The Prospects for Increasing the Reuse of Digital Training Content

by Shanley, Michael G.; Lewis, Matthew W.; Straus, Susan G.; Rothenbert, Jeff; Daugherty, Lindsay

• ISBN13: 9780833046611
• ISBN10: 0833046616
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-16
• Publisher: RAND Corporation

Summary

This study examined how the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative might encourage the reuse of digital training content as a strategy to reduce the cost of its development. While findings highlighted a number of current challenges with the reuse option, one conclusion is that ADL can foster more reuse by taking a proactive approach in supporting training development organizations that are attempting to implement a reuse strategy.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. iii
Figures	p. ix
Tables	p. xi
Summary	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xxv
Abbreviations	p. xxvii
Introduction	p. 1
Reuse of Content Is a Strategy for Reducing the Development Costs of Distributed Learning	p. 1
Research Questions Examined	p. 2
Preview of Key Findings and Recommendations	p. 3
Focus of Project: Supply Side and Market Enablers	p. 4
Focus of Research Approach: Early Adopters of Reuse for e-Learning and Reuse in Other Contexts	p. 6
Organization of This Monograph	p. 8
The Prevalence of Reuse and the Role of Standards and Technologies	p. 11
Organizations Pursue Reuse Using a Number of Approaches	p. 11
RLO-Based Reuse Is Less Prevalent Than Other Approaches	p. 15
Relatively New Technical Standards and Technologies for Reuse Partially Explain the Relative Scarcity of the RLO Approach	p. 17
Concept Reuse Avoids the Technical Problems of RLO-Based Reuse	p. 20
Economic Incentives	p. 23
Few Training Organizations Had More Than Modest Returns from Pursuing Reuse	p. 23
The Decision to Bypass an RLO-Based Reuse Approach Makes Sense for Many Training Development Organizations	p. 26
Some Digital Markets/Repositories Have Succeeded, Others Have Failed	p. 32
History of Attempts to Reuse Software Provides Insight on Training Content Reuse	p. 37
Experience with Software Reuse Suggests That Success Will Occur Only in Selected Cases and That They Will Be Difficult to Identify Beforehand	p. 39
History of Reuse in Materiel Design Provides Insight on Training Content Reuse	p. 44
Recommendation: Make ROI for Reuse an ADL Focus Area	p. 48
Disincentives to Sharing	p. 53
Various Stakeholders Participate in a Strategy of e-Learning Reuse	p. 53
Training Development Organizations Considered Disincentives to Be Secondary Obstacles to a Successful Reuse Strategy	p. 54
Disincentives May Become a Bigger Issue If Reuse in e-Learning Becomes More Prevalent	p. 57
Incentive Mechanisms for Reuse Might Be Created by a Variety of Strategies	p. 60
DoD Mandate to Reuse May Require Additional Incentives to Be Effective	p. 62
Recommendation: Stimulate Additional Incentive Mechanisms for Participation in Reuse Strategies	p. 63
Implementation Issues	p. 65
Implementing a Reuse Strategy for e-Learning Requires Significant Change Management	p. 65
TD Organizations Identified Many Obstacles Relating to Implementation of a Reuse Strategy	p. 68
What TD Organizations Saw as the Greatest Obstacle Depended on the Current Status of Their Reuse Efforts	p. 72
A Supportive Environment Is Needed to Implement an Effective Reuse Strategy	p. 74
Widespread Success with Reuse Requires Effective Collaboration Across Organizations	p. 77
Recommendation: Provide Additional Support for Processes That Implement Reuse Strategies	p. 79
Overall Recommendations	p. 83
Case Study Results	p. 87
Interview Protocol and Questions	p. 95
References	p. 107
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