Training Adaptability in Digital Skills

This paper reports on a project that addresses a critical need for tomorrow's Army: Training in the ability to adapt digital skills to the ever-changing evolution of technology. As outlined in this Phase I report, Aptima and the Group for Organizational Effectiveness (gOE) have lain the groundwork for an innovative, computer-based, digital-skills training package designed to increase the adaptability of digital skills. The key innovative idea is a modular training package that links fundamental digital knowledge to device-specific knowledge and to the specific tasks that soldiers are trained to perform. Generalizable, transferable digital skills are not taught in a vacuum, but instead are learned in the context of device- and job-specific goals. As the digitization of the battlefield progresses, tomorrow's soldiers must be able to adapt, innovate, and rapidly transfer digital knowledge and skills to new software and new equipment. Soldiers need training in transferable digital skills in addition to training in setting-up, using, and maintaining specific digital equipment. The training being developed - the prototype of which is described in this report - will have general applicability to any domain requiring general digital skills, and will be easily customized to provide maximum learning regardless of the digital system targeted.