Of all the agencies within government, the military is the clear trendsetter when it comes to e-learning. That should come as no surprise, says Andrew Sadler, vice president of strategy and alliances for IBM Corp.’s Mindspan Solutions, with offices in 11
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Rigorous training has long been the hallmark of the American military. The alternative is disaster. Bluntly put, ineptitude on the battlefield leads to death.
“Historically, the military has been in the forefront of most learning initiatives,” Sadler said. “Because of what they do, the military has always relied on highly trained people. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
IBM of Armonk, N.Y., has helped the Army School of Cadet Command to deploy an e-learning system to train 1,100 newly assigned Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadre members every year. Once trained, officers and noncommissioned officers themselves train and commission over 3,500 cadets a year.
Under the old system, instructors had to travel to and from more than 269 different locations for classroom training. The travel was expensive, and there was no efficient means for quickly delivering updated information to former students.
IBM’s computer-based program defines, configures and manages multiple training courses, while monitoring students’ progress through an online tracking program that verifies course completion.
The program is being used by approximately 700 enrolled officers and noncommissioned officers from Bosnia to Korea. The command estimates it is saving nearly $500,000 in training costs associated with travel expenses and physical training facilities.
Because all materials are updated on a regular basis, cadets are able to revisit training materials, either as a refresher course or as a reference source.
“The half-life of knowledge is decreasing,” Sadler said. “It’s a matter of maybe three years in most professions and is down to months in the information technology field. The time pressures are only accelerating. While e-learning isn’t the total solution, it certainly can help.”
Plateau Systems Ltd. of Fairfax, Va., has developed what it calls the enterprise learning management system, or ELMS, for the Air Force. The program will initially manage and deliver Web-based military, technical and flight training for up to 10,000 Air Force personnel at bases in the United States and abroad.
The learning system may eventually be made available to personnel throughout the entire Air Force, including its National Guard, Reserves and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.
Plateau’s software tracks the learning cycle of service members as they advance through their careers, allowing them to map out training thresholds required for certain positions, and notifying them automatically via e-mail when retraining is required.
Ultimately, the Air Force plans to use ELMS’ e-learning capabilities to create an integrated learning architecture that it hopes will improve combat readiness and save millions of dollars in travel and staff time.
“The military is putting [e-learning] standards and methodologies in place that are advanced and sophisticated,” said Paul Sparta, Plateau Systems chairman and chief executive officer.
Sparta said almost every organization now is looking at its training methods and considering e-learning as an option.
“Cost of execution is dropping. Means of delivery is improving. Bandwidth is getting better. As a result, the market is definitely growing,” he said.
