AICC Podcast: Peter Morton discusses early issues

A podcast interview with Peter Morton is now available (direct download: AICC-20th-Peter-Morton.mp3 (MP3 audio, 5.6 MB)). This is the first in what we hope to be a sustained series of podcasts from the AICC. It is only appropriate that this first interview is with one of the principal figures in the formation of the AICC.

Peter Morton and his Cirrus

Peter was a prominent figure in the formation of the AICC and was responsible for airline training at Boeing during the 1987-1995 time period. During the interview he shares memories of the formation of the AICC, including the interoperability and proprietary platform issues of the time. Please listen to this 12 minute podcast to learn about the AICC, the CBT of the late 1980s and Peter's memories of Boeing 777 CBT development. At the end of the interview, Peter admits he was initially surprised that the AICC is still active, and then upon reflection expresses his thoughts on the surprising longevity, and future, of the AICC.

Tips on AICC Podcasts

The RSS feed to subscribe to AICC Podcasts is: http://www.aicc.org/podcast

That link will allow you to directly download the podcast from a feed reader or podcast client. The free AICC podcast feed has also been submitted to the Apple iTunes store and is undergoing the review process. In the meantime those with an iPod or iPhone can manually subscribe to the podcast as follows

1. Right-click on this AICC Podcast link and select “Copy shortcut.”
2. Open iTunes and us the “Advanced” menu to select “Subscribe to Podcast.”
3. Look for the “Subscribe to Podcast” popup window. Paste AICC Podcast link URL into the field labeled “URL:”
4. Click “OK.” The most recent episode(s) will download to your computer. Enjoy them on your iPod or iPhone.

UPDATE August 12, 2008: The iTunes link has been approved. iTunes users can subscribe or download via this link: AICC Podcasts.

Share and Enjoy AICC Memories

Visit the AICC Forum to read about how AICC got started and the recollections of AICC participants. Add your own success stories, links and memories. All are welcome.

http://aicc.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1214451897

Stay tuned to the AICC News Blog where we plan to add more highlights and some short podcasts as we celebrate 20 years of AICC achievements and experiences in aviation and technology-based training. The AICC is reaching out to past participants and AICC Chairmen for their observations and recollections. Please feel free to contribute and enjoy.

Updated Agenda: AICC June 16-19, 2008 in Hamburg

An updated draft agenda is now available from the AICC Meeting Information page. Please remember to make your travel and registration arrangements-- hotels are filling up. The AICC meetings will be hosted by Airbus on June 16-19, 2008 in Hamburg, Germany at the Airbus Training Center.

NOTE: There is a possibility that meetings will be extended through Friday noon in order to accommodate additional work sessions and discussion. We are working hard to confirm that and hope to resolve that issue in the next 10 days.

Lodging- See the agenda on the meeting information page. Airbus has provided a list of hotels close to the Airbus Training Center, close to the meeting venue (closest is about 200 meters) and in downtown Hamburg (a 30-40 minute drive).

Registration- Please confirm your plan to attend the meeting by email. The meeting is being held at the Airbus facility and policy requires all attendees to also provide their name and passport number.

Click here to register or send email to and with your name, company name and the required passport number.

Meeting Fees- Meeting fees are waived for all AICC members in good standing. Non-members of AICC (who are not giving a presentation) will be charged $150 to attend the meeting. For membership information visit the AICC Membership page.

Celebrate at WATS as the AICC turns 20

The World Aviation Training Conference & Tradeshow (WATS) runs April 22-24, 2008 in Orlando, Florida, USA. At the WATS event, AICC members Ray Butler (UPS) and Mike Sharp (Honeywell) will lead a breakout session to describe and discuss recent activities and major milestone achievements in celebration the 20th anniversary of the AICC.

Many AICC members are sponsors and/or exhibitors at WATS and will feature the Proud to be AICC logo to help us celebrate.

Please look for AICC members and WATS sponsors Airbus, Alteon Training, Boeing and Honeywell International at WATS. Also visit other AICC members in the exhibit hall, including: domiKnow Learning Systems, Hurix Systems, Pelesys Learning Systems, VTN Technologies, and others.

If your organization is an AICC Member that will be in the exhibit hall and you have not received an AICC placard, please send an email to , or see an AICC representative at the event.

