A potentially-useful new ACO information system? S.P.I.T.S

Adult Staff Execs
1

Please consider / comment upon or even contribute to the following concept which has been growing at the back of my mind for quite some time. Still being ill in bed with the cold, it’s given me the chance to put this down in writing

SQUADRON PORTALISED INTRANET TRAINING SYSTEM - SPITS

SITUATION
To supplement and optimise the existing national BADER and Ultilearn systems, the collaborative development of a simple but effective squadron/unit-based learning management information system.

MISSION
Acting as a front-end for Ultilearn, it would provide locally-cached training materials that are routinely flushed and renewed with the main content centrally from Ultilearn (so as to maintain currency and consistency of content) along with additional local staff-selected and uploaded material. In particular this content could be pre-customised by unit Staff for Cadets with specific additional needs (learning/developmental or sensory), and could provide walk-through guided exam practice sessions as well as mock on-line full exams. As well as static content based upon classification levels, it could include vital material such as saved Youtube/Vimeo aviation/drill/shooting videos, aircraft recognition training material.

EXECUTION
Operating as a firewalled/secured local proxy access to the internet, rather than allowing BYOD users flat access to the entire internet, it would only allow access to specific locally-selected SPITS sites that are of known value to Air Cadet training on an added-to whitelist basis, with the Ultilearn website accessible at all times. This would help prevent unwanted access to irrelevant/trivial content by users, whilst maintaining full decontrolled access to other authorised users via multiple SSIDs/VRFs. The above system could be hosted locally upon a high-end backed-up workstation running IIS or Apache, with a cut-down CMS such as Sharepoint/ Samepage etc. The locally cached content would also help reduce peak loading upon central Ultilearn servers, and upon squadron internet connections themselves.

ANY QUESTIONS
No personal information would need to be stored upon such a local system, so as to address any perceived data protection issues. This would be in addition to robust firewall policies. However, consideration could be given to cookie-saves/progression bookmarks being saved back to user/squadron-owned devices.
The system would be capable of significant expansion/adaptation for local administrative information purposes (cf SAMA versus SOMA).
Saving resource content locally which may otherwise become unavailable/inaccessible or mislaid is a definite gain in efficiency, and adds to a professional delivery.

CONFIRMATION
In your own time, please feel free to rip this to shreds. Pointless duplication, load-shifting more responsibilities to squadron, DPA minefield, far too complex. No. Not totally

I seriously feel there may be mileage in this idea. NOTE: I am not volunteering to develop it, I am thinking aloud…at present.

wilf_san

2

In English?..

3

Basically a program that sits quietly on a “spare” computer downloading training material from ultilearn and updating when updates are released, and it acts as a separate internet connection from your normal one which “whitelists” (allows) selected websites to be accessed.
Therefore when a cadet is doing self study or an exam, or a staff member is teaching something, they can connect to this program and get all the up-to-date training materials without having to actually interact with ultifail.

think i’ve got that kinda right.

4

If this is correct, no thanks, unless the classification materials on ultilearn improve hugely to something that are usable “off the shelf”. I have had issues with the notion of standardised materials, since day one, as no two peoples style of delivery are the same. Probably not a view many take.
I am intrigued by the idea of LD provision, given that the content on ultilearn fails in this respect.

5

Yes I agree that you can’t use the same method to teach everyone, however ultilearn is just the modern day version of the ACP’s. In years gone by most instructors would just sit in a room reading from the ACP, now they just sit there reading from the powerpoint. No difference.
The key is that some instructors know the topic well enough to actually branch out and teach using different mediums rather than that which is provided. there is nothing saying that cadets have to have seen all the slides for a topic, just a requirement to have covered each of the Lesson Objectives.

The advantage of a system like this is that for accessing the standard material you wouldn’t have to access ultilearn, it’d be quicker, easier and maybe more intuitive (depending on who developed it).
Also as stated in the mission it might be possible to add extra training material which better caters to the needs of your cadets.

6

TBH it seems like a workaround to Ultilearn’s issues, rather than actually fixing Ultilearn’s issues.

7

Yes, but if it made life easier?

