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 The Aloha Alelo Quarterly Newsletter - March 2010 |
In this issue:
Archived newsletters: Alelo’s staff sends our best wishes to you this spring season. Alelo is abuzz with excitement over several new developments including Vista/Windows 7-compatible versions of our desktop language and culture training systems, new instructional efforts to support the mission in Afghanistan, a developing range of products to support coalition partners, the recent Open House that was held at our new facility in Los Angeles, and several upcoming events and trade shows. As we embrace the sense of renewal this time of year brings, we hope that all is well in your organizations and among your servicemembers, and wish you a productive, successful, and fruitful spring season. Sincerely,
Vista and Windows 7-compatible versions of our desktop language and culture training systems Alelo is pleased to announce the Vista and Windows 7-compatible versions of our desktop language and culture training systems. These versions cover several programs including Tactical Dari 1.2 and Operational Pashto 1.2, which are compatible for use with the Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. The new enhancements have also made the use of dedicated memory video cards no longer necessary to run any of these programs on Vista or Windows 7 systems. The programs provide a new user interface for the Mission Scenarios, and a number of advancements in speech recognition feedback, as well as new methods for tailoring lesson plans to the needs of specific users. Alelo Releases New Versions of its Language and Culture Training Systems The Tactical French 2.2 is the second major release of the system, and is now also compatible for use with the Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. This enhanced version includes expanded and improved material from the previous Tactical French release and adds a significant amount of instructional material to cover the skills necessary in order to achieve Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Level 1 as rated on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) for French. Tactical French 2.2 also introduces a new interface and advancements in speech recognition feedback. In March, Alelo also released Tactical Iraqi 5.2. Compared to the previously released Tactical Iraqi system (version 4.0.2), this version adds a significant amount of instructional material to cover the skills necessary in order to achieve ILR Level 1 on the OPI for Iraqi Arabic. Also included in the new Tactical Iraqi is an added scenario, entitled “Conducting a Pre-Deployment Site Survey (PDSS) for Medical Civil Affairs Program (MEDCAP).” This scenario is based on a detailed mission, as described by Mission Capability Assessment System Navy Personnel, for conducting a PDSS in preparation for a MEDCAP. The mission requires that a sailor interact and build rapport with host nation government, military, and NGO officials in order to obtain necessary information and permission for the mission. The Scenario is divided into four episodes, which the user must navigate successfully in order to complete the entire mission. In addition, the Skill Builder contains six new lessons which teach the user the language and culture which he needs to navigate the PDSS Scenario. Alelo has released its first release of the Indonesian Language and Culture Training System version. It contains nine Skill Builder units, 54 Lessons and six Mission Game scenarios. Simulating real-life in-country situations, the scenarios include Arriving at the Jakarta International Airport, Meeting the Kebon Pinang Leader, Buying a Gift, Providing Embassy Security, Finding the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) Commander and Coordinating Humanitarian Assistance. In addition, the Indonesian Language and Culture Training System includes nine units, which cover: Introductions, Building Rapport, Hospitality, Purchasing, Routine Embassy Security, Emergency Embassy Security, Directions, Humanitarian Assistance: Meeting Leaders, and Humanitarian Assistance: Providing Aid. The Indonesian Language and Culture Training System version 1.0 also includes an Arcade Game with five speaking levels and five listening levels, and a Reference Wizard with a glossary and grammatically-annotated phrase translations.