AICC on Facebook and LinkedIn

The AICC has created groups on Facebook and LinkedIn to facilitate social networking amongst AICC members and anyone interested in cost-efficient, instructionally-effective technology-based training. Please consider joining the group “AICC- Aviation Industry CBT Committee” if you are already a member of Facebook or LinkedIn, or consider signing up with either free system to connect to others sharing interest in AICC.

As always, the AICC site and Forums will be available for communication to members and the general community.

UPDATE: After receiving feedback we've added direct links to join these groups.

• Join AICC on Facebook  login to Facebook before following link
• Join AICC on LinkedIn  will prompt you to login or join

AICC-LETSI Content Aggregation Workshop Summary

The AICC and LETSI wish to thank to all who participated in or contributed to the February 1, 2008 workshop on content aggregation for Core SCORM held at the Winter AICC meeting hosted by Adobe.

Contributed position statements/material and meeting minutes are available on the LETSI wiki at:

http://www.letsi.org/letsi/display/TRWG/Content+Aggregation+Project

NOTE: LETSI wiki requires a free registration for access.

Please feel free to post any comments using the add comment feature at the bottom of the wiki pages or contact directly contact the Technical Work Group lead, Tyde Richards, if you have particular issues or additional documents that you would like to post.

The workshop concluded with an agreement to use the workshop material and discussion as the starting point for a white paper on content aggregation requirements for Core SCORM. This work will carry forward in the LETSI Technical Roadmap WG, and updated information will be posted to the wiki page referenced above.

Please contact Tyde Richards directly if you are interested in helping to author the white paper. Contact information for Tyde is available through the People directory of the LETSI wiki.

AICC forms Committee on Authorware Concerns

The AICC will be working jointly with Adobe to consolidate concerns, priorities, solutions and information relating to sustaining and migrating Authorware content. The committee will establish community teleconferences and web-based workspaces for the developer, consumer and vendor communities to collaborate.

An initial teleconference will be held in February 2008, and a notice will be placed here on the AICC News Blog and on other elearning community sites.

Please indicate your interesting in participating by contacting the AICC Committee on Authorware Concerns via the email link provided. Initial committee meetings will be open to both AICC members and non-members.

AICC PENS AGR-011 Available in French

To further facilitate international adoption, the AICC Package Exchange Notification Services (PENS) AGR document has been translated to French. AICC Guidelines and Recommendations (AGRs) represent the official voice of the AICC with respect to a designated area. All AGRs, including AGR-011 for PENS, have been formally voted upon and approved by the general voting membership of the AICC.

The AICC expresses special thanks to Marc Van Coillie of EIfEL, and Bernard Bouyt and Jean-Louis Bravo of Airbus for their gracious volunteer efforts to translate this document. The PENS AGR summarizes the protocol and provides a rationale for advocating its use. Availability of this document "en francais" will help the shared efforts of the AICC and the European Institute for E-Learning to support interoperability demonstrations at iLearning Forum 2008 in Paris.

Now available from the AICC Publications page: AGR011 - CBT Package Exchange Notification en français [PDF, 168K].

Agenda Complete for January 2008 Meetings

The agenda is complete for the AICC meetings January 28, 2008 - February 1, 2008 in San Jose, California. The most current meeting agenda and logistic information is available from the AICC Meeting Information page at http://www.aicc.org/pages/aicc4.htm. It looks to be a great meeting with compelling content, and a follow-on Content Packaging workshop held in conjunction with ADL and LETSI.

Featured topics and speakers for the main AICC meeting include:

• Airline Information
• Pilot Qualification into Special Airports, OJ Tredway (American Airlines)
• Managing e-Learning for Aviation Training with ATMS, Scott Carson (AQT)
• Authorware End-of-Development Discussions
• Adobe Authorware Review, Ellen Wagner (Adobe)
• Moderated Open Discussion (all)
• Authorware Conversion, Robby Robertson (Eduworks)
• Best Practice for Conversion, Abhijit Navale (Hurix Learning)
• Product News & Information
• Adobe Acrobat 3D, Rak Bhalla (Adobe)
• Microsoft ESP, Scott Andersen (Microsoft)
• Adobe Connect, Peter Ryce (Adobe)
• Adobe Flex and AIR, Danny Dura (Adobe)
• FlockPod, Janhavi Padture (Harbinger)
• Oracle, Jonathan Vinoskey (Oracle)
• SumTotal Training, Bill Docherty (SumTotal)
• Humentum, Ken Spero (Humentum)
• Xyleme, Mark Hellinger (Xyleme)
• NetDimensions, t.b.d. (NetDimensions)
• Subcommittee Updates and Work Sessions
• Management and Processes, Bruce Perrin (Boeing)
• CMI / Independent Test Lab, Bill McDonald (Alteon Training)
• Metadata, Bill Shook (Boeing), Jack Hyde (AICC)
• LETSI & LETSI Technical Workgroup, Tyde Richards (Eduworks)
• Communications, Tom King (Masie Consortium)
• Airline Industry Affairs, Ray Butler (UPS)
• Chairman's Report, Neil Cramer (NWA)
• Other Sessions
• Managing & Managing Tech Docs & Training Materials, Maria McGinn / Daniel Lemieux (EEDO)
• State-Engine-Driven Instructional Interactions, David Castillo (CTC)