8

Fixing/replacing Ultilearn would still be the logical solution, and would make life easier still.

9

Very true - but even if the material, etc, is correct, then for general usage on a sqn for a parade night, having all the “in-date” files/notes “instantly” available for staff/cadet use would be a huge improvement. If you have limited internet speed or access, then it takes ages to access, log-in & download.

Perhaps it would also be a useful spin-off to consider some aspects of Bader, such as ACO documents? :slight_smile: Last night on the Sqn, Bader access & subsequent usage was dreadfully slow.

10

The intention would be to complement and enhance Ultilearn.

In addition to providing a guided access route to Ultilearn itself (including locally saved versions of its main content), and a tactically-filtered/selected access to the wider Internet, the squadron-located system could also contain digitised versions of previous useful ACPs, and locally produced content.

For the avoidance of doubt - to do such a thing (ie create a reliable squadron-based simple intranet/ content management system) would not be hugely complicated to do, nor would it be too costly. If it were, I wouldn’t even begin talking about it.

And it could make a real difference to the effectiveness of training environments by the addition of depth, options and guide-paths.

This should be well within the bounds of being practical and achievable…even without collaboration. But developing it with like-minded fellow comrades can surely only be productive.

wilf_san

11

to me it sounds like dropbox linked to ultilearn, you have the most recent files stored offline and then when they are updated at the machine has access to the internet it updates them

12

If this enabled new staff to access the poor quality materials then it may have some use. In the not so far off days I could give a new bod turning up a book, they could deliver and they would feel part of it.

This idea’s downfall is that like almost every aspect of ATC life it is reliant on IT and the online world. This is fine in our real jobs as we have access to support staff onsite OR at the end of a phone, both of whom can do their stuff while you wait. This is not the case in the ATC. Online solutions are a cheap option for HQAC, but not so for squadrons. Cheap is not just cash financial but also time, because time is money as they say. How many of us waste parade nights trying to access ultifail to set cadets up for exams, run exams or just access the latest awe inspiring update and then there is the general fragility of bader. Notwitstanding the squadron’s wireless set up playing ball. This is not only frustrating for staff but also for cadets who have got themselves mentally prepared for what now passes as an exam in the ACO. I have come home from too many parade nights facing using my own time (and my employers time) to do what I regard as basic admin because on a parade night what we’re provided isn’t up to the job.

I wonder do the armed forces have all of their manuals as virtual documents? Would someone trying to fix have to logon to something like ultifail, because you can’t have a book or paper version?

13

Ermm, yes…

14

[quote=“glass half empty 2” post=22472]If this enabled new staff to access the poor quality materials then it may have some use. In the not so far off days I could give a new bod turning up a book, they could deliver and they would feel part of it.

This idea’s downfall is that like almost every aspect of ATC life it is reliant on IT and the online world. This is fine in our real jobs as we have access to support staff onsite OR at the end of a phone, both of whom can do their stuff while you wait. This is not the case in the ATC. Online solutions are a cheap option for HQAC, but not so for squadrons. Cheap is not just cash financial but also time, because time is money as they say. How many of us waste parade nights trying to access ultifail to set cadets up for exams, run exams or just access the latest awe inspiring update and then there is the general fragility of bader. Notwitstanding the squadron’s wireless set up playing ball. This is not only frustrating for staff but also for cadets who have got themselves mentally prepared for what now passes as an exam in the ACO. I have come home from too many parade nights facing using my own time (and my employers time) to do what I regard as basic admin because on a parade night what we’re provided isn’t up to the job.

I wonder do the armed forces have all of their manuals as virtual documents? Would someone trying to fix have to logon to something like ultifail, because you can’t have a book or paper version?[/quote]
To be honest, I’d be quite happy with an electronically-promulgated manual for the subjects - my main gripe is that there isn’t a central, basic document that any potential instructor can read to refresh their knowledge and get a feel for the level at which the teaching is meant to be, or which a student can read through at the end of the course as a revision aid.

PowerPoint slides are all very well but should be an addition to the material, not the replacement for it. Considering most of the subjects already had books which partially lined up with the new syllabus it shouldn’t have been too difficult to update them.