Advanced distributed learning

Following the new Defense educational strategy at the Norwegian Defense University College (NDUC), one of the measures has been to implement Problem Based Learning (PBL), lay the grounds for more student activity and flipped classroom. Not many papers over the years have looked at the introduction of PBL in higher military education in general or more specifically in the subject of military leadership. By rebuilding the pedagogical strategies and introduce PBL in the Military leadership (ML) course, the results have been remarkable. This follows last year's paper about the plans to implement flipped classrooms and PBL across NDUC programs and courses. It gives an overview of how a flipped classroom concept combined with PBL has transformed the military leadership course and discusses the differences between the course conducted in December last year and courses conducted before 2019. The shift from a conservative lecture-based course to a more student active and problem-solving approach is highlighted and discussed. Based on pre-and post-surveys, grade results and student feedback, both pros and cons are discussed and compared with previous results from the ML courses. The remarkable good results in student performance and other findings are analyzed and compared with exciting research and knowledge within the field of PBL and flipped classrooms. In conclusion, a summary of all findings and how these will influence the transformation of the educational programs at NDUC is highlighted. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Commander Geir Isaksen has more than 17 years in the field of Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) and is responsible for more than 30 Defense projects in the field of digital learning methods and learning technology. He has published more than twenty papers covering different aspects of digital learning methods like mobile learning, student motivation, cognitive overload in e-learning and the use of video lectures. He has a master's degree in Information Computer Technology (ICT) & Learning from the University of Aalborg (2014) and a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Vestfold University College (1998). CDR Isaksen holds the position as a Staff Officer for digitalization and pedagogy at the NDUC/Faculty administration, where he is responsible for leading and coordinating procurement, development, and implementation of digital learning projects and pedagogical support in the use of the Defense Learning Management System (LMS). His military background is from the Navy, serving on submarines for six years as an electro officer and he is also responsible for international ADL cooperation at the NDUC and MoD funded international ADL capacity-building projects. Commander (SG) Rino Bandlitz Johansen has more than 15 years in the field of education at different levels in the Armed forces. He has published more than 15 papers covering different aspects of leadership and the military professional identity. He is also on of the authors of the recently published book "Military Leadership". He has a master's degree in military science and leadership and holds a PhD in operational psychology. Bandlitz Johansen currently holds the position as principal teacher at the NDUC in military leadership. He is responsible for the development and conduct of leadership education and chair the research group "Military leadership development-in theory and practice". His military background is from the Navy, serving at fast patrol boats for eight years where the last three as commanding officer. He also has experience from NATO article V operations in the Mediterranean. The last 15 years he has been occupied with different positions related to leadership and leadership development.

Although we are aware of the shortcomings mentioned, we think that the results of the study on the effectiveness of blended education, and to increase the concentration of educational programs that contribute to the renaissance of the community, Blended Learning Programs are considered an effective starting point for students to achieve continuing education, combining the classic kinds of learning with online learning. Blended learning is one of the most popular pedagogical methods, and has received numerous researches on blended learning since its beginning in recent years, the introduction of new technological innovations to fill the gap between traditional learning and face-to-face learning. The main purpose of this study is to review and analyze the studies conducted on blended learning through thinking about the past, present and future. In this article, the researcher discussed blended learning system, showing that the use of e-learning in the role of education in general needs a period of time to be good training stage to get rid of the traditional methods, and finding easier ways and more accurate for education and evaluation, and concludes importance of blended learning in preparation for the application of e-learning , so the researcher should direct his research to this type of education so that it is applied properly scientific. Finally, the recent developments in the technology encourages students and teachers to apply blended learning in their ranks, and this is one of the questions that will be discussed in this paper in addition to the successful factors for implementing blended learning and the efficiencies needed for teachers and students to achieve blended learning. We highlighted some successful experiences regionally, globally and some successful experiences in Sudan and what future directions of blended learning systems in Sudanese higher educations. Keywords— blendedlearning, e-learning, distributed learning, blended learning environments, higher education I. INTRODUCTION With the expansion and the spread of e-learning systems, increasing demand for the use and employ them in learning it emerged several problems, including: the absence of direct social contact between the practical components of learning-teachers, students and administration which negatively affects the social contact with those components, the application of e-learning systems infrastructure needs require a high cost, in many educational systems may not be available, e-learning systems require skills in educational technology to enable teachers and students to take advantage of e-learning, the difficulty of conducting the assessment for learners when they include practical skills, and Lack of appropriate e-learning systems for students of some of the stages , as well as the lack of suitability of some curricula and courses , especially those that require students to exercise practical skills. Blended learning is a hybrid of the traditional face-to-face and an on-line learning so that instruction occurs in both classroom and an on-line, It has been acknowledged that blended instruction, is an emerging trend and it is trying to give students the advantages of each method [10], [9]. It is necessary to point out that blended learning became a natural extension of traditional classroom learning [8].

