Engage

Training, which is conducted in classroom, field, and virtual settings, is a critical element of military readiness. Large-scale social networks, interactive content, and ubiquitous mobile access are emerging as driving technologies in education and training. At the same time, education analytics presents new opportunities for assessing the effectiveness of training strategies, understanding trends and effects in large volumes of education data, and relating these back to alternative modes of instruction. Training, which is conducted in classroom, field, and virtual settings, is a critical element of military readiness. Large-scale social networks, interactive content, and ubiquitous mobile access are emerging as driving technologies in education and training. At the same time, education analytics presents new opportunities for assessing the effectiveness of training strategies, understanding trends and effects in large volumes of education data, and relating these back to alternative modes of instruction. DARPA created the ENGAGE program to enable the development of education and training systems that are better, faster, continuously optimized, and massively scalable. ENGAGE is exploring software- and data-intensive education and training methods that harness the power of large user populations to optimize instruction. Where traditional educational assessments tested effectiveness on small samples (<100), the ENGAGE approach to assessment involves thousands or tens of thousands of students. To facilitate this approach, ENGAGE has focused initially on interactive technologies for K-12 students, including those served by the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), a government-sponsored organization responsible for educating the children of military personnel around the world. It is anticipated that the same techniques used in the ENGAGE program to optimize educational content and instruction in math and science can be applied to a wide variety of military and civilian training contexts. To date, ENGAGE has created several interactive learning sites, with new programs debuting every few months for both desktop and mobile devices. ENGAGE highlights include: Refraction (http://www.centerforgamescience.org/site/games/refraction) Treefrog Treasure (http://centerforgamescience.org/portfolio/treefrog-treasure/) Computer Science Student Network (http://www.cs2n.org) CS2N Virtual Robot Worlds (http://cs2n.org/activities/robot-virtual-worlds/expedition-atlantis) Neurostorm (http://www.intific.com/index.php/products/neuroscience/neurostorm) OurSpace (http://www.intific.com/index.php/products/education/our-space) CMU’s ETC Helios (http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/impact/?page_id=18) Washington State Algebra Challenge (http://algebrachallenge.org/)