This special 3-day webinar series, focused on Mobile Learning, is being co-hosted by ADL, Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO), Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) and Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE). The webinars will run 16-18 July (Tuesday - Thursday), from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM EDT each day. The login credentials you receive via email confirming your

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/428918074 This month's webinar is about Transforming Leader Development with Transmedia Learning. (This will be the second presentation by ADL's Dr. Elaine Raybourn on Transmedia; for background, see the resources from the webinar Dr. Raybourn presented in December 2012.) Transmedia learning involves interacting with a system of messages, or story, that is delivered across multiple media with the purpose of emotionally engaging learners personally in the narrative. For many organizations, this may repres

Need a little more time? Now you have until June 21 to submit your mobile Apps to ADL's 2013 Learning App Challenge! Submit the best learning Apps you've created for secondary education or adult learners by close of business on Friday, June 21st. The judging panel will score submitted Apps for technical quality, ease of use, and how well they solve a learning problem. Remember, the winners in both the student and business categories will get to show off the

The Mobile Learning Decision Path (MLDP) is a new tool for stakeholders who are considering a mobile learning development project. Adayana, Inc. created this guide for the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative to help instructional designers plan and implement mobile performance support and to repurpose existing learning content for the mobile platform. The DoD’s Combating Terrorism Tec

On Friday, May 3, the ADL Co-Lab in Orlando, FL was buzzing with barbeque, futurists, and free play in the virtual environment called Next Generation Learner (NGL) Imaginarium. NGL Imaginarium team members, Dr. Elaine Raybourn, Jeff Mills, Steven Vergenz, Kent Weeks, and Alan Workman, conducted a workshop for 50 participants of the Association of Professional Futurists Gathering, “Play: Simulations, Games, The Future.” The workshop introduced the futurists to research the ADL team is conducting on simulating personal assistants for learning (PALs) in an immersive virtual environment.

An important reminder - the deadline for submitting mobile Apps to ADL's 2013 Learning App Challenge is less than 2 weeks away (June 16)! Submit the best learning Apps you've created for secondary education or adult learners. The judging panel will score submitted Apps for technical quality, ease of use, and how well they solve a learning problem. Remember, the winners in both the student and business categories will get to show off their App during the

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/641514146 This month's webinar is about the Experience API Version 1.0.0 that was released on 26 April. Presenter Nikolaus Hruska will explain the open source approach that facilitated the process, highlight key features of the resultant spec, and share examples of formal, informal, and social learning tools. He'll also illustrate the benefits of the Experience API through

Background Two weeks ago, ADL shipped a version 1.0 software specification on time - a community-backed approach with working production systems from many eLearning industry vendors already in place on launch day. As a leader in Government-sponsored open source projects, ADL leveraged its collective experience with open source efforts to steer the specification development process as a distributed, open and collaborative

The ADL Initiative is hosting its second annual Learning App Challenge. This year, the objective of the Challenge is for contestants to create an App that will help students acquire knowledge and understanding by manipulating tasks, simulations, or situations that require students to critically evaluate what they are learning. The submitted Apps should help students discover, understand, or apply

We’ve reached an incredibly important milestone; impressive by every measure: the Experience API reached Version 1.0.0 on Friday, April 26. Over 60 developers, designers, engineers, standards veterans, stakeholders and vendors from around the world representing industry, academia and government contributed to an open and collective effort to meet this goal in just over 12 months. The Experience API specification Version 1.0.0 marks the first major release of the technology, built on requirements and

ADL - along with the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, Defense Acquisition University, and the U.S. Army Sustainment Center of Excellence - will co-host an Interagency Mobile Learning Webinar Series on July 16-18. The 3-day format will allow you to participate in the sessions that are most relevant to your needs and interests. Our plans for the webinar series include having invited

Research is needed for the development and prototyping of an advanced personal learning capability which is being pursued by DASD(R)/Training Readiness and Strategy (TRS) - Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, in response to the White House request for USD (P&R) to take the lead on the “application of learning technologies in DoDEA schools and elsewhere.” The specific requirements

Join ADL’s serious games expert, Dr. Peter Smith, for this month’s offering in our monthly webinar series. Peter will share his insights on trends that are shaping the future of game-based training. You’ll also learn the results of recent research about games and learning. Register today.

