It's where we're headed in so many ways, in terms of adaptability, reusability of content, and use of learning templates. The language will move the field into a new era of mass customized learning, enthusiasts claim. The language is moving the field into a new era. Payback Training Systems, based in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, is one such learning technology developer jumping on the XML bandwagon. It recently incorporated XML as the basis for a new authoring tool called Payload.
Most authoring systems put content into proprietary formats, where it's stuck in that product line.
By adding a vast new crop of tags to the standard formatting tags used in HTML, multimedia authors can distinguish between content and format in developing courseware. Thus content can be lifted out of or poured into XML templates, allowing it to be reused in varying forms. This is true not only for Web-based content, but any platform that multimedia is designed for. Custom multimedia learning developers are also beginning to incorporate XML to allow their customers to repurpose content. W3C last November issued specifications on two components of XML that improve its operability over different platforms and devices.