When attempting to search out historical information within the domain of education and technology I knew my difficulty was the narrowing down of a suitable topic to which to briefly share my thoughts. In reference of my employment within the Royal Canadian Air Force, I found it befitting to give a historical context to learning and technology from a military vantage point. One of the most influential technologies employed within the United States Armed Forces combining all major elements, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Army, was SIMNET (Simulator Networking). The project started in 1983 and was employed thoroughly within training in the early 90s. “As of January 1, 1990, its components consisted of about 260 ground vehicle and aircraft simulators, communications networks, command posts, and data-processing facilities distributed among eleven sites” (Alluisi, 1991, p. 343). Simulators are mostly known to train individuals on a specific job or task(s). A flight simulator is used in the training of a pilot to fly a specific aircraft within all critical and en route phases of flight or an air traffic control tower simulator is used to train air traffic controllers how to control air traffic at a specific airport. The unique and highly advantageous quality of SIMNET was its ability to combine many types of simulators with the purpose of allowing each person involved to get a realistic experience of the entire battle space. There decisions effected others within the entire simulated battle space. This included Land, Sea, and Air elements combined. War zones are chaotic and highly unpredictable spaces in which to conduct specified and calculated missions and operations. By having a multi-simulator environment, instructors could give students real-time experience into how to complete their missions whilst all the other dynamic elements and unpredictable elements were at play. In end, although there were challenges with the system, its main premise opened the door for more relevant and robust multi-simulator technologies to emerge. Many types of those multi-simulator environment technologies are employed within the entire Armed Forces.
Reference:
Alluisi, E.A. (1991). The development of technology for collective training: SIMNET, a case history. Human Factors: The Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 33(3), 343-362. doi: 10.1177/001872089103300308
September 8, 2019
I appreciate your very different professional background and subsequent focus in this assignment, Mark. SIMNET sounds interesting, to say the least. Is SIMNET still in use, or like many other educational technologies, have other newer systems been built upon what was learned through the use of SIMNET?
September 8, 2019
Mark,
This a test. I have tried twice to post just trying another time.
Arv
September 8, 2019
Mark,
Yeah it worked (previous posts were not). I was intrigued by your post. As we exchanged in the intros on Moodle, I am also in the military and also use simulation in a portion of my work. The work remains in the unclassified domain and centres around navigation on the bridge of a warship. I am also working with another one of our colleagues in our LRNT 523 Cohort- Christina. Her team in Race Rocks 3D is helping me to use technology enabled learning (TEL) to enhance concepts in the classroom. One area where I want to mature is in calculating and using metrics to discover ‘what I don’t know that I don’t know’. I am looking at developing technology enabled assessments which would allow an analysis of a single student as he-she progresses through training, but more importantly I am trying to detect cohort trends as well. With enough data I am hoping to circle back and see how the material taught prior to the simulation cycle could be improved to aid in greater success in the simulation phase. Then where I really want to get to is a deeper layer am I able to predict-measure improvement in ‘soft-skills’ that the student employs in the simulation run. Again very interested in seeing what you are doing. Respectfully, Arv
September 8, 2019
I absolutely love that three of us all ended up in the same class, all with a goal to improve the integration of technology into military education. We should plan a coffee where we can all nerd about future possibilities. Christina
September 9, 2019
Hey Arv,
It appears you, Christina and I need to have a chat (as she stated below). I have many similar questions as you have. Bridge operations, much like aerospace air traffic control operations, requires a highly dynamic and multi-faceted simulation environment. This makes instructional design elements in the utilization of such complex learning systems difficult to produce. Combined with the high ‘stressors’ of the job environment, attention to detail in how to best utilize the learning technology is critical to mission and student success. Will talk further throughout program I am sure. Cheers.
September 9, 2019
Thank you for this post, Mark – I’m glad you, Arv, and Christina have connected!
To expand this a little bit, the military has had extensive impact on the development of educational technology, at times through research and development of particular technologies, and at other times through developing processes to train individuals (which then spilled over into other settings). More on this in the Reiser reading from this week…