Washington eLearning Forum Debuts

The eLearning Forum established residency in the nation's capital in July with the kickoff of a planned series of bimonthly meetings. Hosted by the Learning on Demand (LoD) program of SRI Consulting Business Intelligence, together with federal co-hosts National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) and Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Co-lab, the gatherings aim to bring corporate, federal, and education-sector eLearning professionals together to map industry opportunities and shape policy objectives for online learning. The first meeting did just that as 40-odd folks from all walks of the eLearning spectrum gathered at SRI offices in Rosslyn, Virginia (with a great view of the Potomac and National Mall) to network and review industry developments.

Attendees heard presentations overviewing corporate eLearning trends, the growing involvement of the federal government in fostering eLearning technologies, and the key role played by ADL as a facilitator or technology standards. eLearning technology visionary Harvi Singh rounded out the four-hour meeting with a talk on the capabilities being realized through the use of standards-based "learning objects" and learning content management systems.

eLearning and the Downturn

Tom Barron, senior consultant with LoD, started the meeting with an overview of eLearning trends in 2001which examined how the young industry is faring in the midst of the current downturn. Barron noted the growing pace of consolidation among vendors of eLearning technologies and its effects on purchasing patterns, as well as the migration of large consulting practices and technology firms into the eLearning space. The recent purchase by Sun Microsystems of LMS maker Isopia, together with an announcement by SAP of its plans to enter the fray with its own LMS offering next year (see Learning Circuits article), indicate the growing attraction of "heavyweights" to the field as it demonstrates resilience amid the recent downturn, he said. Barron, who develops reports on industry trends and emerging business models as part of the LoD research team, also touched on growth of eLearning in international ma rkets including Europe and Asia based on feedback from LoD's vendor clients in those areas.

NIST Embraces eLearning

Most people think of NIST as developer and watchdog over official measurements and standards, from the age-old pound to the latest nano-technology standard. But the agency also plays a key role in guiding federal procurement of new technologies and in supporting early-stage technology research. Two officials from NIST explained the agency's growing interest and support for eLearning technology.

Fred Byers of NIST's Information Technology Laboratory provided an overview of NIST's activities in the information technology area, including its role in fostering standards for electronic books and tracking federal usage of eLearning technologies. Byers has compiled a Webpage of eLearning Links that includes federal agency pages as well as corporate sites and trade press articles. An upcoming conference on ebooks that NIST is helping organize is looking for presentations on eLearning topics; contact Fred for details.

Harris Liebergot of NIST's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) told attendees of funding opportunities from ATP for early stage eLearning technology development. A program manager who heads ATP's program on Adaptive Learning Technologies, Liebergot oversees a research grant budget of some $200 million that is parceled out based on reviews of applicants in a competitive awards process. Applicants need to show "broad-based economic benefits" of their technologies (education is a fairly persuasive benefit, he says) as well as a need for funding (rejection letters from venture capitalists fit the bill.) And technologies eligible for ATP awards, which cap funding at $2 million per applicant, need to be early in the R&D stage, he said.

"We don't give funding to companies that have a slam-dunk on their hands," Liebergot cautioned in overviewing the program. Proposals for the current year's awards program are due by Sept 30; check ATP's Adaptive Learning Systems Program site for details.

Labor's Take on Standards

George Koch, who spearheads the Department of Labor's role in the ADL Co-Lab, told attendees of the role the federal government plays in fostering (as opposed to dictating) technology standards for eLearning (click for Powerpoint). The Department of Defense, together with Labor and the National Guard Bureau, is pursuing standards that will allow learning content in the form of learning objects to be passed among different LMS systems in much the same way that music CD's can be played on a variety of stereo systems. As an increasingly significant buyer of eLearning technologies, the federal government has the industry's attention, and most major eLearning vendors have begun participating in the standards effort, Koch said.

Koch noted the growth of ADL's efforts beyond U.S. borders, pointing to the recent establishment of a sister organization in Japan to guide eLearning technology standards there. Europe is also embracing ADL's vision of interoperability, he said.

The Objective of Objects

Before it was purchased by Centra earlier this year, Boston-based MindLever had established itself at the forefront of the learning object and content management areas. Harvi Singh, MindLever's technical wizard who now serves as Centra's chief technology officer, provided Forum attendees with a primer on learning object technologies that are opening the door to combined eLearning and knowledge management capabilities.

Singh explained how learning content based on technology standards being defined by ADL and partner organizations can be authored and managed in the form of objects. "What's the benefit," asked one member of the audience unfamiliar with the concept. Singh described the ability to develop learning objects that consist of an individual unit of instruction (e.g. how to brew a great cup of coffee) which can be stored in a repository. They can then be called upon and assembled into larger "learning paths" (e.g. how to make a great breakfast) or served up individually to meet a specific information request.

The learning object paradigm opens the door to true reusability of content, since content is no longer locked in monolithic course structures, Singh said. Centra is using the learning content management technology developed by MindLever in combination with its synchronous eLearning platform to allow organizations to quickly author content and manage it in learning object formats. Since learning is a highly perishable product, lowering the bar to content authoring is key to keeping pace with demand for learning within organizations.

One question that is certain to become central in the coming wave of learning objects-based eLearning: how does one preserve and leverage context while moving toward a modular approach to creating and delivering learning. It's a question whose answer is rooted in both technology and in instructional design, and an ideal topic for a future eLearning Forum meeting.

What's Next for WeLF

The next meeting of the Washington eLearning Forum will be hosted by the ADL Co-Lab at its Northern Virginia facility. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 14; an agenda will be posted on eLearningForum.com in coming weeks. For more information, contact Mike Walsh of SRIC-BI.