Ukraine International ADL Conference
Continuing our multi-year work with the National Defense University of Ukraine (NDUU), we provided a secure virtual environment and comprehensive logistics support for the NDUU’s fifth annual Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) conference on November 21, 2022, which included simultaneous Ukrainian-English language translation. The ongoing war made an in-person event impossible, but the successful online conference served to emphasize its theme: the experience and lessons learned from Ukraine for distributed training and education in wartime as a capability to sustain the fight.
We designed, built, and hosted a dedicated website for the event. It remains active and features an archive of the research presented at the NDUU’s five national ADL conferences as well as event photos and videos.
The 150 conference participants included military training specialists from units of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense; distance learning specialists from Ukraine’s military and civilian higher education and scientific institutions; representatives from a variety of Ukrainian government ministries and departments; and international eLearning specialists from Germany, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, and the US.
Dr. Volodymyr Mirnenko, Ukraine’s military education chief, opened the event, and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Caroline Baxter delivered the kickoff keynote address. Other conference speakers included NDUU Commandant Colonel General Mykhailo Koval, Norwegian Major General Dag Rist Aamoth, UK Major General Andrew Roe, Moodle founder Martin Dougiamas, NATO ACT Technology Training Section Head Paul Thurkettle, and Jefferson Institute President Dr. Aaron Presnall
The conference presented an opportunity for partner nations to show their support for Ukraine, and for Ukraine to highlight the importance of resilient education and training for integrated deterrence, security cooperation, and credible combat capability.
The Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Norway provided generous financial support to enable the planning, funding, and execution of the conference as part of a multi-year Capacity Building project funding Jefferson Institute efforts to develop the eLearning systems of the Ukraine Armed Forces.
