e-Learning Solution Attracts the Navy's Best and Brightest
Date: 5/5/2000
SAN DIEGO - Silicon Space, Inc., a San Diego-based e-Business professional services firm has teamed with the University of San Diego (USD) School of Business Administration and Engineering, to launch the first USD online distributed learning program developed specifically for the United States Navy. The Master of Science in Global Leadership (MSGL) program gives Navy and Marine Corps officers in the Pacific Fleet the opportunity to pursue a post-graduate degree from anywhere around the globe, including large ships at sea. Many of the Navy's top students vied for the twenty available spots in the MSGL pilot program.
"We are proud to build innovative, web-based systems for our neighbors here in San Diego," said Curt Nelson, CEO of Silicon Space. "Online learning is a powerful avenue for professional advancement, an exciting step forward for USD and the Navy, and a very satisfying project for our team."
The Silicon Space and USD project team faced three major challenges. The first was to develop an "anywhere anytime" delivery mode that would enable officers to pursue the degree anywhere in the world. The second was to create an easy-to-use course development and learning tool that did not require sophisticated PC skills. The third was to help USD create instructional design standards for the continuing development of e-Learning courseware.
The project team worked with USD academic and computing staff to design a two-phase program featuring Lotus' web-based distributed learning software, LearningSpace Forum and Learning Space Anytime. For the first phase, Silicon Space created a customized user interface to an asynchronous learning environment while USD faculty and support staff created the online course material. The software behind the environment is LearningSpace Forum, which provides instructor-facilitated and self-paced learning in a stand-alone format. Phase one was completed before the April 26, 2000 start of the MSGL pilot program.
The second phase will introduce the synchronous features of LearningSpace Live to enable real-time audio and video, whiteboards, application sharing, and native Web content. Phase two will begin once the students complete the first two-week, on-campus classroom experience.