ESSO course

I started the ESSO course (English Skills for Staff Officers in Multinational Operations). I hope it is the good example of ADL course.
The forum in Norfolk, USA, where I attended, was fully concentrated to background of ADL, but I thing is the good way for new experience to tray forward side of ADL too.
And, an introduction to ESSO includes a short explanation of the PfP Learning Management System (LMS) and recommended learning activities. It also contains supplementary information, the Objective Vocabulary introduced in the units, learning strategies for language learning, and references to useful online sources and tools for language learning.

Explosion at French nuclear plant of Marcoule

Explosion at French nuclear plant of Marcoule
(by BBC)
One person has been killed and four injured, one seriously, by an explosion at the southern French nuclear plant of Marcoule.
There were no radioactive leaks after the blast, caused by a fire near a furnace in a radioactive waste storage site, a French nuclear official said.
A security perimeter has been set up because of the risk of leakage.
The plant produces MOX fuel, which recycles plutonium from nuclear weapons, but does not include reactors.
(follow the link on BBC)

Norfolk in pictures (II.)

VMASC where ADL Forum was placed


Sunset (and "my Chevy")

Traffic in the town...

Buckroe Beach and Park


A lot of traffic on the I664 due to an accident on I64 - Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel

Sixth ADL Forum in Suffolk (II.)

On the photo I stay behind Brigadier General Dourouklis, in the middle of the scene - with black hat, unexpectedly :-)

Sixth ADL Forum in Suffolk

I attended the Sixth ADL Forum in Suffolk, Va.

Written by Paul Thurkettle, LMS Admin
Wednesday, 31 August 2011 09:54

Despite the impact of Hurricane Irene, 37 attendees made it to the 2011 Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Forum held at the Virginia Modelling and Simulation Centre in Suffolk, Virginia.

“It was getting very worrying as we did not know what impact the storm would have on us”, stated Paul Thurkettle from the Education and Training Technologies section under ACOS JETE. “We made the decision to go ahead and thankfully 94% of our travellers made it with some interesting tales and adventures”.

The annual ADL Forum now in its sixth year invites ADL developers from NATO and partner nations, users of ADL and academics in the eLearning field together to discuss the ADL program, NATO direction and guidance and discuss best practices for online courses, lessons learned and the latest in academic theory for adult training. The Forum also has representation from Joint Force Command Brunssum and will discuss the ISAF ADL program.


With attendees from NATO education and training centres, NATO commands, Centres of Excellence, Partnership Training Centres and nations including Ukraine, Moldova, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, United States and Slovenia the Forum creates an atmosphere of mutual cooperation.

“With ADL now a major program in many of our nations, we all share the same issues and ambitions, at the forum we can discuss who is doing what and where we can work together or share results”, added Dr. Sürsal, head of the Education and Training Technologies section. “This makes the forum a very valuable asset to ACT, both in letting the community know what the ACT direction and guidance is, as well as seeing and learning where nations are going and what they have done”.

Assistant Chief of Staff, Joint Education, Training and Exercises, Brigadier General Dourouklis (Greek Army) addressed the Forum emphasising the need to work together as well as the key message Deputy Chief of Staff Joint Force Trainer Lieutenant General Karlheinz Viereck gave to the African E-Learning conference on the need to create a global community in order to reach all the potential audience NATO needs to in order to fully prepare for the future.

The Forum runs from Aug 30th to Sep 1st.

Eight different types of intelligence

“Intelligence is the capacity to do something useful in the society in which we live. Intelligence is the ability to respond successfully to new situations and the capacity to learn from one’s past experiences.”
Dr. Howard Gardner, author, Frames of Mind and Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice

You can see the eight different types of intelligence, and you can begin to adjust your teaching/tutoring methods to match your learner's (or learners') strengths.

Actually, no one uses just one type of intelligence; we all use several in our daily lives. Some are stronger than others for each person. Thus it's helpful to determine your learner's top intelligences and tailor your methods to best meet your learner's particular combination of strengths.

What gives me the server www.literacyworks.org as my top three intelligences (score 5.0 is highest):

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4.86 Logic/math: You enjoy exploring how things are related, and you like to understand how things work. You like mathematical concepts, puzzles and manipulative games. You are good at critical thinking.

4.57 Spatial: You remember things visually, including exact sizes and shapes of objects. You like posters, charts, and graphics. You like any kind of visual clues. You enjoy drawing. Effective techniques of enhancing your learning using your spatial intelligence include creating and/or using pictures, maps, diagrams, and graphs as you learn things.

4.14 Self: You have a very good sense of self. You like to spend time by yourself and think things over. You will often take in information from another person, mull it over by yourself, and come back to that person later to discuss it. You like working on projects on your own. You often prefer to learn by trial and error. Effective techniques to enhance your learning include keeping a journal and giving yourself time to reflect on new ideas and information.

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In the others skills (nature, language, social, musical, body movement) is my average score above three, I am using that intelligence quite often to help you learn.