ADL Common Questions

• What is the vision of ADL? 
• What’s ADL Strategy?
• How does ADL work with other standards and specifications organizations?  
• Why do organizations collaborate with ADL? 
• How do I become involved with ADL and SCORM?
• What is the single most important feature of ADL?
• Why is the DoD putting so much effort into advanced learning technology?

• What is the Co-Lab Network?
• Who runs each ADL Co-Lab?
• How do the ADL Co-Labs assist the ADL Initiative?
• What is the ADL Partnership Lab?

• What are Plugfests?
• Is the Plugfest presentation material available on ADLNet.gov? 

• Why does ADLNet.gov look odd on my computer?
• Why can't I view any of the flash pieces?
• I'm having trouble seeing the videos. Why?
• I get an error when I click on a link?
• I downloaded the document but I can't open it?
• What type of information does ADL have for the media?
• How can I use the ADL logo on my Web site or presentation?
• How do I subscribe to ADL Newsletters?
• What are some recommended techniques for using the search on ADLNet.gov?
• Are there policies I should be aware of while accessing ADLNet.gov?
• What RSS Feeds does ADLNet.gov offer and how do I subscribe to one?
• What are the ADL Forums?

ADL

What is the vision of ADL? 
The vision of the ADL Initiative is to provide access to the highest-quality learning and performance aiding that can be tailored to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively, anytime and anywhere.

What’s ADL Strategy?
The strategy of ADL is to:

• Work closely with industry, government and academia to promote common, open, international specifications and standards that enable reuse and interoperability of learning content.
• Promote widespread collaboration that satisfies common needs.
• Enhance performance with emerging learning technologies.
• Promote a coordinated implementation process with incentives for organizational and cultural change.

How does ADL work with other standards and specifications organizations?
Before ADL’s work with standards activities began, an implementation model did not exist in a form that effectively met ADL’s high-level requirements. ADL continues to work with these organizations and relies on their processes for specification development and industry ratification. ADL’s role involves contributing technical ideas and concepts and integrating and testing these specifications and standards, helping bridge the gap between their early stage development and their widespread adoption by industry.
 
Of the many organizations working on specifications related to e-learning, there are four in particular that are key to SCORM. While ADL may not incorporate all of the work from these organizations, as some information is out of the scope of SCORM, these organizations play a vital role in the formation of next-generation learning technologies.

These organizations are:

• Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC.)
• Alliance for Remote Instructional Authoring and Distribution Networks for Europe (ADRIANE).
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE.) Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC).
• IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc. 

Why do organizations collaborate with ADL?
Implementing the ADL Initiative requires collaboration within the Department of Defense (DoD) and the federal government at large as well as collaboration with industry, academia, state and local entities. The DoD is taking steps to establish a cost-effective distributed learning environment that is consistent across the military services and all other DoD components. Many university and business training organizations have similar interests. ADL partnerships between the federal government, private-sector technology suppliers, and the broader education and training community will be the means for formulating voluntary guidelines that will meet common needs.

How do I become involved with ADL and SCORM?
There is no formal membership process or requirements to become involved with ADL or SCORM. To stay up to date and participate within ADL, become a Registered User.  By registering, with ADL you can participate in events (e.g. Plugfest), submit articles relating to SCORM and receive the latest information from ADLNet.gov.

What is the single most important feature of ADL?
All aspects of ADL are critical to its eventual success. These are a few of those important aspects:

• A reusable learning content that can be delivered over a network.
• A technical standards and guidelines that make this possible.
• Research and development on technical issues that stand in the way.
• Ensure that such learning is cost-effective and that it can be developed and marketed in a way that allows industry to make a profit.
• Provide an ADL forum that allows the public and private sectors to identify and address their common interests in developing and transitioning to the ADL environment of tomorrow.