Now that the age of mesh importation is a reality in the Second Life and Open Simulator virtual environments, the quest to find helpful techniques to utilize this ability can create a difficult and frustrating situation. Over the past two years, we have seen artisans and developers create everything from amazing vehicles, architecturally correct buildings and amazingly realistic mesh avatars that

Due to travel restrictions within the government, ADL is expanding local and virtual opportunities to interact with the community. Instead of the annual iFest conference, this year ADL will host a series of "PlugFest" events to showcase applications that use the Experience API and other learning technologies. Our intent is to host PlugFest events at the Alexandria, VA and Orlando, FL, ADL Co-Labs,

With the Experience API set to launch Version 1.0 on April 26, we’re taking the next couple of weeks to open up our release candidate (what we think is Version 1.0) for the public to comment on anything that is unclear or downright missing in the specification. What this means is that with over 50 developers, designers, engineers, standards wonks, stakeholders and vendors, our Working Group has been focused on this spec for the last year. We’re pretty sure we got it covered, but a fresh set of eyes would help. If you’re up for it, we’d welcome your comments on how to make

ADL has launched a new project to explore how education and training practitioners can best use mobile technologies to design learning solutions for the next generation of learners. The Mobile Learning Team would like your input for the Mobile Training Implementation Framework (MoTIF) project Needs Analysis Survey to inform Phase 1 of the project. Your responses are extremely important to ADL's research on mobile learning. Any voluntarily-provided personally identifiable information (PII) such as your email address, phone number, or organization will no

While it was covered elsewhere, the Technical Working Group that provides the brainpower reflected in the Experience API specification met in January of this year and together we came up with a path to release Version 1.0 on April 26, 2013. This is a historic milestone for ADL and the learning technology community for a variety of reasons. Version 1.0 is a major release. With over 50 different technologies built over two early beta releases of the specification in the past year, every advancement on the Experience API is pretty important. But when something is called Version 1.0, it means that not only is it good enoug

Over 120 participants joined our "Building a Virtual World Framework Application" webinar on March 20th. If you missed the online presentation by ADL's Rob Chadwick and Allison Corey from Lockheed Martin, you can view their slides (883KB, PDF), watch the YouTube video recording, or visit the Webinar Resources page for additional links to the VWF site, source code, online demo and more. Continue to monitor this site for Webinar registration information. The next Webinar in the series is scheduled for April 25; the topic is "Future Trends in Games". To receive email notifications, subscribe to the newsletter.

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/261505322 Plan to join the next session in our 2013 monthly Webinar series. This month's webinar is about the Virtual World Framework (VWF). Rob Chadwick, ADL's 3D programmer and virtual world artist, will explain how you can use the VWF to quickly create collaborative virtual spaces. The VWF's light-weight architecture and high degree of customizability allow you to set up a VWF serv

Over 120 participants joined our "Training and Learning Architecture - Meeting the Needs of the Next Generation of SCORM" webinar on February 28th. If you missed the online presentation by Andy Johnson, you can view his slides (2.9 MB, PDF), watch the YouTube video recording, and visit the Webinar Resources page to learn more about the TLA. Continue to monitor this site for news, blog posts and announcements about the next Webinar

Mobile learning should NOT be merely viewed as a replacement, an alternative, or as a new addition to existing training delivery methods. It should be thought of as a complementary way to augment or enhance all types of learning. Many organizations are now incorporating mobile devices into their learning environment, but they should be thinking how mobile learning can not only support their overal

The Nordic Armed Forces, under the auspices of the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO), will host its 8th annual military ADL Conference in Gol, Norway on 14-16 May 2013. Educators and trainers from the defence forces of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden will all participate. The focus of the conference will be how to best use advanced distributed learning and emerging technologies to increase the effectiveness of training. The Conference Chair is Commander Geir Isaksen

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/602626706 Plan to join the second in our 2013 monthly series of Webinars. This month's topic is the Training and Learning Architecture, or TLA, a research and development effort by the ADL Initiative that is a response to community requirements for the next generation of SCORM. In the TLA Webinar, presenter Andy Johnson will provide a brief descripti

The 9th eLearning and Software for Education Conference (eLSE 2013) will be held in Bucharest, Romania, on 25-26 April 2013. The Romania ADL Partnership Lab is a supporting organization for the annual international conference that provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and research findings to help enable technology-enhanced learning environments in academia, research and business entities. T

