Journal of Advanced Distributed Learning Technology

2014; Journal of Advanced Distributed Learning Technology, JADLeT; Durlach, Paula, P.h.D; et al.

The year 2014 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative that was established in the United States (U.S.) under executive order in 1999 by then President William Clinton. As a result of ExecutiveOrder 13111, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) was directed to lead federal government participation in incorporating emerging technologies to develop standards for training software and associated services. The order further directed DoD to provide guidance to Defense agencies and advise the civilian agencies, as appropriate, on how best to use these standards for large-scale development and implementation of efficient and effective distributed learning technologies. Since the inception of the ADL Initiative in 1999, and the introduction of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM®), ADL programs gained worldwide recognition. As a result, the "ADL Partnership Network" was established. The ADL Partnership Network currently includes fourteen Partnership Co-Labs, with common interests to support cooperative development of ADL capabilities. Current government partners include: Canada, Korea, Latin America and Caribbean Regions, NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT), New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, United Kingdom and the United States of America. Current non-government associates include the Academic Co-Lab (Madison, WI) and the Center for Intelligent Tutoring Systems Research and Development (Memphis, TN). The ADL Partnership Network vision is to provide access to the highest quality education and training, tailored to individual needs, delivered cost effectively, anytime, anywhere. In support of this vision the ADL Partnership Network harnesses the power of distributed learning technologies to include online courseware, training games, virtual worlds, mobile technology and other learning technologies to provide high-quality, easily accessible, adaptable,

6 JADLET Journal of Advanced DistributedLearning Technology and cost-effective education and training. Working with international military and government agencies, industry, academia, and various professional organizations, the ADL Partnership Network conducts research, evaluation, and validation of specifications and standards with the goal of advancing education and training. The Partnership Network and their respective Ministries of Defense (MOD) recognize that successfully implementing the ADL vision can best be achieved through collaboration. To be most effective in today's environment, this collaboration should occur in both a national and international context with participation from military, government, industry, and academia. The ADL Partnership Network provides a collaborative synergy that leverages the best practices from industry, academia, government and our international partners to define common specifications and standards for distributed learning and training content. The Partnership Network research effort is focused for the purpose of developing and assessing common tools, standards, content, and guidelines for ADL. Through this collaborative effort the ADL Partnership Co-Labs serve as the focal points for coordinating ADL activities throughout the world.provided in classrooms with a teacher present