"You can't teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it."
Seymour Papert
As a preliminary guiding vision of what the future of training could look like, I have created the following scenario:
"The captain arrives in flight operations a little early, as is her habit. Entering the briefing room, she removes a small device from her flight case and flicks it on. Quickly, it displays today's schedule, crew composition, and weather. Driven by a software agent, the device notes from the captain's log that she has not flown in thunderstorms such as those expected today in a long while. The device advises the captain to don a pair of eyephones and launches a mini-lesson on wind shear recovery techniques, including a dynamic 3-D model of the wind flows around rapidly developing super cells and their effects on aircraft performance."
"It has also been almost a year since the pilot last flew the instrument approach expected at the second stop of the day. As a review, the device conducts a short simulation of the arrival at the airport, with the net-conferenced instructor placing particular emphasis on the high terrain underlying the arrival route."
"The agent also notes that the aircraft assigned for today's first leg has a history of unresolved generator trips. It offers a review of generator-out procedures, which the captain accepts. She spends five minutes simulating the cockpit flows for single and dual generator failures. Then, noticing the time on the display, the captain closes the device, returns it to her flight case, and walks to the lounge to brief her crew."
Aside from the obvious technical issues, the realization of this scenario requires a firm grasp on how people learn in such an environment, which in turn raises the question of how to best develop the content for such a system. The purpose of this page is to help you explore these issues and permit this vision to become reality.
Web-Based Training
AfricaQuest and the JASON Project are outstanding examples of how today's technology can be used to promote learning in interesting and effective ways. Both are projects aimed at K-12 audiences, but they have significant implications for education and training in general. The Web-Based Training Information Center is an excellent jumping off point for gathering information on using the Web as a training environment.
Training and Learning Technologies
Each of these university and industry organizations is on the leading edge of research and development of new and innovative methods for teaching and learning. Exploring both emerging media and learning theory, they are the homes of some of the best minds in the business.
Human Interface Technology Lab (University of Washington)
Institute of Learning Sciences (Northwestern University)
Media Lab (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
The Future of Training and Learning
How we apply our emerging information technologies will determine whether they are just passing fads, or lasting improvements to the way we learn. These sites explore how we can improve training and learning in the digital age.