Technology drives new, better ways to educate Airmen Published June 2, 2010 By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Cell phones could soon be the ticket to keeping up with professional development requirements. That's just one concept being explored by officials at Air Education and Training Command, the Air Force's training and education component. Like their counterparts in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, AETC officials hope to take advantage of new and emerging technologies to provide more efficient, effective educational opportunities to Airmen. Distance learning, with training delivered through the Internet or by the U.S. Postal Service, is a big money saver for the military, reducing travel and temporary duty costs associated with classroom training. And in light of heavy mission requirements, it enables servicemembers to meet many of their educational requirements without extended absences from their duty stations and loved ones. With ever-expanding technologies and young "digital natives" now entering the force, however, officials hope to take military education to a new level. "What we are out to do in the future learning side is improve the efficiency and/or the effectiveness of our recruiting training and education programs," said Air Force Col. John Thompson, AETC's future learning adviser. The idea isn't to replace classroom instruction, he said, but to augment it where it makes sense, and in some cases, to improve on it. "We obviously have courses where we need instructors present, and they need to be able to answer questions right away," Colonel Thompson said. "So, one of our experiments is to duplicate that in a virtual classroom, where students would put on a headset and talk to their instructors the same way they would in a classroom." Even so, Colonel Thompson's team is looking beyond this concept, trying to identify ways in which to leverage emerging technology to provide everything from routine refresher training to realistic training scenarios that simply can't be replicated in real life. He said he envisions a day when Airmen awaiting a flight at the airport or enjoying a weekend at home will be able to take professional development classes delivered via their cell phones or other mobile devices. Colonel Thompson said he sees it as a perfect way to provide ancillary or regular refresher training such as the mandatory "Laws of Armed Conflict" course. "If I could break down that training into 10- or 15-minute segments, and enable you take them on your cell phone, anywhere and anytime, I think a lot of people would be interested in doing that," he said. AETC officials are also exploring ways to blend traditional and nontraditional instruction to either shorten the amount of time students spend in the classroom, or to make better use of that time. Colonel Thompson said he recognizes the value of social networking sessions that bring students together in shared projects and class discussions before they report for a residence course and after they return to their duty stations. "This can make the time they spend on the ground shorter," he said. "But another philosophy is that it if they have the same amount of classroom time, it can be used to make them better leaders." Meanwhile, AETC officials are looking for ways to tap into "virtual worlds" created through new and emerging technologies and social media networks to make military education not only more cost-effective and convenient, but also more effective. "As we start to look at 'virtual worlds,' I relate it back to when flight simulators were new," said Colonel Thompson, a former pilot. "We have a new technology that is coming online, and we have to figure out where specifically to use it, or how." Flight simulators, for example, enable instructors to create optimal training conditions. "Rather than having to go and fly around for hours and hours to find a cloud to teach somebody to fly into clouds, I can create clouds in the flight simulator," Colonel Thompson said. Likewise, "virtual worlds" could provide the perfect venues for training that simply can't be replicated in real life. "I cannot release a weapon of mass destruction on a base to teach Airmen proper response procedures," Colonel Thompson said. "But in a virtual base, I can. I can simulate things in a virtual environment that I can't do for real. And hopefully, as a result, I get better, more realistic training for that unfortunate chance that we might actually have to do that for real." AETC officials recently awarded a contract to create a virtual Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, that will replicate the numerous military activities there, including the joint medical training venues at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The concept will include a virtual base command post. "The idea is for you to be able to wander as an avatar into a training environment there, and it will take you directly into the simulation you are supposed to be doing," Colonel Thompson said. As AETC officials explore these and other new training opportunities, they're taking many lessons from their Army counterparts, the colonel said. Army training and education officials have been military frontrunners in advancing video game technology, and their "America's Army" game has proven to be a boon not just from a recruiting standpoint, but also as a training tool, he said. "We are looking at the same type of thing for the Air Force, and questioning, 'What's the Air Force version of that game?'" he said. Colonel Thompson recently sent his program manager to Redstone Arsenal, Ala., to learn from Army gamers as AETC officials attempt to build a game focused on a financial management course. He applauded the strong collaboration the military services are undergoing as they share information and lessons learned in advancing military education. "You learn in this job that the other services do very similar things and have very similar needs," Colonel Thompson said. "So my philosophy is, let's go see what they are doing and tell them what we are doing to promote this exchange of information."