ADL’s Next Generation Learner Lead, Dr. Elaine Raybourn, moderated a panel with the Imaginarium team’s 7th grade design partners, Hunter Slosser and Matthew Munoz, at the Orlando Science Center’s annual Otronicon event held January 18–21, 2013. Otronicon’s goal is to inspire kid’s interest in science and tech careers through the appeal of video games, interactive technology and virtual reality. According to Dr. Raybourn, other panels at Otronicon featured adult speakers—so the purpose of this panel was to

Over 100 participants joined our "Looking Ahead - The ADL Initiative in 2013" Webinar on January 31st. If you missed the online presentation by Jonathan (Jono) Poltrack and Dean Marvin, you can view their slides (4.7 MB, PDF), watch the YouTube video or, visit the Webinar Resources page to learn more about the research that ADL is currently doing. The next Webinar is scheduled for 28 February wh

Beginning in February 2013, researchers on the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Mobile Learning Team and Next Generation Learner Team will be conducting a thorough needs analysis in preparation for a new design-based research project named the Mobile Training Implementation Framework (MoTIF). We need your help! The focus of the project is to explore the intersection of multiple design and research methods in order to better understand - and potentially influence - how education and training pro

Facebook’s new "Graph Search" technology allows queries into the “Social Graph” such as, “Which of my friends like road biking, live in Pittsburgh, and like ‘Bianchi’ (a bicycle brand with a loyal following)?” By looking at the questions we need to answer about performance, we can start to determine the data we will NEED to collect in order to make actionable decisions about our l

The Experience API Webinar video has been released on the ADL YouTube Channel. ADL team members Andy Johnson and Nikolaus Hruska discuss the Experience API (formerly "Tin Can API"), its relationship to the overall ADL vision and to SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model). Topics discussed include: - History of the Experience API and Project Tin Can - How the Experience API lets you track learning experiences

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/648762938 Plan to join the first in our 2013 monthly series of Webinars to learn more about ADL's current vision and research activities. If you are new to the ADL community - or just need to catch up on the latest ADL research projects and acronyms - this is a good session to attend. You'll learn a little history and find out where distance learning technologies

Did you miss Dr. Raybourn's December 18, 2012 webinar, Introduction to Transmedia Learning for Training and Education, or want to learn more about this topic? The Webinar slides (PDF) and other resources are now available from the Transmedia Webinar Resources page.

Otronicon is an interactive technology expo that demonstrates how future generations will live, learn, work and play. The event runs from 18- 21 January, 2013 at the Orlando Science Center. ADL's Next Generation Learner team will participate by hosting an Imaginarium Workshop that uses a virtual environment to enhance young students' learning. Within the Imaginarium, groups of learners interact with a simulated Personal Assistant for Learning (PAL) that can help them communicate, become more self-aware and use critical thinking to solve problems related to sustaining ecosystems. ADL researchers use the env

How do you capture the thought process of an expert gamer as they make their way through a game? How do you map out, scientifically, exactly what it takes to conquer a game like Portal 2? Background: Game Design for Cognitive Adaptability Members of the ADL Next Generation Learner Team are currently studying how video games can be leveraged for learning and understanding cognitive capabilities. We recently studied the effects of playing a game with certain design characteristics, and of amount of game play experience in general, on cognitive adaptability, a skill that involves re

As the buzz continues to build for Experience API ("Tin Can"), a question I've been asked a lot lately is "What happens next?" My answer is pretty straightforward and simple, though I wouldn't say it's easy. Sometime around April or May of 2013, we're going to reach Version 1.0 of Experience API (xAPI). Most everything that's going to be baked into that version will be drafted by the beginning

ADL's Dr. Elaine Raybourn recently traveled to Norway to provide the keynote address at the NATO Modeling and Simulation Group meeting on Exploiting Commercial Games and Technologies for NATO. Her keynote address was about "Transmedia Design for More Effective Training & Education." Dr. Raybourn is a research scientist at Sandia National Labs who is currently on assignment to the ADL Initiative

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/314841890  Plan to join our Webinar to learn about Transmedia from Dr. Elaine Raybourn, ADL Research Scientist and Next Generation Learner Team Lead. Transmedia is a storytelling approach used by entertainment and advertising that can be applied to education, training, and knowledge reinforcement. Serious games and digital learning technologies can

The goal of this BAA is to provide a persistent capability by which learners have access to effective, personalized learning content and/or job performance aids that can be presented to the user in a transparent and ubiquitous manner in a format suitable for their preferences and can be accessed from multiple devices/platforms through a PAL. To achieve this vision, multiple research areas must be

