Computerized Classroom Wins Awards
Story by SSG Jeff Clayton - Photos by SPC Charles Ames
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On the morning of July 24th, 1998, in a rather nondescript one-story brick building near the classically-styled Headquarters of the Washington National Guard on Camp Murray, Tacoma WA, a small but momentous ceremony took place.
No crowd, no champagne - just the quite recognition of almost two years of professional planning, dedication and execution.
Mr. Junichi (John) Egawa, Vice President of JVC America, and Mr. Richard Young, VP of JVC America's Professional Products Division presented the plaque and certificate for the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils (FGIPC's) "1998 Intergovernmental Open Systems Solutions (IOSS) Gold Award" for Federal Medium Agencies to the Washington Army National Guard.
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The Washington Army National Guard (WA-ARNG), representing the Army National Guard, and the National Guard Bureau, received the award for their efforts in identifying excellent and innovative information technology and in demonstrating the creative capabilities of today's public sector Information Technology (IT) professionals.
The award acknowledges the patient work of a team led by four officers of the WA-ARNG; COL Richard O'Connor, Deputy Chief of Operations for the Washington Army National Guard, CPT Paul Fison, the System Administrator for the WA-ARNG network, CPT Kevin McMahan, Telecommunications Officer and CPT John Ludiker, who oversees MMDL Operations for Training.
COL O'Connor and his team came up with a concept for a series of specialized classrooms at key locations throughout the state of Washington. But what would make these classrooms special had scarcely been invented. They proceeded to construct what has become known in the IT field as a "multi-media, distance learning" (or MMDL) classroom that was state-of-the-art, easily upgradeable, cost-effective, low-maintenance and made up of easily re-configurable components to fulfill a wide range of requirements. The team made extensive use of JVC's latest modular InfraRed Local Area Network (IR-LAN) technology, off-the-shelf video-teleconferencing (VTC) systems, and modular workstations specially designed to support the multi-media classroom environment. The result is a learning environment that will serve as the model for several additional classrooms at major WA-ARNG locations throughout the state of Washington. In fact, COL O'Connor and his team plan to complete as many as 5 or 6 additional classrooms by the end of the year. It's all part of an overall plan to modernize the way the Washington Army National Guard conducts the training of its "citizen soldiers".
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Currently, a Guardsman can expect to attend one or more schools, of a week or longer duration, at consolidated training sites. Whenever possible, this consolidated training is conducted within the state, by local Army National Guard training units such as the 205th Leadership Regiment also headquartered on Camp Murray. However, some schools are located far from home, separating Guardsmen from home, family and job. Guardsmen who accept the challenge of greater rank and responsibility also accept more frequent attendance at an increasing number of such schools. Multi-media, distance learning (MMDL) will allow Guardsmen to replace or abbreviate attendance at out-of-state schools, and make in-state classes more effective.
The MMDL technology coming into service with the Washington Army National Guard combines such aspects as:
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- Real-time audio and visual connections between distributed locations (VTC)
- Computer-aided instruction (CAI) using the latest Intel Pentium computer workstations
- Support of mediums such as CD-ROM, VHS videotape, and satellite communications
- Connectivity via local or wide-area network, supported by internet and intranet services
The groundbreaking facility, with space for 30 students has already been tested by several WA-ARNG organizations and is currently being migrated into their normal training cycle. Initial uses will include:
- Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) Training
- Career Development (OES/NCOES) Supplemental Training
- Required Skills and Professional Development Training
- Command & Control (C2) Training & Leadership Seminars
- Video Teleconferencing (VTC)
- Computer Software Training
Plans also include the ability to connect to computer-based courseware repositories where hundreds or even thousands of educational resources could be browsed and subscribed to. Students would then use the MMDL classroom to take these courses, providing an unprecedented level of educational opportunity without ever having to leave their hometown.
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Concurrent with the MMDL classroom project, CPTs Fison and McMahn were key members of a team responsible for fielding a new family of off-the-shelf, multi-media personal computer workstations, known as RCAS, and constructing a wide area network (WAN) that currently links all WA-ARNG armories from Bellingham to Walla Walla. The MMDL facility may eventually be connected to this WAN, allowing users far from one of these MMDL classrooms to "drop in" on training.
Other possible uses include an innovative Family Support opportunity. With the downsizing of the active duty forces, and the increased role of the National Guard in support of our smaller military, the likelihood of brief overseas deployments of Guardsmen has increased. One of the uses envisioned for the facility is to bring families and deployed Guardsmen closer together. The multi-media and real-time aspects of the classroom certainly provide "the next best thing to being there".
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