The World Athletics e-learning platform

World Athletics just launched what they call the e-learning platform. I don't know how much money the poured into that project but my feeling is that it is money thrown out of the window.

The platform was launched in order "... to enhance knowledge within athletics", and "... designed to educate everyone from newcomers to experts". "Experts", did they write "experts"? Really? OK. Just so that you can judge for yourself, here are the two examples given in the corresponding page:

Did you know that athletes competing in the shot put are not allowed to tape two or more fingers together?

Or that long jumpers are forbidden from doing a somersault during their run up, take off or landing?

Is there an athletics "expert" who is unaware of these details? Well, things are clear: if he is so ignorant he is no expert. 

So how about newcomers? Perhaps the pedagogical structure of the platform could be interesting to people who prefer to watch a video rather than perusing the rules (I prefer the latter). But then the information provided is both simplistic and over-quantitative. To me this looks rather self-defeating. Why on earth does a newcomer have to absorb the detailed measurements of run-ups, throwing sectors and so on?

There are some (moderately) interesting videos like the combined events one that shows a small sequence of each of the events. But after you have watched the video you have learned almost nothing about the decathlon and heptathlon, except which are the events composing them (provided you managed to retain them during the presentation).  

And the actual state of the platform is a mess. 

While a video is still playing a pop-up of the next available ones appears on the screen and covers a good part of the presentation. Hasn't anybody tested the workings of the platform before putting it online? 

I have given my opinion on the project in the opening paragraph of this post. While I do find some WA innovations, like the Weekend Reads, excellent, the headlong race into modernisation leads often to questionable choices. 

And just an advice for newcomers (assuming that a "newcomer" ventures into this blog): if you feel like following something from the WA website you should opt for the "Our Sport" section. It is really informative (although I object to the appearance of G. Devers as the representative of women's sprint, alongside the greatest of the great, J. Owens).