ADL-AICC-LETSI Workshop February 1, 2008

The AICC will host a half-day ADL-AICC-LETSI Workshop on Content Aggregation for Core SCORM on Friday, February 1, 2008 in conjunction with the AICC meeting in San Jose, California. A wiki page providing some candidate issues for discussion is available on the LETSI wiki at: http://www.letsi.org/letsi/display/TRWG/Content+Aggregation+Workshop (site requires a no cost registration).

Interested parties are requested to submit a one page position statement in advance of the meeting. Those unable to attend in person are also welcome to submit a position statement. Please email position statements to trichards@eduworks.com and ann@aicc.org. A small meeting fee applies for non-AICC members attending the meeting and also covers participation in the general AICC meeting earlier in the week. Logistical information on the AICC meeting is available at: http://www.aicc.org/pages/aicc4.htm.

Please submit position papers and confirm your attendance plans no later than January 18, 2008 by sending email to trichards@eduworks.com and ann@aicc.org.

The Passing of Philip Dodds

We are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Philip Dodds, one of our most significant contributors to the world of learning technology. Trying to sum up Phillip's contributions seems almost trite. It is enough to say that he truly touched every aspect of the learning technology world and had an impact on every member of the community. His vision and leadership can not be forgotten and his legacy will live on, reflected and shining each time a learner logs on.

For those of us carrying forward, we hope only that we can do justice to Philip's legacy. Our thoughts and prayers are with Philip's family and friends and we join together to say God's speed.

- Neil Cramer
   Chair, AICC

[Please feel free to read or add to the comments already posted here.]

The Passing of Philip V.W. Dodds

Artist, inventor, innovator, collaborator and colleague Philip V.W. Dodds passed away on Saturday morning. Please help me recognize and celebrate his accomplishments and the lives he continues to touch.

I tried to write this yesterday and just couldn't. I truly believe the elearning community would not have SCORM as it is today without Philip's contributions as a visionary thinker, organizer, architect and evangelist. He was a man of art and a man of science. He loved technology, yet took great pride and active participation in true and faithful restorations to his historic home. He was drawing electronic circuits on blackboards at an early age, did R&D at ARP Instruments and Kurzweil Music, and led the charge to make CD-ROMs and sound cards a standard part of personal computers through his efforts with IMA and the MPC "Multimedia PC" standards efforts in the late 80's and early 90's.

I'd encourage you to learn more about him real soon now, courtesy of a page available through the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Meantime, here is what Elliott Masie had to share about Philip in a message to the Learning Consortium:

"What are we saying to each other?"

That was a single line, spoken by the sound engineer at the end of Close Encounters of a Third Kind, as he played chords and a friendly alien spaceship played music back.

The role was played by a young sound engineer who was spotted by Steven Spielberg and given the on-screen role to be the interface between these two worlds. That man, Philip Dodds, was still young and inventing, as he passed this Saturday morning.

Philip Dodds was the Chief Architect of SCORM and the force behind sharable and reusable content. He was deeply involved in the evolution of interactive multimedia and expanding the possibilities for learning via technology.

If you use a Learning Management System, author an interactive learning module or talk about the future of Web 2.0, take a moment to thank a man who you probably never met. Philip's work was KEY and CRITICAL to the exciting world of learning, knowledge management and collaboration that we take for granted.

Philip's dreams were to create a global set of standards and specifications that would allow content to be searchable, reusable and expandable.

Philip, we thank you for all that you have done and we'll keep asking that question: "What are we saying to each other?"

With respect and sadness,

Elliott Masie

P.S. wikipedia reference at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Dodds