ADL is pleased to announce the formal release of the Experience API version 0.95. A fluid version has always been publicly available, but it has been in a state of fluctuation as changes and bug fixes were implemented. The PDF version serves as an official release of the specification that is much easier to read and navigate than online-only versions. The Experience API Working Group continues to progress towards a 1.0 version of the Experience API Specification. Please see

I think Einstein would approve: Education for the 21st Century Learner is E = mc2 The Next Generation Learner About ten years ago I finally purchased my very first mobile phone, not seeing the real necessity in owning such a device. At that time, I remember friends and colleagues would often discuss topics for which they had no answer and would say that they wished they could have instant access to all potential networks for the gathering of information. Wishful thinking back then! Prior to working at ADL, I was developing and administering courses f

A recent study by ADL with Sheppard Air Force Base has shown that a video game having specific design features (i.e., implicit rules, implicit rule changes, dynamic shifting environments, open endedness, and implicit feedback) can enhance specific cognitive capabilities after playing for 12 consecutive hours as compared to games without those features. This was determined by having airmen play eit

In November 2002, Desmon Keegan published a book titled, "The future of learning: From eLearning to mLearning." The book was written as of part a research project to investigate the next generation of learning: the move from distance learning (dLearning) and electronic learning (eLearning) to mobile learning (mLearning). At the time of Keegan's writing, eLearning was the state of the art. Keegan concluded: Mobile l

The Aviation Industry Computer-Based-Training Committee (AICC) and the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative have agreed to collaborate to improve and solidify the Experience API (formerly referred to as “Tin Can”), ensuring its viability for the aviation industry and other communities served by AICC. ADL is focusing its research efforts on a next generation online learning enviro

Over 130 participants joined our Experience API Webinar on 30 October. If you missed the online presentation by Andy Johnson and Nik Hruska (contractors with Problem Solutions who support the ADL Initiative), view the Webinar slides or visit the Webinar Resource Page to learn more about the Experience API. Monitor this site for new blog posts and future Webinar announcements.

I attend and speak at a lot of conferences, especially over the past three years as ADL laid the groundwork for the Training & Learning Architecture (TLA). Each year, there’s one conference that I really look forward to because it’s so big and so many of my favorite learning technology people show up: DevLearn. Last year, I was honored to be a featured speaker at DevLearn and made a case for the design thinking that went into what is now the Experience API. This ye

What is RUSSEL? The Re-Usability Support System for eLearning (RUSSEL) is an open-source software project to manage and repurpose courses, documents and multimedia assets. It will make content more useful through a rich metadata environment with ratings, analytics and comments that will support communities of practice and collaboration. It will include an Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) for reuse and repurposing of SCORM-conformant content based on instructional design best practices and reusable design frameworks. Objectives The objectives of the RUSSEL

The Serious Games Showcase & Challenge (SGS&C) has been a mainstay of the annual Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando for the past seven years. The SGS&C is a competition for developers of serious games - specifically games for educational or training outcomes - that has attracted developers from all over the world. This year marks the first year of a sister SGS&C in Australia at the SimTecT Conference. This year's SGS&C

ADL Director Dr. Kristy Murray's remarks about the Mobile Learning Handbook and the advantages of mobile technologies are quoted in "Apps and More Apps," an article that appears in the 5/2012 issue of Military Simulation and Training Magazine (pages 18-20). Also in the issue: a report on ADL's iFest event that was held in August (pages 26-27). View the entire issue at http://halldale.com/mst.

It is with great pleasure that the ADL Initiative welcomes the country of Poland as a new partner in the ADL Partnership Lab network. Representatives from the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the country of Poland officially signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in early September 2012. Capt. Navy (ret.) Piotr Gawliczek, Associate Professor, will serve as the new Director of the

NOTE: This blog is geared more towards software and content developers, and assumes some prior knowledge of the Experience API (Tin Can API). For more information on the Experience API please visit http://xapi.adlnet.gov or view the ADL’s Experience API iFest presentation here. ADL’s Open Source LRS Earlier this week we made another momentous step towards finishing our first Learning Record Store (LRS) system using vers

ADL has formalized the names for the next generation of SCORM and the new runtime API (commonly known as the ‘Tin Can API’). ADL officially launched the new names at iFest 2012 in Orlando, Florida. Training and Learning Architecture (TLA) ADL has termed the next generation of SCORM as the Training and Learning Architecture (TLA). All current and planned future ADL technical projects, specifications and standards efforts fall within the scope of the TLA, an umbrella term that covers projects designed to create a rich environment for connected training and learning. Phase I of t

