Lessons Learned Over the Net: A Boon for Info-Tech Industry.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 November 2000
• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

During the air war over Yugoslavia 18 months ago, Navy and Marine pilots flying the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft were able to take refresher courses online while on duty at Aviano, Italy. Those courses previously had been available only at their training squadron on Whidbey Island, Wash.

"We found the crews were pulling up the courseware on the [Defense Department classified network] SIPRNET, so they could refresh the material before flying a mission," said Douglas C. Greenlaw, vice president of training at Delex Systems, in Vienna, Va., a defense contractor that specializes in information technology and training systems.

"This effort has been held up as one of the pioneering activities in ADL [advanced distributed learning] applications," he said in a recent interview.

ADL, also known as distance learning, is a booming business in the military services. Riding on the ease-of-access and user-friendly qualities of the Internet, many Defense Department agencies are investing millions of dollars in training programs that can be delivered online. Even courses that involve classified information, such as Prowler flight training, are being offered online, because the technology makes it possible, Greenlaw said.

"We have been working for almost two years revising and maintaining the EA-6B curriculum for the Fleet Replacement Squadron and the Electronic Attack Weapons School," said Greenlaw. "The courses they had were not taking advantage of modern technologies, such as ADL." The company converted the courseware into a Web-ready format.

For the EA-6B flight training project, the company operates a learning center at Whidbey Island, which is the home base for the Prowler, and one at Cherry Point, N.C., for the Marine Corps. "The learning center contains all the curricula for the EA-6B community," said Greenlaw. "The users can reach back to the learning center and pull information to where they need it." They have 24-hour-a-day access and can exchange e-mails with the instructors.

Greenlaw foresees this program will lead to an expansion of the ADL business. "There is interest in trying to leverage what we learned in [the Prowler] community to the other communities, so we can take advantage of the technology without having to reinvent it in every community."

The company is probing various learning management systems, to see which ones are commercially available and more suitable for ADL. Learning management systems are tools that help organize the course materials, collect student records, record course-completion results and provide feedback to the developer, so the course can be improved.

Using private investments, Delex recently launched LessonCenter.com, a commercial venture that will offer a distance-learning portal for any organization that wants to train its...