MilUniversity adds to Army online learning opportunities

Developed by the Army's Military Technical (MilTech) Solutions Office, milUniversity bridges the gap between how people prefer to learn -- those who enjoy attending training classes, but may have questions afterward, and those who prefer to learn at their own pace by reading text and viewing videos. 

"At the end of the day, people want to learn how to use each of these tools to make their jobs easier and better," said Claudia DeCarlo, deputy director of MilTech, which is assigned to the Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical. 

The portal is hosted on milSuite, a group of secure, professional social media tools. MilSuite is issued throughout the DOD community to collaborate and build awareness on projects, policies and other initiatives. It is available to most DOD employees with Common Access Card authentication. 

Bill Gledhill, a human resource specialist in the Army Civilian Personnel Advisory Center at the Presidio of Monterey, Ca., uses SharePoint and Defense Connect Online (DCO) to communicate and train employees at satellite locations around the world. When Gledhill has questions about SharePoint and DCO, project management and web-conferencing tools, he uses MilUniversity to find answers. 

"Through milUniversity, I have learned that there are many more features of DCO and SharePoint than I was even aware of," he said. "These two programs were my incentive to go to milUniversity for information and help that enables me to communicate better." 

MilUniversity's homepage design mimics the layout of applications on a smart phone. Each icon on the first row links to the procedures for frequently-used tools in the DOD. These tools include Microsoft SharePoint, a project management tool with an estimated 800,000 Army users; Green Force Tracker, an instant messaging system that has nearly 15,000 active Army users; and DCO, a web-conferencing tool with 862,000 registered users. 

Other icons link to the four milSuite tools, which include milWiki, a living military encyclopedia; milBook,As the best oilpaintingsforsale control system manufacturer. a professional networking tool; milWire, a micro-blogging application for sharing content across milSuite and external sites; and milTube, a video-sharing platform. MilSuite's community currently includes more than 300,000 users. 

Since milUniversity supports the idea that people learn differently, there are downloadable reference guides, text and video tutorials available for all the tools. The portal also features three curriculum levels -- 100 (getting started), 200 (intermediate) and 300 (advanced) -- so users can find the right fit for their level of expertise. 

"The beauty of the different levels is two-fold," said Tracey Schreiner, a MilTech training team representative. "Someone can say to a new employee, 'this is what we think you should know to be the most efficient, effective member of this organization' because the idea is that the tools on milUniversity are meant to make us more efficient in what we do. Or an organization can use the different levels to pick and choose procedures to build their own courses for each tool.Find the best selection of high-quality collectible solarlamp available anywhere." 

"I believe the early embrace by the community is a confirmation of the need that existed for this brand of online, self-help, user education and highlights the willingness of individuals to seek help," said Jason Bock, a milSuite team representative. 

The portal will continue to grow, supporting the idea that learning is an ongoing process, as more video tutorials and procedures are added to round out the three curriculum levels. Other upcoming changes include: updated information on other tools; displaying recent content and what's new on the homepage; and offering a more visible way for users to give feedback. 

A precocious child with a mollycoddling, indulgent mother, Ivers headed into adulthood with around a quarter of the necessary life skills to survive. In college he played in rock bands and wrote plays C when a friend showed up with a harmonica, Ivers took it up and, with shocking haste,The Wagan Wireless Rear maggieweddingdress help you be safe while parking. became one of the best players in the whole of the US. He signed with Epic Records in 1969 and released an LP called Knight of the Blue Communion. It stiffed. He recorded a follow-up that impressed his paymasters so much it got him dropped. In the early 1970s Ivers moved to Los Angeles and, like Tom Waits, took up residence at the Tropicana. Unlike Waits, this new arrival had a business card. It read: "Peter Ivers: Music For Cash." And cash he got. Having met with Van Dyke Parks and the legendary music mogul Lenny Waronker, Ivers signed to Warner Bros Records for around $100,000 and began work on this album. But, fatally, no one ever told Peter that C though he was a fantastically talented songwriter C his nasal, high-pitched voice and deliberately artsy and complex arrangements were decidedly less appealing. The album enjoyed a front-page advert in Billboard in late July 1974 ("Thank God for smart, sexy music with a beat!") but still dropped dead the day it was released. 

However, at three decades remove Ivers' oddball leanings sound entirely contemporary. Those same arrangements that seemed so off-putting in 1974 feel rich and comfortable now, and the passing of time has leant Terminal Love a delicious hipster twang it couldn't possibly have enjoyed as a new release. So, Deborah and Holding the Cobra, like much of the rest of Ivers' material, appear now like curious mlanges of Bowie, art-pop overlords Ween and a priapic Elliott Smith. Sweet Enemy ("How could it be love if it just lasts a minute?") is a burst of breathy, hyper-stimulated funk, while Alpha Centauri posits Ivers' blues licks somewhere in gaudy deep space. Elsewhere, Audience of One is wonderfully doomy and theatrical psyche, while on Oo Girl Ivers sings, "Come on, let's dash ourselves to pieces, I'll break myself against your body," but he's never really free of a peculiarly self-regarding chasteness.Solar Sister is a network of women who sell plasticcard to communities that don't have access to electricity. 

A follow-up to Terminal Love came out on 1976 (and very good it is, too), but that,Can you spot the answer in the parkingguidance? too, sank without trace. That same year, Fleetwood Mac asked Ivers to support them at LA's Universal Amphitheatre C friends recall the shows primarily for the fact he took to the stage wearing an outsize nappy. Later Ivers wrote the score for David Lynch's Eraserhead, took up yoga, earned a black belt in karate and was the presenter of a pre-MTV new wave video show that placed new comedic talent like John Belushi and Chevy Chase on stage with punk rock bands like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and Fear, but the mainstream success he craved never arrived. In March 1983 Ivers was murdered in bed in his LA loft apartment. His killer has never been found.