How about this fun twist on a summer camp program at the science center? Imagine you are in a small group of science camp participants and you have access to a digital assistant. You collaboratively act as research rangers to explore a virtual world ecosystem and its fantastic creatures, accessing the personal assistant for help. Afterwards, you share what you discovered about the creatures and ho

Mr. Frank DiGiovanni addresses the audience ADL iFest 2012, sponsored by NTSA, took place from 31 July to 2 August in Orlando, Florida. Over 200 learning, education, and training professionals from DoD, government, industry, and academia attended the conference. Ten learning technology-related exhibitors also participated. ADL Director Dr. Kristy Murray welcomes Mr. DiGiovanni to iFest Slides for most of the iFest presentations listed on the agenda are now available. Mr. Frank DiGiovanni, Director, Training Readiness and Strategy, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary

Mr. DiGiovanni presents the STEM App Challenge Award to student winner Yu Qiao at iFest 2012 ADL is happy to announce the winners of its first STEM* App Challenge. Winners of the student award were Yu Qiao, Lingchen Xiong, and Martin Keegan, a team from Ohio State University, for their "Real Ball" app. This app helps students understand the relationship between velocity and acceleration via a game they can play on their mobile phones. Winner of the commercial award was MicroEmpowering.org for its "Curiosity School - STEM Series" app, a set of eight experiments about STEM topics that students

The ADL Next-Generation Learner Games Sub-Team consists of Dr. Shane Gallagher (team leader / contractor with Serco) along with team members Shenan Prestwich, Matt Thomas, Peter Smith, and Jennie Bottone (all contractors with Katmai). From June 14-16, 2012, members of the ADL Next Generation Learner Team, led by Dr. Shane Gallagher, travelled to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas to conduct a study on game design. The research goal was to determine whether or not certain characteristics of video games can increase cognitive adaptability in players.

The STEM App Challenge winners will be recognized and demo their apps at iFest on August 1 in Orlando, FL. The submissions were evaluated for how well they met the challenge of providing a mobile learning tool to help students in grades 9-12 overcome common misconceptions they may have in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The winning apps will help students discover th

iFest 2012 will kick off on 31 July at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, FL. Check out the working agenda to see who our invited speakers are and what distributed learning topics will be discussed. Whether your main interest is next generation learning environments or training standards, mobile learning or immersive learning technologies, intelligent tutoring or STEM education research, iFest has lined up speakers that are relevant to you and your organizati

In conjunction with the recently released list of research literature on mobile learning that is also relevant to the DoD, the ADL Mobile Learning team also collaborated with the CTTSO, TSWG (Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, Technical Support Working Group) on a market research effort to identify vendors that offer mobile learning solutions. The motivation for the resulting vendor list was to provide an overview of mobile learning vendors and the requirements their solutions may fulfill. In its current form, the list is offered in a formatted spreadsh

Many of you here may have heard something about the big launch at mLearnCon of the Experience API that resulted from the Project Tin Can BAA. Two questions surfaced amidst all the buzz: What exactly is it? and Why people are excited about it? The API is a way of commonly expressing information about what people are doing with content and systems. This is important because it allows us to capture activities that connect people with the tools they use, capturing a full picture of how people learn and how

The ADL Mobile Learning Team is working with the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) to develop a Mobile Learning Decision Tool (MDT). When complete, the MDT will: Be available to the entire mobile learning community (military; federal, state, and local government; international partners; academia; and industry) Assist in determining what portion of a training or performance support effort would benefit from a mobile solution Provide guidance on design and development considerations for mobile learning The MDT may include how to

Over the last few weeks since the Tin Can API project kicked off, I've had more than a few people ask me what exactly a BAA is. Here's what Wikipedia has to say: The Broad Agency Announcement is a technique for United States government agencies to contract for basic and applied research and certain development. It is not intended for acquisition "related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement." It may only be used "when meaningful proposals with varying technical/sc

[Update, 20 July: Thank you for all the great comments you submitted. We are no longer seeking suggestions.] As a name, "SCORM" really doesn't stand up well with the work we’re currently undertaking at ADL with the Next Generation of SCORM. It was an acronym to talk about the Sharable Content Object Reference Model. In the context of what's happening with Tin Can API, the kinds of things we want to do with experiences, personal assistants for learning, etc… well, the things we're interested in span beyond just *content*, and it's time to have a better name than "Ne

