The Big Question is how dumb this Big Question is
There's an interesting debate going on around Learning Circuits Big Question this month. It's all about quality vs speed. What grabbed my attention was this:
"Quality learning experiences involve having fun, better interactivity in e-Learning or interacting with fellow learners, possible use of games or simulations, richer blends"
That's insane. I'll say that again: that's insane! A quality learning experience is one that changes a person in a constructive way. So I've had quality learning experiences on packed underground trains in the London rush hour; I've had quality learning experiences reading dense academic papers published by people who can't write sentences of less than 200 words; I've had quality learning experiences playing Grand Theft Auto on my PSP; and, yes, I've had quality learning experiences using rich interactive multimedia...for goodness' sake, what shabby thinking this is.
For me, a huge penny dropped when I was doing what was then called "quality consulting" in the early 90s. The whole point about "quality" is that it is appropriate to use. So a product that is manufactured to too high a spec is inappropriate quality; you could even call that poor quality. A MacDonalds burger is ideal quality for those requiring such a snack, although a nutritionist - whose concept of quality is different - would disagree.
If quality is relative to need and context, which clearly it is, then the speed/quality dilemma collapses. A "quality" response to a learning need might be pushing out a text document in 24 hours, because the key requirement here is speed. So speed = quality. On the other hand, a learning need may be highly complex; investigation and design time - even before production introduces the dreaded "rich multimedia" that we all get so confused about - may be lengthy. In this case, speed and complexity may be at odds with one another, and the designer must trade off the constraints in order to deliver the best solution. But then the art of learning design is balancing and trading off design parameters.
To put it mildly, I agree with Clive Shepherd when he says: "Well, there's an assumption underlying this and I'm questioning it." You bet, Clive.
Patrick Dunn
1 Comment
2 References
References (2)
-
Response: quality processThe latest ISO 9001 registration data shows impressive growth. The number of ISO 9001 certifications issued worldwide for quality management systems reached 670,399 at the end of 2004, an increase of 35 percent over the previous year, according to ISO. This increase in new ISO 9001 certificates is the highest recorded ... -
Response: employee satisfactionISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947 in Geneva, Switzerland. Today, ISO has more than one hundred member countries. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the global marketplace, to simplify the international exchange of goods and services, and to develop cooperation ...
Reader Comments (1)