It's Not Just About Training Anymore
Frank Anderson, Jr., President, Defense Acquisition University

Over all, our strategic intent must be to help our workforce's performance on the job! To do this, we must be able to deliver learning at the point of need. We must engage our students both in the classroom and on the job through a 24/7 real-time access to knowledge, tools, skills, and expertise-all learning should be at each learner's fingertips. We will also use more simulations and gaming embedded within all our new learning products: in our resident courses, in distance learning, and within our knowledge sharing systems in response to the learner's need on the job. The bottom line is that learning must be delivered at the speed of business. It's not just about training anymore; it's about performance on the job.

Light, Agile and Flexible: Collaborating the Web 2.0 Way
Stephen Downes, Senior Researcher, National Research Council

Heavy, clumsy and inflexible collaboration technologies are becoming a thing of the past. Even so, collaborative technologies have not been easily adopted by educators, whether looking at K-12, adult education, military training, or corporate learning. Today's lightweight applications can do a lot more -and do it a lot more easily - than their ponderous progenitors. In this talk, we will look at how web 2.0 applications, and in particular, social and collaborative technologies can support learning and steps institutions can take to best leverage their capabilities.

Forget about the Future, It's the Present that Concerns Me: Preparing Students for Today's World
David Thornburg, Founder and Director, Thornburg Center

For many years the presenter has shared visions of the future with educators around the world in the hope that this would influence educational practice. This was a mistake. We don't need to prepare students just for some unseen and basically unknowable future, we need to prepare them for the world as it exists today.

With a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), this dynamic presentation eschews the future in favor of a pragmatic view of today's world. A world where a new class of migrant workers spans the globe working on stimulating high-tech projects on a global scale. A world where cross-disciplinary understanding is needed for success; where 87% of teens have access to primary source materials relating to their studies; where vulcanologists study volcanic eruptions on a moon of Jupiter; where national borders are transparent; where biological species from other planets are put under the microscope; where new microscopic machines are grown, not manufactured. This is not fiction, not a dream, not the future, just reality – as it exists today.

By looking at the skills needed to thrive in today's very real world, ideas relating to curriculum and pedagogy naturally emerge. Forget pie-in-the sky predictions. This presentation explores the world in a way that has implications for every educator, educational leader, and student.

The way that we live, work, play, and learn is being impacted by the increasing mobility of our society. For mobile innovators, it is our responsibility to design for the needs of our changing audience. In this session we’ll examine key trends, design techniques, and technologies that are fast emerging to meet the challenges and changes of today and tomorrow. How do we design for stolen moments of learning, rather than entire classes? We’ll explore world class examples of mobile (m)Learning from academia, government and industry. Learn how to stretch the boundaries of learning technology to include not just eLearning, but mLearning. See how companies like 3Com, Vodafone, Nokia, Symbol and others are delivering value through mobile learning content. Explore advanced concepts like mobile learning games and simulations, location awareness, transcoding, mobile social networking and collaboration.

Designing Meaningful E Learning with Web 2.0
Badrul Khan, PhD, Chief Learning Officer, The Granato Group & Laura Granato, President, The Granato Group

New technologies come and go, but the contributions they make to support meaningful learning remain the key. In this presentation, we will present "A Framework for E Learning" which examines the capabilities of various attributes of Web 2.0 technologies conducive to learning. Issues covered in the presentation include: institutional, management, technological, pedagogical, ethical, interface design, resource support, and evaluation.

The Rise of Vendor-”Free” Information Technology
Jeff Cramer, Senior Director, US Vertical Markets & Wilson D'Souza, Director, ISDA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

 In the early days of Information Technology (IT), organizations largely wrote and supported their own software.  Later came packaged software with its promise (lower costs) and peril (vendor lock-in).  Today, open source software delivers a hybrid model whereby organizations are able to tap into commercial and community-developed open source and then extend it internally.  The academic world is particularly active in this hybrid approach.  This presentation will talk through the efficiencies to be found in commercial open source for the Higher Education world, and will provide case studies of successful cross-sector partnerships.

Games, Gadgets and Gizmos for Knowledge Transfer
Karl M. Kapp, Ed.D, CFPIM, CIRM, Professor, Instructional Technology, Bloomsburg University
Assistant Director, Bloomsburg's Institute for Interactive Technologies

Learn how the incoming, techno-savvy gamer generation will turn traditional training programs upside down. Discover what drives and motivates gamers and how to design instruction to appeal to the gamer ethos. Learn about iPods for teaching machine maintenance, simple games for teaching acronyms and concepts, and full-blown simulations for teaching sales skills.

