After reading the article “Manifesto”, I was confused about what the researchers are

talking about. I watched the video, the introduction brought to my working memory what we

read in MIST classes of instructional design and instructional technology about eLearning. Now,

as in any curriculum, eLearning requires updating and the update is not only with the mode of

delivery i.e. Technology but also with the contents. This includes the instructional strategies and

the learning strategies.

One of the points they mentioned in the differentiation between the traditional or typical

eLearning and the serious eLearning is the “one size fits all”. This point is one of the major

points that lead to the introduction of differentiated instruction in the traditional classroom.

When we talk about a classroom, we are talking about a limited number of diverse learners and

to overcome the diversity in their learning style and strategies, teachers strive to differentiate

instruction accordingly in order to achieve the learning objectives.

I think to overcome the issue of “one size fits all” in eLearning is more difficult due to a

large number of learners, and the designer cannot assess his/her learners, as the classroom

teacher does, in order to differentiate the instruction! Julie mentioned about individualizing the

challenges and that with the aids of technology the system will serve up an experience for the

learners based on their performance. Julie mentioned the suggestion to overcome this issue is

creating an environment of scaffolding and learner will answer challenges and if they know the

answer they will keep going.

This solution for the “one size fits all” remind me that at the DLI we have the Online

Diagnostic Assessment “ODA”, this software is designed to assess the language learners’ level

and as the learners answer the assessment questions of certain level the system will challenge

them with questions on a higher level.

 Finally, what the four researchers (Michael Allen, Julie Dirksen, Clark Quinn, Will

Thalheimer ) are declaring is one of the important subjects that requires attention as we are in the

era of eLearning and to fulfill the outcome objectives (to transfer learning to on-job

performance) requires moving from the typical to the serious eLearning principles.