Total Learning Architecture: Moving into the Future
(Room S320F)
28 Nov 18
8:30 AM
-
9:00 AM
Increasingly, the defense community requires a continuous, adaptive learning enterprise that delivers the right training, education, and just-in-time support, in the right ways and at the right time. The Total Learning Architecture (TLA), now in its second iteration of development, is intended to help meet that vision. The TLA is a set of internet and software specifications being developed to create the interoperability backbone of this future learning ecosystem. The products derived from this project include technical implementation guidelines, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), middleware, and data model descriptions that help training, education, and personnel management technologies seamlessly communicate through integrated coherent systems.
Spiral-1 of the TLA research and development project focused on developing an initial set of 10 APIs consisting of candidate specifications as well as protocols developed specifically for the initial development cycle. During Spiral-1, community stakeholders provided feedback on the functionality of the written specifications, and end-users (active duty personnel) interacted with a prototype reference implementation created from the specifications. Findings suggested that users could learn effectively through this system and data were efficiently shared between devices and a central learning record store; however, the documentation was overly complex and too idiosyncratic.
Spiral-2 of the TLA research and development project is focused on the identification, incorporation, and evaluation of additional candidate standards and specifications, drawn from recognized international standards and specifications. This paper summarizes the updated state of the TLA Spiral-2 development process, the TLA’s current set of recommended specifications, assessment efforts, and ongoing developmental planned.