Simulation as an IT Service
Roger Smith, PhD , Chief Technology, Officer, U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation

We are wrestling with IT methods to deliver training to 1 million soldiers around the world. We cannot reach this audience by bringing them through a very limited number of schools, sim centers, and ranges. Training has to be located on the same desktops where email and web browsing occur.

You're Invited: Behind the Scenes of a Virtual Team
Tracey Lyon, Senior Instructional Designer, Vangent, Inc., Sharli Miller, Senior Instructional Designer, Vangent, Inc., & Sally Brett, Instructional Designer, Vangent, Inc.

Laugh and Learn! You're invited to join a "behind the scenes" look at a virtual instructional design team meeting. In this fast-paced, participatory virtual session, you'll see key strategies used by engaged, creative, and professional teams. Compare co-located and connected communication, technology, and culture. What goes, what stays, and why?

Is Universal Design of E-Learning Even Possible? Straight Talk About Section 508 ... and Beyond
Paul Bohman

Section 508 is no longer new. Nearly all digital content providers know about it, at least at a superficial level, even if they are not experts in adhering to it. But if the true purpose of Section 508 is to make digital content accessible to people with disabilities, is it achieving its goal? Can it achieve its goal? What would it take to achieve true universal design of e-learning? Should we even try? This presentation will affirm the importance of disability access to e-learning, while recognizing that the answers to these questions are not always straightforward.

Stories, Comics, and Games - Oh My! Making Learning Stick
Daniel Bliton, Associate and Learning Strategist, Booz Allen Organization and Strategy, Learning Team & Jim Hollahan, Associate and Learning Strategist, Booz Allen Organization and Strategy, Learning Team

Have you ever wanted to turn basic information into a more effective learning intervention? Join a discussion on how storytelling strategies can channel and drive your communications and learning activities to increase audience retention and meake your message stick. Also, explore how visual storytelling (comic books, graphic novels, and Manga) is being used for effective education and training.

Communities 2.0 - Social Learning in the Government
Eric Sauve, CEO and Co-Founder, Tomoye Corporation

The government has adopted Web 2.0 in the form of communities of practice which enable them to drive informal learning, knowledge sharing, and social networking. This presentation will examine how government organizations at all levels are using a new generation of communities of practice, including sucess strategies for building a thriving community.

Virtual worlds have the potential to provide a new infrastructure for collaborative publication, review, and archiving of complex bodies of knowledge that can open new dimensions of collaboration, peer review, indexing, and archiving. These persistent environments could be ancient cities (complete with AI animals and avatars) or a model of the human circulatory system backed by a sophisticated simulation operating on a cloud of computers pushing results into virtual world client "viewers". Once built, these same worlds can also be used as a platform for building a wide range of learning experiences ranging from simple tours and demonstrations to sophisticated challenges, games, and performance-based assessments for individuals and teams. It's possible to imagine that strategies for teaching and assessing could be archived, rated, improved and reused in a new kind of market for educational innovation. Non-interoperable islands of activity would block much of the potential of these extraordinary new tools for representing and accessing collective intelligence.

Driving learning transformation and innovation sometimes requires choosing an uncharted path for learning organizations. In order to support your team's collective efforts, most organizations require a learning strategy to guide them. We will explore how the Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) Office of Learning and Career Development (HCL) developed their strategic learning plan called the Learning Performance Plan (LPP), lessons learned from the initiative and what we would do differently now.

From the “Nifty Fifty” to Fifty Lessons: Delivering Authentic Business Insight
Lisa Denis, Senior Vice President, Corporate Learning, Fifty Lessons

• Articulating the Vision – the Nifty Fifty as Inspiration
• Arming the Next Generation of Business Leaders
• Getting the “Great and Good” of the business world to share their lessons
• Identifying the Executives
• Angels and the BBC
• Taking the Lessons Digital
• How Partnerships Extend Learning
• Leveraging the Offerings from Interviews, to Content, to Context

Let's Build a Podcast for iTunes
Chuck Goldman, Director of Field Engineering and Professional Services, Apple Inc. & Themis Tzamarias, System Engineering Manager, Apple, Inc.

Learning gets a Second Life
Anders Gronstedt, PhD, President, North America, The Gronstedt Group, Inc.

