The e-learning world moves rapidly, and whilst vendors of e-learning solutions need to have an awareness of technologies and practices as they develop, a recent software demonstration that I attended highlighted what I see as a worrying trend. E-learning solutions are, necessarily, developed over time. Often these developments are as a result of technological advancements, the development of user skills, competencies and requirements, and of course the ubiquitous bug fixes, but more frequently now we're seeing vendors of these solutions attempting to map new technologies onto their original design concept simply because they have caught wind of the latest trends in the e-learning arena.
I appreciate that e-learning solution providers want to be seen to be at the cutting edge, however I am aware of a number of examples recently where such product 'enhancements' have been wholly inappropriate, resulting in what can only be described as a 'bolted-on' approach to technology and often, rather mismatched goals. This loss of focus can have profound implications for the users of such a system, particularly in those instances where a provider hasn't fully considered the issues associated with such 'enhancements'.
Furthermore, several vendors are also guilty of 'name-dropping' at such presentations where the latest e-learning trends, buzz words, and usually superficially understood concepts, are casually dropped into the demonstration, e.g. 'learning objects'. To those working in the field, it is often it is apparent that the presenters have no appreciation of the implications associated with what they are claiming their product now possesses.
