Smith_Karen Week 2, Blog Comment 2 Billy Goins ADL/Standards/SCORM

ADL/Standards/Scorm Introduction The official Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) website provides a very detailed overview of the organization’s history and purpose. Under the direct care of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD P&R), the ADL Initiative was created in 1997 and given the task of standardizing and modernizing the delivery of training and education. On January 12, 1999, Excutive Order 13111 signed by President Clinton tasked the DoD to develop and lead a partnership with business and university groups for the purpose of creating standardized training software and related services. (http://www.adlnet.gov). 

The need for standards

Image source: Academic ADL Co-Laboratory

As I read this article, it reminded me of what the librarians went through when the Dewey Decimal System was put into place for books and periodicals, in the library. 

due to how complete it was, Things like Videos, DVD's and Software still fits into the various levels, and like any living language, which is open to change, or its NOT a living language, the DDS still works today. 

By the same adage, ADL should continue to work for years to come. Even though it takes alot of work to begin, it makes it be organized and continue to work. As we continue to have more and more training done in a fashion different than the traditional classroom, the need for this is so apparent. 

I still want to say that not all people do well with training alone without adequate supervision. 

In this time of so many students doing home learning, it gets scary to see the varied styles of supervision from parents. 

In working with teens in the summers, one summer I had 6 homeschooled kids. 2 were missionary kids, no where near other American kids ore even near English speaking ones. They were working on courses including calculus, Latin3, Computer Language and writing programs (not sure of the name of the class), plus other classes. 

The other 4 were taking with no real supervision. One had a mom who worked nights and slept all day. One had a mom with cancer and needed a helper watching herr, so the child was asked to stay home and watch her, but she was watching her Mother dying and got nothing out of her education. 

One was planning to be a doctor, and was excited as she was making straight As. Her classes consisted of English, Math, History and Intro to Computer (word, excel, etc.). She said 4 credits was all she needed, as she could count going bowling, etc. as PE and helping cook and clean the house as Home Ec. 

The last one, had successfully learned to speak the language of the middle world, according to the Lord of the Rings. Kind of scary, isn't it? They were being acknowledged as successful students according to their parents, who, did NOT need to be in charge of their education. They are the type of people who give home schooling a bad name. 

So, I hope that the "supervisors" who are parents usually, for children, need to be accountable in what they call "a superior education" of their child.