The Air Force’s new blended learning construct that combines digital and in-person education will put the emphasis back on the learner, CMSAF James Cody told reporters at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Wednesday. “We have worked diligently over decades to build the brick-and-mortar system that we have today; it is a high-quality level of education that we provide for our airmen, but it is now beginning to lag,” he said. The new approach will allow airmen to master academic content on their own and focus on experiential learning during their actual in-residence periods, he said. “In a classroom, it’s instructor-centric. … But at the end of that session … it’s over,” said Cody. “With distance learning, it’s learner-centric,” he said.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…