The Tin Can API Working Group has been busily discussing verbs in the <actor><verb><activity> statements that make up the Tin Can API.  While we debate whether the Tin Can API is modeled after Activity Streams as a concept or is in accordance with the current Activity Streams specification, let’s look at how activities are handled in each.  To disambiguate all of the Activity Streams specification activities, we will look at the JSO

I've recently been doing some work on an open source project called the Virtual World Framework (VWF), mostly writing demonstration code to show off how the system could be used. Naturally, I thought this would be an opportunity to hook in some performance tracking from a virtual world to an LRS. The VWF is based on open standards and runs completely within a web browser, so it's the perfect platform for this sort of demonstration. I

(Originally published in the May 2012 issue of the ADL Newsletter for Educators and Educational Researchers; republished here with permission of Dr. Raybourn.) Introduction Over 10 years ago I suggested the need to support technology-mediated communication with intelligent or adaptive virtual environments that incorporate cultural signposts (Raybourn et al., 2003; Raybourn; 2004, 2011). In particular I posited that technology alone was not enough to facilitate online and telephonic conversations among strangers, even if they shared common intere

On April 30, 2012, the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) presented awards to individuals and organizations for extraordinary achievements in distance learning. Judy Brown was among those recognized for the vast contributions she has made on behalf of ADL in the progression of mobile learning. Judy was honored with an induction into the USDLA Hall of Fame. As a contractor with

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) May 1, 2012 -- The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) presented its 2012 International Distance Learning Awards in conjunction with the 2012 National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. USDLA is a 501(c) 3 non-profit association, founded in 1987, as the nation’s leading distance learning organization. The association reaches 20,000 people globally with spons

The Tin Can API is a project that seeks to incorporate all types of learning into a trackable and meaningful framework through the use of activity streams. An activity stream is a series of statements. The form that these statements use is “I did this”. The Tin Can API Working Group  has been participating in lively discussions, many involving which verbs should be used in the framework. Do we limit the verbs for coherence and easy adoption or do we open it up to allow as many types of learning experiences a

After the original Tin Can API Verb List was delivered to ADL as a part of  Project Tin Can, a response to a BAA put forth by ADL to investigate potential APIs for the Next Generation of SCORM, I purposely deprived myself from reading that part of the specification because I wanted to create my own verb list as an exercise.  I drew from my experiences both in the professional and academic world.   My goal in creating the verb list that follows

Previously, I wrote about the [definite and indefinite future] of learning technology, and shared my perspective on what capabilities are introduced with Tin Can API. I want to share with you a little about what this enables: treating you as a first-class citizen. Device Freedom I like coffee, and when I want to drink coffee or make coffee, I like having choices. SCORM hasn’t been very flexible for people in the arena of choices of learning delivery or experience. In the specification, SCORM makes it pretty clear that it i

Who likes chocolate chip cookies?  I sure do. I never have my mom around to remind me of her recipe, so I’m often searching for something that approximates her cooking - because everyone knows “you can’t beat mom’s cooking.” A Quick Example If you search for ‘chocolate chip cookies’ on Google, you’ll see some filtering options in your results - Ingredients, Cook Time and Calories.  I’m allergic to walnuts, so i’m going to deselect ‘Walnuts’ from the ingredients. I’ll select a cook time

If you’ve used the Internet in the past year or so you’ve probably noticed the buttons on web pages that allow you to post to Facebook or Google Plus or some other social media site. It is such a simple process: click the button, sign in, add a comment, and you get a post on your profile about that article or video. This simple feature of social sites piques my interest both as a Software Engi

Jennie Bottone With a background in graphic arts and digital media, Jennie Bottone works for ADL as a Multimedia Specialist. She is the lead designer for the NAWCTSD’s Second Life Island, NAWCT3D. She is also the primary artist and interface designer for ADL’s gaming research on the emerging technologies team. Jennie is currently pursuing her Masters at the University of Central Florida in Modeling and Simulation emphasizing in Human Computer interaction and User Experiences. Finding it important to stay connected with the community, Jennie supports Team Orlando as the Deputy of Public Relations on the Defense User’s GameTech C

The Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC), a nonprofit, membership-driven organization dedicated to helping the aviation training community get the most out of today’s technology, has been leading the effort to create a new learning content specification, CMI5. This process has historically been available only to AICC members, but now is open to public review. Please join ADL in the weekly

