AI Integration into Military Courseware
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a buzzword in the military; it's a transformative tool that might revolutionize our approach to influence and information operations. While buzzwords can be misleading, the significant enhancements AI can bring to this field are too important to ignore. Implementing AI is not just a requirement; it's an opportunity to reshape the way we operate. AI implementation does not have to take 5 years, but it must follow a process.
Part 1 | The Need for Instruction
Learning Experience: Description, Importance, and Aims
Provide a brief paragraph summarizing the learning experience that will be the subject of your Final Project. Reflect on why this learning experience is important by giving us an overview of the opportunity, problem, or issue that is driving the need for this instruction. Include a brief statement of your overall aims, including why developing this learning experience for your Final Project is relevant to you and your future goals.
I will look at how my training division can integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially large language models (LLM),into our courseware. Specifically, we will provide instruction on how to leverage LLMs to complete critical tasks. Two of these tasks are Create a Visual Product and Create an Audiovisual Product. The delta is evolving the current development model (i.e., analog mode) to a digital one with courseware that explains the principles of LLM technology. This courseware will culminate with a practical application. A summative assessment will objectively measure a student’s ability to leverage an LLM to create a Visual Product intended for influence efforts.
This requirement is driven by guidance from the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and Schools, the National Defense Strategy (National Defense Strategy) and the advance of these technologies in the Cyber Domain. In order to ensure, that Psychological Operations soldiers are current with technological requirements and the speed of the Cyber Domain, they must receive training on these innovations. It is the responsibility of the training division to steer the learning in a direction where students understand the limits and opportunities of the new technology and are not just reactively choosing Chat CPT as the solutionfor all of their AI solutions. Developers in my shop can provide a basic understanding of AI and Large Language Models, how to navigate them, which ones are effective, and specific jobs you should be asking them to do, which ones you should not and why
Learning or Instructional Context
Provide a brief description of the learning or instructional context where this learning experience will be delivered (e.g., online, in-person, blended, museum, library, corporate setting etc.)
This will be delivered in an in in person environment in a larger classroom setting in a Department of Defense facility that is working on the DOD Information Network (DODIN) Non-Classified Information Protocol Server (NIPR). This is significant because DODIN’s NIPR networks are more restrictive than what most teaching platforms allow.
Learner Audience
Provide a brief description of the learner audience for your learning experience.
The learner audience is typically enlisted soldiers and officers who have less than 6 years in the military. They are junior in experience, but a great deal have experience with online and Cyber tools.
Subject-Matter Focus/Content
Provide a very brief description of the subject-matter focus (e.g., 2nd-grade reading, new hire onboarding, library orientation, student book club, etc.) and general description of the content to be covered in your learning experience
The task, condition, and standards are below with learning supported activities for this technological integration:
Task: Develop A Visual Product using Large Language Models
Condition: Given a NIPR laptop, DOD approved LLM, references on principles of design,
Standard: Development will include the following: a product that reflects values of the Target Audience; the prompt to the LLM incorporates all six elements of graphic design; and graphic design principles of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity are incorporated.
Learning Supported Activities (LSA)
1. LSA 1: Distinguish Categories of AI
2. LSA 2:Discuss Functions of AI
3. LSA 3: Define Basic Command Prompts for LLM Visual Products
4. LSA 4: Distinguish Principles and Elements of Design
5. Group Discussion: The Gutenberg Press
a. What was the impact of the Gutenberg Press with consumption of the written word?
b. What do you think were some of the practical skills would be publishers needed to master?
c. What do you think the reaction of Catholic Monks was? Did they adapt?
6. Practical Exercise: Develop a Visual Product using Generative AI.
During the Design and Development phase, developers will refine teaching points for each of these LSAs and a final rubric for the practical exercise.
Part 2 | Desired Learning Outcomes & Assessment
Provide a brief description of the desired learning outcomes (e.g., what you'd like your learners to know or do by the conclusion of the learning experience) and how you plan to assess their learning of these desired learning outcomes. For now, keep this brief, but if there are specific guidelines (e.g., AASL guidelines) or standards (e.g., Virginia SOLs) that you have in mind, jot them down here.
Part 3 | Activities, Sequencing & Strategies
Based on your pedagogical knowledge and the evidence-based strategies and guidelines we've covered to date in our course (e.g., TPACK, generative strategies, UDL guidelines, Keller's ARCS model, etc.) provide a brief description of the activities that will need to be facilitated or supported as part of the learning experience. Place the activities in the order they will be sequenced within the learning experience (e.g., as the warmup or introduction, the demonstration/presentation, the practice opportunities they will be afforded, the peer-to-peer discussions, assessments, etc. ) Then align those activities to the evidence-based strategies and guidelines that will inform your design decisions as you create the activity. NOTE: For K12 educators, consider laying this out as you would a lesson plan with the additional mapping to the evidence-based strategies and guidelines that are informing the design of your learning activities.
Part 4 | Technology Selection
Describe the technologies (minimum of THREE) that will be used to create, facilitate, or support the learning experience you are designing for your Final Project, what activities the technology will support, and how the affordances will help support these activities. While a minimum of THREE different technologies are required, most students utilize more than three - and it’s common for students to switch to a different technology when they become more familiar with the affordances. Use this as a chance to consider your top three technology contenders.
