In 2005, the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Co-Laboratory. The Academic ADL Co-Lab serves as the focal point for academia in promoting high quality, reusable content for distributed learning. It also serves as the academic link to test, evaluate and demonstrate ADL-compliant tools and next generation technologies to enhance teaching and learning. It also serves as an academic demonstration site for ADL tools and content, including those developed by the federal government, academia and industry.

Overall, the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) is a collaborative effort to harness the power of information technologies to modernize structured learning. ADL, therefore, employs a structured, adaptive, collaborative effort between the public and private sectors to develop the standards, tools and learning content for the learning environment of the future. The vision of the ADL Initiative is to provide access to the highest-quality learning and performance aiding that can be tailored to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively, anytime and anywhere.

Since 1999 three additional ADL Co-Labs (Academic, Joint and Workforce); two ADL Partnership Labs (U.K. and Canada) and two ADL Centers (ADL Technology Center and the ADL Job Performance Technology Center) have been created to form the ADL Co-Lab Network.

Full list of Co-Labs includes the following:

This partnership allows the United States Distance Leaning Association to support the development and implementation of national standards for distributed learning (currently, SCORM 2004), sharing research with other Academic ADL Co-Laboratory partners, participating in advisory meetings and collaborating with the partners on projects that will enhance quality, reduce current costs, and promote the development of interoperable systems for the delivery of distributed learning.

"This new association partnership," said Dr. John G. Flores, USDLA CEO, "will bring increased and shared opportunities for both the Academic ADL Co-Lab and USDLA to further educate the distance learning community and USDLA membership with new and cutting edge technologies in the blended learning environment, increase participation in the NSU/USDLA Distance Learning Leaders Certificate Program with new sessions on SCORM, as well as provide the Academic ADL Co-Lab community, events locations for special higher education track sessions, conference keynotes, and ADL tutorials in co-operation with USDLA's official conference.”

In addition, "Dr. Robert A. Wisher, Director of the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative said, “I am pleased to welcome the USDLA as a partner with the Academic ADL Co-Lab. We share a common vision of bringing the highest quality training and education to learners, wherever they may be. I look forward to working with USDLA in creating an open, common framework for e-learning content, products, and services. The benefits will be significant."

Judy Brown, Director of the Academic ADL Co-Lab, also echoed Dr. Wisher's comments. "We look forward to working with the USDLA in implementation of standards based learning content as well as next generation learning initiatives such as mobile learning, game-based learning and content repositories."

Overall, this relationship brings together the best of all worlds in support of distance education and training constituencies everywhere to include pre-k-12 education, higher and continuing education, home schooling as well as business, corporate, military, government, and telehealth markets.

About the Academic ADL Co-Lab
The Academic ADL Co-Lab is a structured collaborative with agreements with educational organizations and consortia representing more than 700 academic institutions, including virtual universities, worldwide. Established in 2000 in Madison through an agreement between the U.S. Department of Defense, the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System, the Co-Lab specializes in academic projects. It works in partnership with three other ADL Co-Labs, each with a distinct responsibility for military, corporate, or workforce research related to the development, implementation and assessment of ADL technologies and related products. In addition to standards, the Academic Co-Lab operates a Mobile Learning Technology Center to showcase the latest in mobile learning technology and to test proposed solutions in a controlled environment on a range of vendor platforms, operating systems and peripheral devices as well as a Games and Professional Practice Simulations (GAPPS) Center for research on game-based learning. The Wisconsin Testing Organization, which certifies content and products that meet these standards, is also located at the Academic Co-Lab. For more information visit www.academiccolab.org.

About the ADL Initiative
The ADL Initiative is a collaborative effort between government, industry and academia to establish a new distributed learning environment that permits the interoperability of learning tools and course content on a global scale. As a result of a unique partnership between the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Labor, and the National Guard Bureau, the Alexandria ADL Co-Lab has been established to serve as a public and private sector forum for cooperative research, development and assessment of new learning technology prototypes, guidelines and specifications. For more information visit www.adlnet.org.

For additional information please contact:

USDLA
John G. Flores, Ph.D.
Tel: 617.399.1770
jflores@usdla.org

Academic ADL Co-Laboratory
Judy Brown
Tel: 608.263.9270
judy@academiccolab.org