It's exhilarating and addictive. It's immersive and social. And yes, it can also be perplexing and intimidating, clunky and slow. One thing is clear: It's not your father's two-dimensional e-learning course. Think Web 2.0 in 3D. It's the convergence of social media, simulations, and gaming. Learn why Second Life and other virtual worlds are all the rage in the learning community and why IBM is investing millions of dollars in 25 islands in Second Life to reinvent learning. Companies like Sun, Dell, BP, and Intel are not far behind in moving their training to this "metaverse." Hundreds of colleges and universities are already teaching in Second Life. INSEAD and scores of other universities have entire campuses in Second Life and Harvard is teaching classes for credit "in world." Second Life is the fastest growing online community on the Web. And, if you believe the latest Gartner research, 80 percent of active Internet users will be in non-gaming virtual worlds like Second Life by the end of 2011. This session will show examples of how you can take your skill training to new levels by modeling objects in 3D and letting students fly around a network or a city. But for all the visual appeal of slick 3D graphics, the real appeal of the virtual world is the potential of transforming social interaction. You will see how students role-play sales skills or interviewing techniques. Second Life brings people together and breaks down hierarchies and geographic boundaries. Whether your avatar looks like Superman, Wonder Woman, Darth Vader, or simply a stylized version of the real you, you can energize training with this sprawling, vibrant, 3D online world. Discover why some people think virtual worlds spell the end to dreaded webinars and video conferences. This session will demonstrate the state of the art in virtual world learning from companies like Sun, Dell, IBM, and Intel and show how you can give your learning program a Second Life.

V-Learning: The Skills Need for Success in Today's Real World
Ellen Wagner, PhD, Senior Director, Worldwide eLearning Solutions Adobe Systems, Inc.

Interagency Roundtable: Training for the Global War on Terrorism
Chair: Joe Camacho, JKDDC PM Moderator, Jerry West, PhD, JKDDC Chief, Strategic Plans and Implementation, & Scott Shephard, JKDDC Chief, of Multinational Plans and Implementation

This session brings together expert panelists with extensive background and responsibilities in training multinational, interagency, military personnel involved in GWOT operations. The panelists, representing DoD/USJFCOM and Department of State, will focus on USG-wide collaborations to delivery timely and effective GWOT training to interagency and multinational partners engaged in reconstruction and stabilization operations involving. 

Lessons Learned from DoD Small Group Training
Alice Leung, PhD, Senior Scientist, Intelligent Computing Department, BBN Technologies & Jeff Krinock, Principal Knowledge Distribution Analyst, ConcurrentTechnologies Corporation

Distributed Learning/Joint Knowledge Online Strategic Coordination Cell and a technical advisor and risk management specialist with the Immersive Learning Environments program at CTC.  Mr. Krinock is a contributing author to three versions of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).  He has led or participated in programs developing and deploying learning content ranging from the Army Medical Department to Joint Knowledge Online.  He is a former Air Force pilot and Training Officer.

oncurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) and BBN Technologies are both developing tools and techniques to support distributed online small-group training in an exercise or pre-exercise environment. This presentation will discuss their experiences deploying these technologies. CTC will describe their experience supporting NORAD and U.S. Northern Command and the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM), to include developing and deploying multiple training exercises via the Immersive Learning Environments (ILES) framework. These ILES exercises are scenario driven and engage learners in an interactive environment in which they fulfill various Joint roles and responsibilities. These staff processes center around decision making and product development in support of mission planning. BBN will describe a recent Helical Training event conducted for USJFCOM, based on an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) adapted for training. ARGs require participants to collectively assemble a cohesive picture of events in a gradually unfolding narrative; they require a large, distributed team to asynchronously coordinate over a long period of time to solve complex problems. The pilot event focused on information management, organizing and organization navigation, and interagency interaction. Both projects are supporting a transitional area of training-small groups-not normally covered by the standards and products centered around courseware and online experiences aimed at individual learners.

It's Not Your Parents' Campus Anymore!
Melissa Marroso, Associate Partner IBM's Human Capital Management Practice, Global Business Services

Availability and access to technology doesn’t always mean it’s a good idea or the right decision for your organization.  Through a series of experiments IBM has plunged into the new environment of SecondLife testing its purpose and benefits for learning. Along the way IBM tackled such issues as spacial positioning, osmotic communication, islands, segues, avatars - not exactly typical learning challenges.  Employees from all over the world forged relationships in this virtual world in ways not gleaned from online learning and in cost effective ways far surpassing face-to-face learning.

Is all of this really a better learning environment?  Are avatars and teleporting really the future learning environment? IBM will share their experiences and examples from their project management, leadership development and on-boarding SecondLife experiences.  

Calling Centers, XBOX 360: Human Performance Solutions
Gayla Thompson, Project Manager, C² Technologies, Inc. and Alexis King, Instructional Systems Designer II, C² Technologies, Inc.

This session will explain the blended learning training methodology developed by C² Technologies to support global agent training for the Microsoft Xbox 360 support centers. This required development of a unique blended distance learning approach that could meet the needs of learners world-wide and provide consistent training methods.