The Relevant Question and the Question of Relevance

Abstract

This paper brings together two perspectives on current developments in information and communications technology (ICT) utilized for the purposes of learning, education, and training (LET). One perspective is concerned with governance and legitimacy issues regarding the process and relevance of standards development; the other, is concerned with the role of discerning relevant questions in LET and the potential scope for innovation that might develop tools to support such discernment. Discussion of information systems architecture is introduced as a means to set the context and provide a framework for bringing together an overall narrative and coherence to these two perspectives. Questions initiated by „why‟ are of particular interest because they typically demand an explanation in natural language to satisfy the questioner. By focusing on „why‟ as a key „primitive‟ of enquiry the authors present an approach that might inform improved processes of ICT for LET (a.k.a ITLET) standardization.