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The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative is commemorating its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter-century of groundbreaking contributions to education and learning technology. Established in 1998 to promote best practices for distributed learning, it has evolved into a trailblazer, particularly in...

On October 10th, the Experience API (xAPI) officially became an open source standard through the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC). This new standard “IEEE 9274.1.1-2023” – also referred to as xAPI 2.0 –...

The ADL Initiative is thrilled to participate in the Interservice / Industry, Training, Simulation, and Instrumentation Conference (I/ITSEC) scheduled for the week of November 27th in Orlando, FL. As a longstanding contributor to the I/ITSEC community, we recognize the paramount...

On 27 July 2023, The ADL Initiative held its second annual Total Learning Architecture (TLA) PlugFest at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nearly 80 government and industry TLA stakeholders traveled from across the U.S. and Canada for the opportunity...

The Journal of Military Learning released its special Conference Edition for 2023, which features papers from iFEST 2022 and the 2022 Army University Learning Symposium. This edition showcases ADL Initiative’s own Learning Team Lead and Test and Evaluation Manager, Dr....

Advanced Distributive Learning (ADL) Initiative was invited to present three papers during the 2022 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. DoD Learning Enclave: Realizing the Defense-wide Learning Ecosystem (Paper 22313)...

Continuity among users is one of the key components to U.S. military readiness. This is accomplished by implementing and rigorously enforcing standards, specifically in the area of software and information technology (IT) used in military systems by all Services. The...

The ADL initiative’s Partnership Network is comprised of US-based government agencies, international military entities, and select US-based academic institutions that work collaboratively to conduct research, share learnings, and support implementation to encourage advancements in learning technology. Recently, the US ADL...

On 21 September 2022, the Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) announced that the Future Defense Learning Research Team was awarded the Human Performance and Resources Group’s Human Resources Technical Panel Team Achievement Award for their analysis of the Twenty-Five Emerging Trends...

The Distributed Learning processes and technologies increasingly used by the U.S. military for personnel training are again demonstrating their effectiveness in international military exercises. A team sponsored by the ADL Initiative, successfully performed the 10th test of electronic and online...

iFEST 2022 focused on the value of working together to build the DoD’s future learning ecosystem. In today’s connected world, projects that achieve enterprise-level interoperability and widespread adoption depend on building partnerships. iFEST 2022 Conference Chair Angie Gamble looks on...

Sae Schatz, Ph.D., who served seven years as the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative Director, is separating from DoD civil service as of August 12, 2022. Her tenure will be remembered as a turning point for the program, helping the...

A recent evaluation of the ADL Initiative’s PERvasive Learning Systems provides a glimpse into how microlearning can benefit personnel skills and readiness. PERLS was put through controlled testing with the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with...

The modernization of DoD’s eLearning systems is fueled by an ever-increasing variety of education and training technologies. To enable a Department-wide, data-driven learning ecosystem, a distributed learning strategy is required to harness the right tools and create the right partnerships....

The ADL Initiative is accelerating adoption of data-driven learning technologies that will enable an interoperable digital ecosystem by providing no-cost training at the Total Learning Architecture (TLA) PlugFest in Alexandria, Virginia, on 22-23 June 2022. TLA PlugFest is intended for...

At Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, Air Force pilots at the 4th Operations Group (OG) are benefiting from the integration of the Experience Application Programming Interface (xAPI) into their training. xAPI is a data standard for tracking...

Resilience was the theme for 2021. Despite a host of pandemic-driven disruptions, the ADL Initiative was able to apply innovative technology-driven strategies across its portfolio of projects. The program’s researchers, project managers, outreach coordinators, and support staff matured elements of...

The 2021 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) brought over 13,000 people to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The world's largest modeling, simulation, and training event featured hundreds of technical papers, technology tutorials, expert panels, and...

The modernization of DoD’s digital learning ecosystem features the use of technologies that allow on-demand education and training. One of these technologies is the PERvasive Learning Systems (PERLS), an open-source platform designed to optimize anytime/anywhere learning opportunities for mobile device...

With a theme of Innovating and Accelerating Training: Adapting to an Unexpected Future!, the I/ITSEC conference returns to Orlando on 29 November to 3 December 2021, and the ADL Initiative will participate in several ways. Program leadership and R&D team...