[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