In collaboration with ADL Mobile Learning team, the CTTSO, TSWG (Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, Technical Support Working Group) recently released a literature review, commissioned through a third-party contractor, that provides a list of mobile learning-related research with relevance to military and first-responder communities. CTTSO TSWG is interested in providing a basis for study about mobile learning to those needing to become more familiar with mobile learning. Although the list is not an authoritative source of research papers and resources on mobile learning, it does serve as a starting point for anyone researching the use of mobile learni

We kicked off the next generation of SCORM by introducing our Tin Can API effort. We are asking for your help in moving this effort towards its initial public release in October 2012. On Thursday, April 5 we hosted an orientation meeting for stakeholders interested in the effort, potential adopters interested in implementing Tin Can API, and potential spec contributors. The technical team gave

The GameTech 2012 conference took place 28-30 March in Orlando, FL. GameTech is conducted annually in conjunction with the Army Games For Training (AGFT) Conference. GameTech maintained its reputation for excellence as a leading conference for the defense industry’s game, virtual world, and mobile training users. This year was the first time that the National Center for Simulation (NCS) ran the

With almost 250 people registered for the Next Generation SCORM Kickoff on Thursday, April 5, it's becoming clear that exciting things are afoot in the world of learning technologies. For those of us in ADL who've been working towards this moment since 2009, I'll mention here that we're so very excited to work with you on bringing the Tin Can API to life this summer. I wanted to take a moment to let you know that we've spent a lot of time designing

The Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative is proud to announce the release of our latest video series, “Choosing an LMS.” The five-video series is a companion to the Choosing a Learning Management System whitepaper available on ADLnet.gov. The videos address what exactly an LMS is; the steps to take when choosing an LMS; the differences between an LMS, LCMS, CrMS and VLE; important features to consider in an LMS; and how ADL might be able to help you with the process of choosing an

In September of 2011, Peter Thiel (co-founder of PayPal) spoke at Harvard Business School about innovation and entrepreneurship. He couched his thoughts on investment, in big terms, as the [Definite Future and the Indefinite Future]. Thiel argues that a definite future is one in which we choose one future worldview and allocate resources against it. America, in the 50s and 60s, embraced this definite future. Consider the space race: there was one

Calling all Mobile App Developers! - Special Invite to College and University Student Developers The ADL Initiative announces today its launch of the STEM App Challenge. The motivation behind this challenge is to help learners in grades 9-12 overcome common misconceptions they may have in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The specific goal of the challenge is to identify innovative mobile applications that provide STEM learning tools. The challenge is open to all mobile App developer

ADL's Dr. Shane Gallagher recently presented on the Next Generation Learner at ASTD TechKnowledge 2012. View

Peter Berking's article on Training for Adaptability was published in the March 2012 issue of the ADL Newsletter for Educators and Educational Researchers. It summarizes a review of the literature on adaptability and presents a framework for research on how to develop adaptive training. The framework is being used to drive research projects at ADL on developing adaptability by integrating various learning technologies and pedagogical approaches. Peter is an instructional de

The goal of the BAA is to provide a persistent capability by which learners have access to effective, personalized learning content and/or job performance aids that can be presented to the user in a transparent and ubiquitous manner in a format suitable for their preferences and can be accessed from multiple devices/platforms through a PAL. To achieve this vision, multiple research areas must be

In my previous blog post Using Activity Streams in Next Generation SCORM, you read about Activity Streams and understood how they will be leveraged in the architecture for Next Generation SCORM.  The same technology is the core behind the major social media outlets including Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, as well as emerging applications such as Hojoki, Pinterest, and Schemer.  To review, an Activity Stream is a sentence (or statement) with an actor, verb, and an object. Let’s look at a simple example: Nikolaus Completed CPR Training In this example, the actor is ‘Nikolau

I’ve been involved with the planning, design, and development and distribution of several Apps while on the ADL Mobile Learning Team. When I joined the mobile learning team more than two years ago, I was just beginning to understand the value proposition and complexities involved with creating mobile content for multiple platforms. Today, it’s clear to me that mobile Apps can be valuable to a

Dr. Sigmund Tobias and Dr. J. Dexter Fletcher visited the Orlando Co-Lab on 15 February. They shared their research findings on educational psychology with respect to computer games and effective learning. ADL's Emerging Technologies and Next Generation Learning Research teams participated in the discussion. The presentation included their findings about the factors affecting successful transfer of the cognitive processes used in playing games from the game to real-life tasks.