... This architectural model is general enough to be used in the design of a number of e-learning systems. As Kennedy and Cutts [9] point out an important com-ponent to be provided with an EVS used in the context of education is one that gives the opportunity to students to ...

Seeking for knowledge is one of the most important problems that learners frequently face during their learning process. In this research, a computer supported collaboration learning in ubiquitous computing environment is designed and implemented. This environment is called Perkam (personalized knowledge awareness map). Perkam allows the learners to seek for and share knowledge, interact, collaborate, and exchange individual experiences. This system recommends the appropriate educational materials and peer helpers. The knowledge awareness map visualizes the relative distance between the learner's request and location from one side, and the suggested educational materials and peer helpers from the other side. This paper focuses on the design and the implementation of the knowledge awareness map which is personalized according to the learner's interest and location

When a single training system accumulates data on learner performance, the data are stored in a way determined by the system's designers. This enables the system to access these data and to apply them to its interactions with learners. In environments such as live-virtual-constructive federations, each component may store performance data in its own way, making it difficult for one component to access and use data produced by another. To enable cross-component sharing of performance data, it is necessary to establish shared definitions of skills and outcomes; create a common language for expressing performance data; interpret data produced at differing levels of granularity; and (in some cases) satisfy a large array of security and privacy requirements.

This paper is based on work done by the US Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, the Credential Engine foundation, and several standards bodies. It starts by discussing the above challenges and their manifestations in use cases ranging from federations of different learning environments to more traditional online learning environments. The paper then describes a potential solution for collecting and processing assertions of competency, skills, and performance from multiple sources. Each assertion is of the form " Learner X has (or has not) achieved competency Y at level Z with confidence p based on evidence E. " " Competencies " are drawn from shared, machine-readable frameworks that can represent knowledge, skills, ability, and objectives. Assertions can be collected directly or generated by ingesting granular performance data and correlating it to competencies, enabling algorithms that use explicit rules and relationships to draw further inferences.

This paper ends with a description of a system that implements the suggested solution and its application in the context of live trials with 73 subjects run as part of a design-based research effort.

+ + + Authored in conjunction with 10 additional partners, representing a total of 12 unique nations/NATO + + + ABSTRACT Coalition military forces have become the norm, and to be ready for multinational operations, militaries must prepare using relevant training, education, and exercises. Many nations and security coalitions use advanced distributed learning technologies to, at least partially, meet this demand. Towards that end, this paper examines the intersection of multinational military training and education and innovations in learning science and technology, specifically those involving distributed learning. To write this piece, authors from 12 nations/NATO collaborated. Content contributors serve as military officers or civil servants in their defense ministries, and each works in the technology-enabled learning domain. The paper begins by highlighting national strategies in support of multinational collaboration. It then discusses collaborative efforts involving technology-based learning. Next, it describes a survey of the authors' organizations, which examined their priorities, challenges, and uses of distributed learning. Finally, the paper closes with our survey findings and recommended next steps for consideration by coalition military training and education stakeholders. Some key findings from the survey include the following: Use of distributed learning is expanding across the board. On average across surveyed organizations, enhancing the instructional quality (pedagogy/andragogy) of distributed learning ranks as the number-one focus area. Mobile learning and, possibly, game-based distributed learning may see an uptake in use, but there are unmet needs in the areas of learning analytics and, correspondingly, xAPI and learner/teacher performance dashboards. Finally, international partnerships—specifically in the area of distributed learning—yield tangible benefits. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Sae Schatz, Ph.D. currently serves as the Director of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, a research and development program under the US Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness). Commander Geir Isaksen has more than 14 years of experience in the ADL field and is responsible for more than 30 R&D projects spanning the fields of e-learning, m-learning, online learning, student motivation, cognitive overload, standardization, and emerging technologies. CDR Isaksen is an ADL Staff Officer at the Norwegian Defense University College (NoDUC)/ADL section.

This paper begins with analyzing the problems of existing learning environments, along with the need for reform and innovations of educational behavior in the Border Police of the Republic of North Macedonia. It is followed by a discussion on the need for the emergence of e-learning and smart learning environment in a remote border area. The paper also looks at the interaction of teaching method, technology and their unification towards the furtherance of e-learning and smart learning environment. From the education perspective, issues like-learning model, assessment model and interpersonal component are discussed. From the technological perspective, nascent technologies, innovative uses of developed technologies, and new technological models are elaborated. From the perspective of educational and technology integration, a new course of study, changes in teaching behavior, re-engineering education, and alteration of the existing Border police educational methods and structure are explored. Finally, the future perspectives of smart learning environments are reviewed and shared, through examples of emerging innovations such as the open-source platform like ILIAS learning management system, Moodle open-source platform, game-based learning, virtual classroom, forums, and other services are addressed. Learning Content Management System (LCMS) supporting the desired standards should be chosen and implemented in the Border police of the  Republic of North Macedonia.

