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ACDE PAPERS IN BOOK FORM 1.pdf - National Open University of ...

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involves proprietary or open source s<strong>of</strong>tware. Teachers and institutions should choose the<br />

best tool for the job in the light <strong>of</strong> their own circumstances.<br />

In any case, in this fast changing world educational institutions have more pressing<br />

challenges than personal s<strong>of</strong>tware choices. One is the interoperability <strong>of</strong> digital content<br />

among different systems and the use <strong>of</strong> open standards. The reason that the Internet grew<br />

exponentially was because <strong>of</strong> interoperable technologies, such as specifications, guidelines,<br />

s<strong>of</strong>tware, and tools.<br />

For example, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is an open specification administered<br />

by the World Wide Web consortium that defines the basic building blocks <strong>of</strong> a web page.<br />

<strong>Open</strong> standards enable private s<strong>of</strong>tware companies and open source developers to speak the<br />

same language, which leads to a wide choice <strong>of</strong> browsers, editors and authoring tools that<br />

produce interoperable content.<br />

There is an encouraging trend towards greater openness, for example in the area <strong>of</strong> word-<br />

processing with the introduction <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Open</strong> Packaging Convention. COL urges all<br />

concerned to work through the issues so that we can exchange documents more freely<br />

between systems. This is not a game <strong>of</strong> winner take all, but rather <strong>of</strong> finding the best<br />

answers for all the world's computer users. We believe there is enough maturity and<br />

technical skill to accomplish this.<br />

Beware <strong>of</strong> claims that eLearning is cheap. Like all distance education the major cost is the<br />

time that teachers, learning designers, graphic artists and editors spend developing high<br />

quality learning materials. Having made that investment you want to ensure that it<br />

transfers between s<strong>of</strong>tware.<br />

Interoperability protects your investment by requiring content to be stored using open<br />

standards and open file formats. In COL's policy work, we advise governments and<br />

institutions to assess all implications <strong>of</strong> their choices when making s<strong>of</strong>tware procurement<br />

decisions. They should take a long-term view <strong>of</strong> flexibility, cost and vendor dependency.<br />

Training<br />

No combination <strong>of</strong> connectivity, equipment and s<strong>of</strong>tware does any good unless people can<br />

use it. Although the teach-yourself approach suits ICTs because training is <strong>of</strong>ten built in, it<br />

is still helpful to seed that process with some formal training.<br />

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