A new release of the 3D Repository software is available for download. You can download the installer here. Major new features include: Upgrade existing installations The installer now recognizes existing installations, and will upgrade instead of overwriting. All objects, user accounts, and statistics will remain, however we currently lose settings. When upgrading, you'll need to know the information for your Fedora and MySQL server, and re-enter all the settings just as

ADL is making its non-sensitive software development projects available on the software sharing site, GitHub. GitHub is a web-based hostlng service for software development projects that use the Git revision control system. Its open development model is well suited for the prototype projects that ADL is currently involved with. Learn more about what this means for software developers in the ADL community and what software projects are already on GitHub. You can also participate in the

Austin Montoya Austin Montoya is a software engineer who holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida, and currently focuses on all things web development, from user interface design to web service implementations and database administration. Austin is one of the team members responsible for coordinating the ADL presence on GitHub and ensuring that best practices are followed for publicly-released software. Austin Montoya, a contractor with Katmai, provides support to the ADL Initiative. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the ADL.

The ADL Initiative is interested in creating open source versions of SCORM-related software. In 2011, ADL renewed its focus on research and development projects. This includes two major research areas: Next Generation Learner and Next Generation Learning Environment. The Next Generation SCORM project is now a main focus of the ADL Technical Team. SCORM has been a major success for ADL. As a result, we will continue to support our stakeholders who have invested in SCORM as we move forward on the Next Generation SCORM project. However, support to update SCOR

The eLearning and Software for Education (eLSE) 2012 conference will be held 26-27 April in Bucharest, Romania. The Romania ADL Partnership Lab is a supporting organization for this annual international scientific conference that provides a forum for exchange of ideas, research outcomes, business case and technical achievements concerning technology-enhanced learning environments. Registration information and other details are available on the

Implications for Group Learning with Intelligent Tutoring Systems In the 1980s I taught in an education project called Project SEED which teaches algebra and calculus to elementary school students who are classified as both belonging to a minority and within a poverty-level demographic. If this sounds interesting on its own merit, consider that the project employed a learning paradigm called the Discovery Method, an approach I would classify as “Socratic Learning.” The fundamental principle of thi

ADL will again receive a Learning! 100 award from Elearning! Media Group during the Enterprise Learning! Summit 2012. The Learning! 100 Awards recognize the top 100 organizations for their best-in-class learning and development programs. Dr. Tom Archibald, Director of Operations at the Alexandria Co-Lab, will attend the March 20th Awards Dinner on behalf of ADL. Dr. Archibald will also participate t

Open Source Status I am happy to announce a major milestone for the 3D Repository (3DR) project: The ADL 3DR is now completely open source. This means that the community of users and other interested parties are completely free to review the technology and to modify, remix, and improve it. We hope that this step will lead to broader adoption and deeper collaboration between those interested in sharing and reusing di

ADL, through a Broad Area Announcement (BAA) with Rustici Software, is pleased to present a compilation of the community requirements for the Next Generation SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model). This White Paper translates a variety of technical and non-technical requirements that were collected and voted on as a part of the BAA outreach to the ADL Community. The result, although somewhat technical in nature, is a unified vision of what Next

The Mobile Learning Team recently concluded their research on the effectiveness of mobile course delivery. As a result of this research, ADL published a research paper and was asked to present their findings at the 2011 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in December. The title of the paper and presentation is "From eLearning to mLearning: The Effectiven

After a long anticipated wait, the virtual platforms of Second Life and Open Simulator (OpenSim) now support the much needed function of third-party mesh importation. This has opened the door for new ways of creating virtual environments that do not rely on pesky primitive (prims) limitations only. For many years, artists and developers alike have desired ways to reuse mesh assets created in 3D m

The Office of Science Technology Policy released a statement on 19 January 2012 announcing several new public and private sector education initiatives, including the launch of data.gov/education as a central repository for education data resources. These programs join one of ADL's key Search & Retrieval projects, the Learning Registry, as part of the broad Education Data Initiative. All are aimed at harnessing t

What’s all of the buzz about Activity Streams recently? Many of the sites we use everyday are using and supporting them (ex, Twitter, Facebook, Google). The Federal Learning Registry uses activity streams to report how learning resources made available through the registry are being used in classrooms. ADL’s 3D Repository shares similar usage data to the Learning Registry (ex. # of downloads, rating) each time a model is downloaded -- as an activity stream.  The resulting data can be mined to highlight the most relevant content and make recommendations based on behavior of othe