[quoting Sims, 14 Nov 95.b] ...the problem is not the tools, but the level of skill of the user. Perhaps we should institute the ITForum Challenge Cup--build a "high" interaction with a "low" development tool, etc.
But if we want to encourage teachers to develop interactive courseware and use it as part of their classes, the tools need to be easy to use. If the tools are too hard to use for the average user then the tools are at fault not the users.
...what is closed is the mind of the developers who have been indoctrinated by various instructivist principles--that is why I said it is a forgotten art--magicians, come forth!
Why should instructional developers have to be magicians? (Assembler is an "open" software tool, but we don't advocate its use as an authoring tool.)
The tools I have in mind will include templates for a range of different types of interactions and knowledge construction tasks. The job of the teacher/developer should be to choose the type of interaction they want and the content they want, and then put it all together without having to learn a programming language.