Re: [school-discuss] EduML/EML/ and others

[Les Richardson <richl@mail.tfsd.sk.ca>]

Hi Mike,

At 09:22 PM 4/10/02 -0400, you wrote:
>On Wed, 10 Apr 2002, Les Richardson wrote:
>
>> When you have this kind of thing, you usually have a "model"
>> implementation. I would say "Write the app and make it work. Get it
>> used." Then Model the markup.
>> 
>> Anything else I would say is premature...
>> 
>
>I would disagree, by writing the app to "model" the markup so to speaou 
>leave alot to be desired. Is it truly able to be extended to other 
>applications, does your one application truly show everything you want in 
>the schema. In other words lets say you create a grade book. You use XML 
>to do so you are creating EduML or some variation. Now you have this 
>application and you begin working with it and blah blah blah. Now it comes 
>time to model the data. Now all you have modeled with your application is 
>the grading process and data. Well there is more to the proposed EDU XML 
>then just grading or anything that one application can take into account 
>for. 

Yes, but now you know if it does what its intended to. It will expose
weaknesses in the model, and perhaps require some adjustments.

Frankly, XML is good for a couple of kinds of things:
1) Data exchange
2) Complicated Document Markup.

However, I would think that the demands of a Gradebook are quite well taken
care of by a normal SQL database. Some fields of records could be encoded
in XML, but generally it takes someone with talent to do this. One can
easily do the import/export into/from the database.

My view is that perhaps we're overdoing things trying to find a problem
that XML can solve, rather than the other way around.


Les Richardson