Learning System Design: Enhancing CMO Education
As part of the CMO School’s curriculum for this training cycle, we became the first batch of students to be introduced to the mock City of Kawang-gawa, a simulated and interactive community plagued by issues and problems found in a typical operational environment in the field.
The background of the city is a combination of operational data gathered from the different areas of operations of the Army’s line units throughout the country. This community became the basis of our area studies, practical exercises, and other course requirements. The Army CMO School established the online mock community to address the prevailing problems found in the traditional training package such as the students’ difficulties in understanding the information provided in previous area studies, the lack of needed information, and confusing story line.
This learning initiative is called the Learning System Design and it simplified data presentation which granted us a clear picture of the situation and helped us fully apply our newly-acquired knowledge and skills. Henceforth, the students of the three courses can now fully appreciate the concept of inter-operability of the three pillars, as we all tackle the same mock community and handle the scenarios based on the pillar we are specializing in.
As soon as the specialization phase for each course begins, we went online to access the website of the City of Kawang-gawa City, where all pertinent information about the community are posted. News clippings and updates are posted on the website for the students to keep track of. The information gathered in the website are the bases of the practical exercises during the theoretical phase.
The events and updates in the City are posted in chronological order, which helped us to understand the situation and easily follow the storyline. From the area study, up to the Command Post Exercise, we were able to picture out and analyze how the events and persons in the City of Kawang-gawa are all related to each other. All the actors in the mock community follows a specific profile, and the challenge for us was to come up with the appropriate strategy on how to approach them. Furthermore, the scenarios were realistic, it almost captured the actual operational environment found in the field.
As a result, the comprehensive story lay-out and the interrelated events embedded in the mock community made it easier for the Army CMO School to conduct an effective and organized CPX. We also experienced simulated situations through our interaction with the actors who assessed our reaction and critical thinking to resolve the different scenarios presented during the exercise.
Moreover, we the students of Information Support affairs Course and Civil Affairs Course were able to practice the concepts we learned in the past two months. We were able to develop ISA materials for the intended target audience and initiated CA activities in collaboration with the local government unit and non-governmental organizations of the mock community.
Although the design of the LSD can still be improved, we were able to fully comprehend the concepts because of the focus on the practical application. Furthermore. all of our activities will form part of the history of Kawang-gawa and will be used as a basis of the future students of the Army CMO School in their respective trainings.
For us graduates, the Learning System Design will no doubt be one of our most memorable learning experiences as we go back to our respective units and assume our duties and responsibilities as CMO specialists.
