Background
The Deputy Secretary of Defense released the DoD Strategic Plan for Transforming Training in March of 2002, and the Training Transformation (T2) Implementation Plan in June of 2003, establishing three new capabilities for transforming training and education for the Joint Warfighter. One of these, Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution Capability (JKDDC), focuses on individual training. In 2008, JKDDC was recognized by the US Distance Learning Association (USDLA) with the “21st Century Best Practice” award, the highest award bestowed on an organization in the industry, recognizing extraordinary achievement in distance learning. To learn more, visit http://www.jfcom.mil/about/fact_jkddc.htm
The joint community struggled with a method for allowing Warfighters access to joint content that would benefit them regardless of Service affiliation. Content was largely delivered via traditional classroom-based methods and there was little coordinated effort to identify joint training requirements and develop web-based training. Content is classified at various levels and releasable (or not releasable) to multiple entities.
Business Situation
Using AtlasPro, a certified SCORM 2004 LMS, JKDDC, and their partner Northrop Grumman, are delivering certified SCORM 2004-compliant content to the Joint Warfighter via three enclaves: NIPR, SIPR, and Internet Public. A PKI-enabled login process ensures that the participants are authenticated and that the person who completes the course and earns a certificate is the person who is logged in.
Outcomes
Creating and repurposing content allows JKDDC to update and maintain content in a fraction of the time needed for initial development. Over a three year period, the development cost per course hour fielded decreased from $34K in FY06 to $14K in Q1/FY08. Distribution cost per hour trained decreased from $300 in FY06 to $10 in Q1/FY08.
With SCORM 2004 sequencing and navigation, learners can demonstrate their existing knowledge of the content and opt out of training they do not need. The result is improved learner motivation and reduced time to mastery.
Since SCORM enables content to be moved from one LMS to another, JKDDC can import courses from other entities, such as the Air Force and Defense Information Services Agency (DISA), saving resources for the government as a whole and making them accessible to the entire Joint community.
Best Practices
JKDDC is implementing the Joint Content Management Architecture (JCMA) which consists of an integrated system with the Rapid Online Content Creation Environment (ROCCE). ROCCE allows JKKDC to directly publish content to the LMS and automatically populate the content metadata in the ADL Registry. AtlasPro will feed metadata about the SCOs directly to the ADL-R when a course is posted on the LMS. Groundwork is established for further integration with a repository however this will not come to completion until the ADL-R .mil version is operational.
Contact
Lynn Champagne, champagne_lynn@bah.com
Contact
Maureen Ray, ray_maureen@bah.com