A Dynamic Learning Approach to Training Digital Acquisition Professionals
(Room S320D)
29 Nov 17
9:00 AM
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9:30 AM
Current Federal procurement practices largely do not provide the flexibility required to buy and deliver modern digital services. Meanwhile, the pace of technological change continues to accelerate while citizen demand for Federal digital services increases. To meet this demand, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the U.S. Digital Service needed an immersive development and training program to enhance digital services acquisition expertise across government agencies.
This paper addresses the question: How do you design an effective training program while also being flexible to address evolving learning needs over time? Agile Learning and Human-Centered Design principles were used to design a curriculum that is adaptive to the needs of each participant, while promoting progress against established learning objectives. To address the constant evolution of the subject matter, approximately 60% of the curriculum supports defined learning objectives, while 40% of the curriculum is responsive to the needs of participants. The responsive portion is informed by data from pre-assessments that participants complete at the start of each segment of instruction and that are used to generate participant-specific learning paths. Participants also complete post-assessments at the end of each segment to measure knowledge and skill gains and to support customized remediation. The program includes a mix of instructional strategies to promote comprehension, experiential and problem-based learning, and practice of knowledge and skills, and to engage stakeholders to contribute to the overall acquisition culture change. This paper will also discuss the results and lessons learned after completing two deliveries of the program and certifying 50+ digital services acquisition professionals. Four months after the first delivery, 83% of participants reported a positive change in their job behavior or role. 91% of participants had been asked to provide advisory services to a Digital