Press Release - Advancing Distributed Learning through Global Collaboration

In a world first, Boeing Australia   , HarvestRoad    and DEST demonstrated the outcomes of their collaboration to use repositories to harness and share content between SCORM training modules and S1000D technical publications based on authoritative data sources. This was a world first in showing this kind of reusability and is an important milestone in building Australian capability for state of the art repositories for technical documentation, and learning content and training materials.  The aim is to author content once, and re-use it in other contexts.  In this way we can improve accuracy and timeliness, while reducing creation and maintenance costs.

The ADL Forum was organised to consider strategic directions for the ongoing international stewardship of SCORM[1], CORDRA[2] and relationships with the S1000D[3] performance support community.  The result was the Melbourne Declaration which serves as a way forward in this important work.

The Melbourne Declaration 6 October 2005 The U.S. Department of Defense sponsored the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative in 1997 with the goal of enabling the highest quality education and training, delivered anytime, anywhere.  The ADL’s models are now widely adopted in many different contexts and sectors for implementing technology-based learning on a global scale. In celebrating this achievement, the Melbourne Forum, Advancing ADL through Global Collaboration, endorses the following points as a means of creating and maintaining momentum for the further international advancement, development and deployment of advanced learning technology initiatives: Scalable and sustainable infrastructure is of critical importance in fulfilling the many visions for teaching, learning, education, training and performance support. Global interoperability based on open standards, is key to achieving scaleable and sustainable infrastructure. An international collaborative approach will optimise the advancement, development and maintenance of this infrastructure. The current ADL community has provided some of the foundation stones for building this infrastructure. The continuing involvement of the U.S. ADL Initiative will be critical to any collaborative venture. The formation of a global steward is an effective means to realise the above. Actions An international stewardship organisation shall be established and become fully functional within a three year period. The U.S. ADL Initiative in collaboration with the international community will convene, as soon as possible, an Interim Working Group to develop a planning framework and timetable for the creation and commissioning of the proposed international stewardship organisation.

The Declaration was endorsed by a range of government and industry representatives from countries including Australia, the U.S., Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, the U.K. and Mexico.

Dr. Bob Wisher, Director of the ADL Initiative, said:

“I am delighted to see so many countries interested in sharing the responsibility for creating and maintaining technical infrastructure to support teaching, learning, education, training and performance support in many different contexts around the world.  The widespread adoption of ADL technology initiatives has been a great success story, and the U.S. Department of Defense will continue to invest in the development of new infrastructure for its own communities in collaboration with the international stewardship organisation.

As a joint sponsor of the Forum Dr. Evan Arthur, on behalf of DEST, commented:

“DEST has already established strong links with the ADL Initiative through the establishment of an ADL Partnership Laboratory in Australia to further research and development into the use of appropriate technologies for teaching, learning, training in the education sectors.  The strength of international support reflected in the Melbourne Declaration is highly encouraging.”

Further information is available from:

IMS Australia
Professor Neil McLean, National Technical Standards Advisor to DEST, mclean@caval.edu.au

ADL
Dr. Paul Jesukiewicz, Director of the U.S. Alexandria ADL Co-Laboratory, PJesukie@ida.org

Australian ADL Partnership Lab
Dr Nigel Ward, Executive Director, nward@adlaustralia.org

Boeing Australia
Jack White, Manager, Product Solutions and Services Division, jack.white@boeing.com

HarvestRoad
Grame Barty, Managing Director, gbarty@harvestroad.com