SCALE: SCORM Compliant Adaptivity for Learning Enhancement in Web-based Training

This project would develop SCORM Compliant Adaptivity for Learning Enhancement(SCALE) as a set of tools and services to support learner-adapted web-based training. CBT in general has proven its effectiveness for a number of subject areas (technical, managerial, leadership) and in a variety of settings (military, business/industrial, academic). The web has added the versatility of on-demand delivery. SCORM provides standards for ready-to-use learning objects which can be used and reused to build cost-effective web-based training applications. SCALE will make use of these established technological services and standards and add the power of Freedman’s APE planner for student modeling and curriculum planning along with the experience provided by Evens’ work on PTBuilder, an authoring system for CBT prediction table systems (like CIRCSIM and GASP). Notable challenges in the Phase I efforts will include the design and evaluation of web-based student modeling; the implementation of an intelligent adaptive LMS to optimize curriculum, pace, and materials for individual learners; probing the promise and problems of SCORM compliance; designing appropriate authoring tools; and enabling feedback, monitoring, and research capabilities. During Phase I we will examine aspects of the interoperability needed in SCALE in preparation for the demonstration implementation in Phase II.BENEFITS: The proposed SCALE system would provide SCORM compliant adaptivity to the needs and characteristics of the individual trainees to enhance their learning in web-based training environments. SCALE addresses four key issues that would improve online education: 1) improved service to a variety of students through student modeling and the delivery of a flexible adaptive online curriculum; 2) web enabled delivery, authoring, monitoring, and educational research as elements of a comprehensive learning environment; 3) effective utilization of SCORM with a recognition of what it does and does not do; 4) the overall design and implementation of an adaptive automated learning management system. Improvements in any or all of these areas would benefit online education in a variety of venues – military, business, or academic – and could be commercially developed as adjuncts to existing online education systems or as a standalone learning management system that would meet a variety of educational tasks for a larger variety of students. As online education grows in importance, the commercial opportunities also increase. The military is now spending heavily on training systems, and during Phase II we plan to develop a specific military application to demonstrate the value of SCALE.