View source for Learning/WebLiteracyStandard/Why

<strong>Mozilla is working with the community to define a new open learning standard for Web Literacy. A standard helps with consistency of approach. We need a standard for three reasons: to mark the area as important, to co-ordinate efforts, and to improve the experience for the learner.</strong>

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What we’re talking about here is an <em>open learning standard</em>. It’s <em>open</em> as the standard will be publicly available. It will also be revisable by the community. It’s a <em>learning</em> standard because it applies to educational activities and resources. It may also become somewhat of a <em>technical</em> standard depending upon the consensus around, for example, metadata. However, we’re interested in the ‘spirit’ rather than the letter of the law.

ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, defines a standard in the following way:

<blockquote>A standard is a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.</blockquote>

Standards are effectively about co-ordination. Mozilla fully recognizes and values learner choice while recognizing much unnecessary duplication of effort. We want to build towards a common goal and hope others will join us.

In declaring this as a ‘standard’ it marks out this work as important, as something that a significant number of people believe is important enough to co-ordinate their efforts around. We are building what we hope will be a canonical framework to which organisations can choose to align. This framework is the the result of ongoing consultation and consensus within the community. It will evolve as the Web evolves. 

Creating an open learning standard for Web Literacy ensures consistency of experience to the learner. It allows the learner to understand what knowlege, skills and understanding are required not just in one particular context but across the Web.

Mozilla isn’t interested in becoming a regulatory body. This standard is something to which organisations may <em>voluntarily</em> align. However, there is scope through Mozilla’s [http://openbadges.org Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI)] for endorsement to provide some kind of enhanced social proof.