Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: http://elmezine.epubxp.com/i/48330
learning!100 D.A.U. at the Forefront of New Learning Strategies "Technology and learning become syn- Challenged with changing guidelines on contracting and performance in 2009, the Defense Acquisition University (D.A.U.) re-engineered its curriculum in 2010, adding financial management and con- tract administration curricula and using blended-learning modules. Last year, D.A.U. reached students from more than 97 countries, achieved a signifi- cant growth in learning hours and gradu- ated its 1 millionth student. Its other fis- cal-year 2010 numbers are staggering: >>7,947,290 hours of training (23 per- cent increase over FY09) >>192,968 online graduates (25 percent increase over FY09) >>45,864 classroom graduates (15 per- cent increase over FY09) "Our organizational learning culture is 'job-centric,'" says Dr. Christopher Hardy, director of D.A.U.'s Global Learning and Technology Center. "In its evolution, D.A.U. has broadly embraced adult learning designs in its formal courses and accepted the fact that adults learn best by 'doing' in the formal learning environment and back at work." D.A.U.'s approach to learning provides its 147,000 employees with the right learning solution at the right time and at the right place throughout their careers. This unique learning approach set in motion a huge cul- tural shift from a traditional classroom envi- ronment to a total learning environment. Focusing on enhancing workforce capa- bilities, D.A.U. pinpoints how and where its employees learn and how it can help them real-time. With this approach, it provides an environment where they cannot not learn. In all areas of student and customer support, D.A.U. relies on robust core infrastructure to reach each individual at the point of need. 22 May / June 2011 onymous," says Hardy. "Mission is met through systems and tools supporting online learning, classroom events, and infor- mal knowledge sharing and job support." Additionally, D.A.U.'s informal learning network, the Defense Acquisition Portal (18 million hits per month), is an open resource for employees needing policy updates, just- in-time leadership news, and one-stop shopping for job-critical information. COLLABORATION STRATEGIES The Acquisition Community Connection (A.C.C.) supports daily exchanges between members of communities of practice and >>238,832 graduates (23 percent increase over FY09) "We are developing a virtual world that will be compliant with security requirements, highly scalable, and Web-based," notes Hardy. "Early prototype testing indicates that stu- dents will be engaged in the virtual classroom with a range of discussion and media-sharing tools, collaborating in small-group spaces, and aggregating files from any Internet loca- tion to support their performance." Another example of collaboration with- in the agency is its mobile strategy: to pro- vide the workforce with the ability to access D.A.U. resources and tools from a wide array of mobile devices by using existing assets and systems wherever pos- sible; to develop new assets and tools as demanded by users; and to leverage exist- ing mobile tools and applications. "These parallel approaches will allow us to accomplish our goals, achieve initial results quickly, and position ourselves for future growth." says Hardy. "This will simul- taneously minimize duplication of effort, development costs and asset management resources required to support mobile. This strategy will be executed through a central D.A.U. mobile portal built in a format con- sumable by all three major mobile platforms (iPhone/iPad, Droid and Blackberry)." A final example is D.A.U.'s teaching and Katrina McFarland, D.A.U., Catherine Upton, special interest groups representing all career fields. The A.C.C. has more than 110,000 registered users and contributors. Through these networks, customers and stakeholders translate formal learning achievements into continuous skills devel- opment and career growth by resolving the challenges of day-to-day problem-solving in a dynamic work environment and by providing the virtual forums where longer- term strategic and tactical improvements are pursued by workforce leaders. D.A.U.'s other technologies include mobile and virtual capabilities. learning lab. "Leading learning innovation is the means to developing our future workforce and these superior capabilities," Hardy says. "The key to innovation is creation of an environment where new ideas and risk taking are encouraged and supported. We have established two facilities, our Teaching and Learning Lab at Fort Belvoir, Va., and a Learning Technology Innovation Center in Orlando, Fla." These cutting-edge facilities will showcase the latest education and training simulations and technologies, such as: virtual environ- ment, the latest simulations, and mobile learning devices. Their purpose is to keep D.A.U. in the forefront of emerging learn- ing technologies and best practices for rapid adoption into our learning assets. Government Elearning! Elearning!