Adaptive learning via social cognitive theory and digital cultural ecosystems

Abstract

This paper will look at the human predisposition to oral tradition and its effectiveness as a learning tool to convey mission-critical information. After exploring the effectiveness of the conveyance of information, the paper will examine current adaptive learning research and develop a system that will marry the strengths of oral tradition with those of an optimal adaptive learning environment. Emphasis will be made in the area of military service personnel stationed in contested cultures, the aiding of their arrival and once established their continual improvement processes. This paper will then illustrate a digital cultural ecosystem that leverages the strengths of current industry thinking in digital community development and social architecture combining the adaptive learning models discussed earlier to create a dynamic digital social ecology that could significantly improve the transition process by exposing service personnel to the collective learning of all of the personnel currently and previously deployed to a particular region. It will illustrate tools and techniques that can be used to filter the quality of the collective intelligence, the dynamic categorization of new narrative and the selective recommendation of content as an adaptive learning technique. This system will incorporate a virtual environment to test the quality of learning before the military personnel are deployed and a capture and debrief system that will enable the continual improvement of service personnel as they complete missions during their deployment. © 2009 Springer.