MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala -- Air University’s Airman Leadership School Distance Learning 2.0 is officially launching June 17, 2024, as part of the Global College of Professional Military Education at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
ALS Distant Learning was put in place as a virtual alternative to the in-person ALS course, for those who did not have the ability to physically attend the course.
Although the course offers the ability for Airmen to attend from remote locations, the original design was still lacking in comparison to the in-person version.
“We revised the program for two reasons,” said Obia Clark, Enlisted Professional Military Education Curriculum Development director. “One reason was to update the curriculum to reflect current EPME requirements. The second, probably most important reason, was to ensure our Guard and Reserve distance learning students were meeting the same learning outcomes as the active-duty in-residence students. As members of the Total Force, we wanted to create an environment where our students could learn how to supervise, lead, and manage at the same level as their active-duty counterparts.”
The changes offered through ALS Distance Learning 2.0 intend to close the gap in quality between both versions by offering the most personal experience possible on a virtual platform. The new facilitation gives learners the opportunity to apply concepts in a peer-to-peer learning experience, directly engaging with classmates while receiving personalized feedback from their instructors. The program also adds threaded discussion questions, through which students will demonstrate their knowledge of leadership, supervision, and the military.
“In the past iteration of the program, we essentially had ‘graders’ in the capstone course,” Clark said. “Now, the capstone course will be fully facilitated by contracted instructors providing individualized feedback to each student.”
The new program immerses students in real-world scenarios, equipping them with the skills necessary to supervise and lead the Air Force of tomorrow.