Alelo is developing OLCTS, which is an integrated suite of training capabilities that span a range of media platforms, from Advanced Distributed Learning-complaint Web delivery to handheld devices to multi-player immersive simulations. OLCTS offers anytime, anywhere training in operational language and culture. Alelo has released OLCTS Pashto for desktop. The content of the OLCTS Pashto system was expanded to the size and scope of OLCTS Dari, and the latest features of our content methods and pedagogy were incorporated. The Beta OLCTS Pashto for iPod is available on a limited basis. This application displays information to trainees in an entertaining and easy-to-use touch screen format to help aid in learning foreign languages. The complete application consists of lessons broken down into several pages with various exercises per page. With the convenience of the program in a hand-held mobile format, students have the benefit of easily accessible language instruction. Beta OLCTS Pashto for iPod will be available for public release later this year. In order to meet the needs of the current technology community, Alelo continues to upgrade and improve its previously released award-winning products. These updates and new releases are designed to make Alelo’s programs more accessible to more individual users than in the past. They also serve to keep Alelo on the cutting-edge of interactive culture and language instruction. Alelo will release more OLCTS products in late spring 2010. Be on the lookout for these product releases, and future enhancements of the OLCTS training capabilities. Alelo Provides Instructional Support to the Mission in Afghanistan
Our newly released Dari language program includes 51 Skill Builder lessons containing both enhanced material and new material, including: 44 example dialogues, 31 active dialogues, more than 1350 exercises and quizzes, more than 650 language instruction pages, and 64 cultural information pages. A "Culture Reference" lesson has also been added which collects all the cultural notes in the curriculum. Free downloads of the Pashto and Dari programs are available to all people with a .mil email account at http://dodsupport.alelo.com In addition, Alelo is in its first year of a two-year Office of Naval Research (ONR) project called Commonsense Socio-Cultural Models for Culture Training in Serious Games (also known as CultureCom). CultureCom supports the development of more believable dialogs and interactions that one might encounter in Afghanistan. In year one, Alelo’s anthropology team is working with computational linguists and discourse analysts to collect ethnographic data from Afghan subject matter experts with experience interacting with servicemembers and other foreigners in country. The CultureCom project will help Alelo content developers to more adequately assess the likely outcomes of certain cultural interactions with purpose of advancing dialogs found in Alelo’s training systems focusing on the country of Afghanistan.
Alelo is currently developing NATO partner versions of all of its military products, including OLCTS Pashto/Dari/French/Iraqi Arabic for desktop and iPhone. The NATO versions of the OLCTS training system feature the “International” version of the second major release of the Tactical French. It includes non-US military terminology and visuals to accommodate the needs of an international NATO trainee population. The NATO partner versions of Alelo’s software are compatible for use with the Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. The NATO partner versions of Pashto for desktop and iPhone will be released and demonstrated at ITEC in London, England (May 18-20, 2010). In addition, Alelo is developing special versions of our Dari and Pashto handheld products for the United Kingdom military, and a German version of Operational Dari for evaluation by the German Army. More details about these versions of Alelo’s products will be announced in the Alelo Summer 2010 newsletter.
Alelo recently moved to a new facility in Los Angeles to further expand our ability to develop media-rich, task-driven culture and language learning products that help people prepare for overseas assignments and facilitate cross-cultural communication. To celebrate the opening of our new offices, Alelo hosted an Open House which featured demonstrations of Alelo’s award-winning products and previews of emerging technologies. During the Open House, Alelo staff members demonstrated products including OLCTS Pashto and OLCTS Dari. These “serious games” help service members prepare for deployments to Afghanistan. In addition, the Open House included demonstrations of the newly released goEnglish.me, a Web site developed for Voice of America which provides instructional resources to Farsi speakers who are interested in American language and culture. Each of the demonstrated products incorporate advanced speech recognition, artificial intelligence, and gaming technologies.
Alelo has several public events coming up in the near future. Join us at an event near you!
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Happy Spring!
Alelo Releases New Versions of its Language and Culture Training Systems
Operational Language and Culture Training System (OLCTS)
Alelo aims to support the mission in Afghanistan through the development of several task-based programs, including our suite of Pashto and Dari language products. Our Pashto language program provides over 300% more content than the previous release. The new release has cultural training content that consists of 44 lessons, nine units, 31 active dialogs, 37 example dialogs, 66 culture notes, eleven gestures, 187 templatized mini-dialogs, and an “Introduction to Afghanistan” lesson.
Alelo Expands its Range of Products for US Partner Forces 
Alelo goes West: Open House Celebration at New Facility in Los Angeles