Part 5 | Evaluation Plan
Evaluation Aims: Evaluation Aims: Describe the aims of your evaluation plan. In doing so, differentiate between the purpose of (a) the formative evaluation of your technology-enhanced learning experience (e.g., to consider the efficacy, efficiency, and usability of the instructional strategies, materials, technology integration, etc.), and (b) the assessment of student outcomes.
• Formative Evaluation of Technology Enhanced Learning Experience
o Instructional Strategies
1.) Efficacy-Is it grounded in US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)regulations, specifically TRADOC
Pamphlet 350-70-14? Does it incorporate industry best practice and reference any academic publication on the
subject? Does it follow the Experiential Learning Model (ELM) Format? E
2.) Efficiency-Does technology’s “how to” training fit the course’s time restraints?
3.) Usability-Can it be used in field and classroom settings and in deployed and training environments?
o Materials
1.) Efficacy- Can the training unit, an operational unit,or a student use and maintain the technology?
2.) Efficiency-Does the technology overburden the DODIN network?
3.) Usability-(a) Is it a level that high school graduates with some technological experience can use it or (b) is it something that remedial training can remedy?
o Technology Integration
1.) Efficacy--Does the current technology meet DODIN security requirements?
2.) Efficiency-Approximately, how much time does it take a student to possess a base understanding to operate the
technology in accordance with the requirement? Does it meet a 90/10 split (i.e., 10% of the learning time is spent
on learning the tech and 90% using the technology)?
3.) Usability-Can instructors, developers, and students access the technology on Department of Defense Information
Network (DODIN) Non-Classified Information Protocol (NIPR) computers?
• Assessment of Student Outcomes
o Task: Develop A Visual Product using Large Language Models
o Condition: Given a NIPR laptop, DOD approved LLM, and references on principles of design.
o Standard: Final project will include the following criteria: (a) a product that incorporates Target Audience analysis
considerations (b) a prompt that uses five out of the six prompt modifiers, and (c) incorporates five of the seven elements of design
Standard in line with TRADOC Pamphlet 350-70-14.
Evaluation Use: Describe how the results of your evaluation will be used to inform/revise the learning experience.
The ADDIE process, which is the approved TRADOC means for evaluation and technology integration, has the blueprint and architecture to foster required inputs and outputs that enhance the learning outcome and account for revision of the learning experience.
During the Design and Development phases of the ADDIE process, developers will remedy deficiencies in the learning experiences based on instructor, peer developer, or superior suggestions in real time.
During the Implementation phase, developers must be present in classes to observe student interaction with the new technology and note any difficulties students had with the material. In addition, developers will randomly select 10% of the students to provide feedback on the technology vis-à-vis the learning objective. Finally, the developer will receive feedback from the instructor. They will articulate how the technology helped or hindered the completion of the course objective and suggestions on how the technology will be accomplished.
During the Evaluation phase, developers, instructors, and instructional unit stakeholders will examine will use the results of summative assessments, student survey data, and instructor data in a Post-Instructional Conference (PIC). The results of the PIC will inform revision of learning material as it goes back into the Analysis phase.
Formative evaluation methods: Describe the methods you have chosen to conduct a formative evaluation of your learning experience. For guidance, see Tessmer (1993 & 1994) in this week's readings.
Evaluation Logistics: Specify within your plan who will evaluate, when, and under what conditions.
The first method is Expert Review. This expert review will not focus on expertise in the technology, but expertise in the task or in pedagogy. Within USAJFKSCS, the task expert’s defaults to the instructors and the pedagogical experts are those from the USAJFKSSWCS’s Staff and Faculty Training Division. This matches Tessmer’s (1993) criteria that experts meet one of the following categories: content experts, technical experts, designers, or instructor” (p. 15). In line with Tessmer’s execution strategy of expert review, (1993), these experts will “review the instruction with or without the evaluator present” (p. 15). Developers will provide the instructional material via organizational intranet portal or e-mail. The experts will send their findings to the developer upon completion for consideration.
The second evaluation method is Small Group. During the design phase, recent graduates of the Psychological Operations Course who are awaiting assignment orders to an operational unit will participate in the Small Group. This will not interrupt the student’s learning process and allow a fresh reflection on the material. They will receive a similar block of instruction to what they received previously; however, in this case it will be with the incorporation of the new technology. The developer will provide this instruction with this group of learners and record their performance and comments (Tessmer, 1993, p. 15).
Evaluation Criteria and Data: Describe your specific evaluation criteria and the data to be collected. For guidance, see Alessi & Trollip, S. (2001) in this week's other resources.
Part 6 | Project Deliverables Timeline
Provide a detailed outline of the project tasks you will be completing to design, develop, and evaluate your Final Project from now to the end of the semester with your timeline to complete each activity, as well as your best estimate of how long it will take you to complete each task. To help you manage your project's scope, break down your 40+ hours of total design, development, and evaluation time into the tasks you need to complete by the end of the semester. See the “Other Resources” section in our Week 11 Overview in Canvas for resources to help you estimate your time.
Estimating the time required to complete each task is NOT EASY, but setting (and sticking to) a timeline to complete the design, development, and evaluation of technology-enhanced is an important skill. Note: you will have a chance to review and revise your timeline in the coming weeks based on your actual progress.
This timeline of deliverables is to include:
● Task: What tasks you will be completing over the coming weeks to complete your Final Project. Think about this in terms of the tasks you will need to undertake to design and develop the major project deliverables you are creating.
● Due Date: When (the specific date) you plan to complete each task,
● Hours to Complete Task: How long (in hours) you estimate it will take you to complete each task
