/9663/un-rapport-mobile-et-precis-de-vos-activites-dapprentissage-les-normes-lrs-et-xapi

Solunéa E-learning: why is the xAPI standard becoming so popular?
http://www.solunea.fr/elearning-pourquoi-norme-xapi-devient-courante/