[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35928-35929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-17502]
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EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
National Economic Council
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Enhancing Federal Training and Education Through Technology
AGENCY: National Economic Council and Office of Science and Technology
Policy, EOP.
ACTION: Notice of inquiry.
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SUMMARY: The National Economic Council and the Office of Science and
Technology Policy, in consultation with the Office of Personnel
Management, seek information about how to make the most efficient
possible use of new information technologies for training federal
employees in ways that also will accelerate the development of the
broader commercial marketplace. This will require making full use of
innovations in technology for commercial training, encouraging
interoperability of products from competing vendors, and experimenting
with new forms of public-private collaboration to develop high-quality
instructional software.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before September 15,
1998.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties should submit electronic version of
comments at www.fed-training.org or written comments by mail to Martha
Livingston, Office of Science and Technology, Room 423, Old Executive
Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20502.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane Mayronne, Department of Labor,
2000 Constitution, Room N-5303, Washington, D.C. 20001. Telephone:
(202) 219-9587, ext. 171. Fax: (202)-7968. Additional information and
materials are available at www.fed-training.org.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Administration is interested in the ability of new information
and communications technologies to enhance lifelong learning by
expanding access, reducing cost, and improving quality. For example:
Access to education and training could be expanded by
allowing adults to learn at a time, place, and pace that is convenient
for them--using the Internet, CDROM, and/or other technology-mediated
forms of instruction.
The quality of education could be improved through the use
of technologies such as: modeling and simulation and case-based
reasoning, which enable ``learning by doing''; intelligent tutoring
systems, which can respond to the individual needs of the learner and
recognize common mistakes; synchronous and asynchronous learning
networks, which can encourage the formation of ``communities of
learners'' between students and teachers; and the appropriate use of
multimedia, which can increase retention and ``time on task.''
Cost for the development of high-quality instructional
content/software could be reduced by: greater re-use of instructional
modules; better authoring tools; and open specifications for
instructional management systems--such as the EDUCOM Instructional
Management System.
Relevance could be increased by reducing the time that is
required to develop instructional software, thereby providing timely
technology-based training materials to the learner.
The Administration is pursuing a number of policies to realize this
vision, including: (1) Eliminating barriers to broader adoption of
distance learning by both individuals and institutions through reforms
of the Higher Education
[[Page 35929]]
Act; (2) increasing investment in R&D for learning technologies; (3)
encouraging experimentation and collaboration in the use of distance
learning with a new Department of Education grant program called
``Learning Anytime, Anywhere Partnerships''; and (4) encouraging
federal agencies to make better use of information technology to train
their own employees. This Notice of Inquiry focuses on this last issue.
Encouraging Federal Agencies To Make Better Use of Learning
Technology
Clearly, efficient management of the federal government requires
continuous investment in training. The demand for training has
increased as new technologies reshape the workplace in ways that both
make federal employees more productive and allow them to improve the
service they provide. Both military and civilian agencies face enormous
challenges in this area. Advances in computers, communication, and
other areas of information technology make it possible to improve the
efficiency of the training process itself. Federal agencies need to
take advantage of techniques, software, and specifications being
developed for commercial training and for university and college
instruction. This is a difficult undertaking since the field is
changing rapidly.
Since all federal agencies share similar challenges in this area,
the President issued an Executive Memorandum dated January 30, 1998
directing the National Economic Council to develop a plan which will
describe how agencies can:
make full use of best commercial practices when purchasing
instructional software;
work with businesses, universities, and other appropriate
entities to foster a competitive market for electronic instruction;
develop a model technical approach to facilitate
electronic instruction building on existing agency efforts, such as the
Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative Partnership; and
develop and support a program of research that will
accelerate the development and adoption of new instructional
technologies.
Request for Comments on Technology for Federal Training and
Education
To support this effort, we are interested in receiving information
in the following areas:
Emerging or existing technical specifications and technologies that
will enable:
standardized methods for identifying software components
and other tools that can facilitate electronic commerce. These methods
can include specifications for ``meta-data'' such as ownership,
licensing restrictions, unique identifiers, and other critical
information.
standardized methods for tracking student performance,
preference, and records in instructional modules. These methods allow
an instructional management system to link a student to a range of
instructional modules and provide information to management systems
about student performance and learning styles. This information can be
used to maintain student records and to improve the instructional
materials themselves.
methods for handling individual questions presented by
students. This includes systems for connecting students to databases of
``frequently asked questions,'' methods for creating and maintaining
such databases, and systems for connecting students to live instructors
who can provide personal answers to questions.
methods for specifying software components that ensure
interoperability. This can include exemplary use of specifications for
software objects that can be combined to create simulations or other
instructional tools. These specifications could, for example, allow
simulated vehicles to be constructed from software objects manufactured
by many different vendors.
tools for creating instructional modules quickly and
efficiently from components.
management systems using components described above. These
systems would provide some or all of the following services: methods
allowing instructors to develop curricula for individual students,
monitor individual student progress, maintain transcripts and
certifications, allow easy movement between remedial and advanced
instruction, protect student privacy and protect intellectual property,
and keep records facilitating financial transactions to holders of
intellectual property and others.
(2) Subject areas where there is significant overlap between
government and private sector requirements--and proposed partnerships
for taking advantage of these commonalities. We are particularly
interested in: (a) instructional software that could improve adult
basic education (e.g., GED equivalence; adult literacy, English as a
Second Language); and (b) subject areas that will help workers compete
for jobs in rapidly growing fields (e.g., information technology).
(3) New forms of assessment that are particularly appropriate for
technology-mediated instruction.
(4) Methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of technology-
mediated instruction on educational outcomes, costs, and productivity
of training and published evaluations of technology-mediated training.
(5) New procurement mechanisms, public-private partnerships, and
innovative business models that will encourage private sector
investment in the development of highq-uality instructional software
and wider deployment and utilization of technology-mediated instruction
throughout the economy. Our strategy can only work if all businesses
and educational institutions with technology and services capable of
serving federal training needs are willing and able to compete for
federal business. We are particularly interested in comments that will
help federal agencies hold competitions that will attract proposals
from creative institutions throughout the economy--even institutions
that have had no previous experience in bidding on government
contracts. We would like comments on how existing procedures create
barriers to bidding on federal contracts and proposals for streamlining
the process.
These comments will be used to develop a federal strategy to
facilitate the emergence of a vigorous, competitive market in
interoperable software products for instruction. Such a market ensures
that institutions with training needs--including federal agencies--get
high-quality, up-to-date, instruction for their employees at a low
cost. It also ensures the widest possible market for creative
developers producing products that can be sold into the large markets
for instructional software products created by such open markets.
Please provide information and suggestions in these areas useful
for developing federal policy that will ensure efficient federal use of
information technology based on use of the best practices emerging in
competitive commercial markets. This notice is for the purses of
developing policy and is not a solicitation. Please do not send
descriptions of specific products or services.
Dated: June 24, 1998.
Holly Gwin,
Chief of Staff and General Counsel; Office of Science and Technology
Policy.
[FR Doc. 98-17502 Filed 6-26-98; 5:03 pm]
BILLING CODE 3170-01-U