In this paper it is presented our contribution for carrying out adaptive and intelligent Web-based Education Systems (WBES) that take into account the individual student learning requirements, by means of a holistic architecture and Framework for developing WBES. In addition, three basic modules of the proposed WBES are outlined: an Authoring tool, a Semantic Web-based Evaluation, and a Cognitive Maps-based Student Model. As well, it is stated a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) oriented to deploy reusable, accessible, durable and interoperable services. The approach enhances the Learning Technology Standard Architecture, proposed by IEEE-LTSA (Learning Technology System Architecture) [IEEE 1484.1/D9 LTSA (2001). Draft standard for learning technology – learning technology systems architecture (LTSA). New York, USA. URL: http://ieee.ltsc.org/wg1], and the Sharable Content Object Reusable Model (SCORM), claimed by Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) [Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (2004). URL: http://www.adlnet.org].

Because of the significant time, money and effort devoted to creating online learning resources, one of the key challenges of producing this learning experience is to reduce the costs involved with authoring, re-authoring and re-purposing learning resources, ie any digital media that aids in the process of learning. The situation often arises whereby the portability of a developed learning resource will not be realized as the learning resource is not marked up in a standardized way. By applying a standards-oriented approach to ...

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In this paper, we present the status of identity management systems and e-learning standards across Europe, in order to promote the mobility and the sharing of contents and services in higher education institutions. With new requirements for authentication, authorization and identity management for Web applications, most higher education institutions implement several solutions to address these issues. At

Competence-based learning models have great importance for learning resources: they constitute a meaningful structure for just-in-time and just-enough learning. In this paper, we present an ontology-based competence model that allows the on-the-fly generation of learning knowledge objects (LKOs). The automatic aggregation process relies on knowledge objects and ontologies created through text mining and natural language processing. It is guided by instructional theories encoded declaratively through SWRL. Our framework offers a constructivist learning approach through the presentation of the LKO's context to the learner based on domain ontology. Finally, it allows the standardization of the generated learning objects in SCORM and IMS-LD.

In this paper, we propose an approach based on visualization to support the teacher to observe the students' activities. After comparing the teaching in classical rooms and in e-learning systems, we present some visualization techniques used in various domains. The paper then focuses on visualization techniques in order to help the teacher to better interpret what happens during the learning session

Abstract Over the past years, there has been several research initiatives in Technology-enhanced Learning (TeL) that investigate the potential of the educational paradigm shift from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to learning and teaching to adaptive and personalized learning, in which teaching is tailored to individual learners' needs and characteristics (profile) on-demand and in context. On the other hand, widespread ownership of mobile devices and the growth of mobile communications industry have ...

IDLD, implementation and deployment of learning design http://www.idld.org, is a Canadian project that aims to bridge the gap among IMS learning design researchers and developers and pedagogical designers. Two main products of the project are a well founded, well supported and well tooled implementation process for describing new or existing IMS-LD compliant units of learning and a repository of reusable

Understanding culture is an integral part of international operations in developing countries and conflict zones. Cultural encounters in countries such as Afghanistan might introduce a number of challenges. This paper presents the experiences with the CAMO project (Cultural Awareness in Military Operations) seeking to address these challenges. The goal of the project has been to create a game-based simulation in the virtual world of Second Life for pre-deployment cultural awareness training among Norwegian military personnel preparing for service in Afghanistan. At the same time, due to the gradual withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, training cultural awareness among civilian personnel becomes more important. This paper will present some experiences from the CAMO project, discussing how the proposed methodology could be extended for non-military use as well, and outlining the challenges and directions for future work.

The Industry and University cooperation program is a project of the Japanese Ministry of Education (Mombusho). The target objective of this program is the harmonization of university level educational research, society practice and practical business. The University of Electro-Communications has been appointed by Mombusho to fulfill some specific parts of this program. The authors report on their experience with the introduction of this program, its framework, settings, actual implementation and preliminary findings. The problems encountered are discussed, together with a number of solutions to assist good practice in the building of such an applied educational program. Career development, via acquiring of experience and knowledge in the field of information communication technology, is an important subject for the future information communication society. The program's starting courses involve this discipline. The lectures were focused on high information technology, large-scale information system planning and application, and network technology