Why in e-learning/e-assessment does it matter so much what it is, rather than what it does?

I am subscriber to many e-learning forums. In my experience too often the discussion is about systems rather than learning. The discussion that is most likely to generate responses is one that starts ‘I about to purchase a Learning Management System, Any recommendations’. What that follows is a mixture of name checking of various LMS systems interspersed with the suppliers recommending their wares. It is a rare for someone to ask the killer question which is what do you want it for?


Today we had an e-learning guru declare how impressed he was that someone had found a way of using Word Press as an LMS. There was little discussion about what transformation in learning had happened as a result of this discovery. The point he was trying to make was that wasn’t it good that someone had got hold of some open source software and come up with a ‘free alternative’ LMS. Aside from the making the obvious point that nothing is free i.e. there was a cost for working out how to use word press in this way, what was the actual impact on learning.

I know of one learning institution that is making creative use of share point to create what someone might want to call an LMS. They would actually reject such a suggestion and rather focus on what it has enabled them to do. This is to create a learning environment that places the learner at the centre of the process. It is not about managing the learner but enabling the learner to manage their own learning, the system is built around a learner not the course they are on. Furthermore in creating such a solution they are not wedded to one approach; they are quite happy to use proprietary software if this fits the bill.

I have written in this blog before how I find it difficult to understand this desire in e-learning to create solutions that do everything. It is hard to imagine in what other field of ‘engineering’ is this approach taken. It seems perfectly OK for someone who is manufacturing a car or constructing a building to source the expertise and the materials from different places. So what’s so different about designing learning systems?

Just because you are using sales force to manage your customers/members of your organisation what is the logic to extending sales force to create an e-portfolio? Why is there such a need to have an open source portfolio if your LMS is open source?

Having an integrated offer is a right and proper objective but if it is all sourced from one place are we sure that we are making the best offer to our learners/users? Maybe there is real value to be had from ‘shopping around’ and filling a shopping basket full of items that have been brought not because of the packaging but because they actually deliver what your learner’s need.