Why is the DoD putting so much effort into advanced learning technology?
The increased rate of deployments in recent years of the DoD’s forces, which often involve rapid, unplanned movements to locations around the world, highlights the need to provide training on demand to individuals and units deployed worldwide. Accordingly, because of more demanding deployment criteria and other time-sensitive constraints, the DoD recognized that yesterday’s framework of "right time, right place" learning, with its use of set times and places, may not meet future requirements. It also recognizes that providing "anytime, anywhere" instruction is essential to maintaining military readiness in the information age, where future forces and their support activities need to be highly adaptive to address threats effectively and rapidly.

ADL Co-Lab

What is the Co-Lab Network?
The DoD established the ADL Co-Lab Hub in 1999 at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) to foster the collaborative research, development and assessment of the common tools, standards, content and guidelines for the ADL Initiative. Since then three additional ADL Co-Labs (Academic, Joint and Workforce); two ADL Partnership Labs (U.K. and Canada) and two ADL Centers (ADL Technology Center and the ADL Job Performance Technology Center) have been created to form the ADL Co-Lab Network.
 
The ADL Co-Lab Hub is ADL's central organization for guiding, coordinating and integrating the operations of the ADL Co-Lab Network and operates under the direction of the OSD.

Located just outside Washington, DC, the ADL Co-Lab Hub serves as a clearinghouse across organizational boundaries to coordinate and lead the systematic development and refinement of the future learning environment. The ADL Co-Lab Hub operates to stimulate development of technologies that enhance learning and performance across the DoD and other Federal agencies.

For additional information on a specific ADL Co-Lab visit the Co-Lab Network section.

Who runs each ADL Co-Lab?
Each ADL Co-Lab is lead by a separate director; Paul Jesukiewicz, ADL Co-Lab Hub; David Wirth, Academic ADL Co-Lab; Jean Burmester, Joint ADL Co-Lab; Dr. Xiangen Hu and Daniel Rehak, Workforce ADL Co-Lab; Professor Stephen Molyneux, U.K. ADL Partnership Lab; Major David Kitchen, Canada ADL Partnership Lab; Tim Tate, ADL Job Performance Technology Center; and Kirk Johnson, ADL Technology Center.  For additional information on a specific ADL Co-Lab visit the Co-Lab Network section.

How do the ADL Co-Labs assist the ADL Initiative? 
In addition to the collaboration with government, education and technology sectors, ADL has also developed a network of Co-Labs to further promote the creation of the optimal learning environment for the future. The ADL Co-Lab Network is comprised of the central ADL Co-Lab plus three other Co-Labs. While each uniquely contributes to the evolution of ADL in specialized areas, all share research, subject matter expertise, common tools and learning content.

Each ADL Co-Lab facilitates an open collaborative environment for sharing learning technology research, development and assessments. In addition to the Co-Lab Network, ADL Partnership Labs established outside of the United States extend ADL’s reach.

What is the ADL Partnership Lab? 
The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative established an ADL Partnership Lab in the United Kingdom (2002) and Canada (2003).

The United Kingdom (U.K.) ADL Partnership Lab is a collaboration with the Learning Lab located on the campus the University of Wolverhampton in Telford, England under the direction of Professor Stephen Molyneux.  This ADL Partnership Lab promotes the development and acceptance of global e-learning standards.  The U.S. and U.K. collaborate on the production of sharable content and joint research. 

The Canada ADL Partnership Lab under the direction of Major David Kitchen, provides a collaborative environment for training organizations from the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) to share resources and experiences in implementing innovative e-learning solutions.  Through the partnership, the U.S. and Canada will collaborate on the production of sharable content specifications and standards and joint research projects.
 
Currently, ADL only has two ADL Partnership Labs and plans to add additional ADL Partnership Labs in the future.
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Plugfest

What are Plugfests?
The ADL Co-Lab sponsors Plugfests to bring together adopters of the SCORM. Plugfest events provide ADL partners with the opportunity to synchronize the evolution and convergence of commercial authoring tools, learning management systems and Web-based courses with the evolving open-architecture specification.  Representatives from learning software developers and content providers from various sectors of government, industry and academia attend and participate in Plugfest.  Plugfests provide participants with a forum for sharing their experiences in converting instructional products to conform to SCORM specifications.

For additional information on Plugfest or to find out when the next Plugfest is visit the News & Events section.

Is the Plugfest presentation material available on ADLNet.gov?
Yes. During Plugfests, the ADL Team works hard to post presentations from that day’s proceedings.  At some Plugfests, sessions may be Webcasted and available for real-time viewing on ADLNet.gov. Within one to two weeks following an event all remaining presentations are posted if provided by the speaker and videos taken during the event are posted.  The ADL Team makes available only the proceedings from the last two Plugfests.  For assistance with older proceedings e-mail the ADL Webmaster through Contact ADL.

ADLNet.gov

Why does ADLNet.gov look odd on my computer?
ADLNet.gov is designed to look its best using Netscape 8.x and Internet Explorer 6.x.  Ensure you have the most up to date version or visit the Netscape Downloads and Internet Explorer Downloads pages for the latest updates.

Why can't I view any of the flash pieces? 
In order to view the Flash pieces you must have the Flash plug-in installed on your machine for the browser you are using to view ADLNet.gov. Visit Macromedia to download the latest version of the Flash plug-in or to get help with using Flash.

I'm having trouble seeing the videos. Why?
Majority of the videos on ADLNet.gov are in Windows Media format (.wmv).  You may not have the latest version of Windows Media installed on your machine. Visit Microsoft.com to download the latest version of Windows Media or to get help with using the player.

ADLNet.gov does contain some videos of other formats (.rm, .smil, .avi, .mov). Verify you have the correct plug-in or program installed to view them.

I get an error when I click on a link?
For all dead links report them immediately to the ADLNet Webmaster through Contact ADL.

I downloaded the document but I can't open it?
ADLNet.gov documents are saved in different formats, primarily .PDF and .PPT. To view .PDF files you must have either Adobe Acrobat or the Acrobat reader plug-in installed on your machine. Visit Adobe to download the required plug-in. Word documents are zipped for easy download. Make sure you have a program to unzip these file. 

What type of information does ADL have for the media?
ADL has developed a media kit which has been compiled with an array of information regarding the ADL Initiative, including the latest press releases, flyers, brochures and more. Download the specially packaged kit or select to download individual items from the media resources section.

Available in the News & Events section, members of the media and the ADL Community has access to the latest ADL Press Releases, Videos, Logos, Photos, Brochures and articles written about ADL.

How can I use the ADL logo on my Web site or presentation?  
The use of the ADL logo on Web sites, presentations, etc is permitted only if specific guidelines are followed.  Refer to the ADL Logo Usage Guidelines for additional information. 

How do I subscribe to ADL Newsletters?
To subscribe to an ADL Newsletter mailing list you must first be registered with ADLNet.gov.  Visit Registered Users to create an account.  During the creation you will be asked to select the type of newsletters you wish to receive.  The ‘What’s New’ Newsletter is a monthly mailing describing the new things added to ADLNet.gov in the past month.  For those that are currently registered to ADLNet.gov you must update your profile to receive any newsletter.

What are some recommended techniques for using the search on ADLNet.gov?
The ADL Team has developed some search techniques to help find items on ADLNet.gov easier.  For further information on the recommended search techniques visit the Search page.

Are there policies I should be aware of while accessing ADLNet.gov?
The ADL Team has compiled a list of polices from Software to Privacy to Document and Logo Usage.  For a list of these policies and for additional information visit the Web site Policies & Notices section.

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What RSS Feeds does ADLNet.gov offer and how do I subscribe to one?
ADLNet.gov offers several RSS Feeds to help keep the ADL Community better informed with ADL News and Events, Press Releases and SCORM Known Issues.  To subscribe to an RSS Feed visit the RSS Feeds page in the Media Relations section.

For more information visit the Forums section.