The homepage of the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence World Campus, a student-centric, educational and web-based platform, which launched Nov. 25, 2019. (Graphic by Danielle O’Donnell, NCO Leadership Center of Excellence)
NCOL CoE launches new academic portal
By Danielle O’Donnell, NCO Leadership Center of Excellence
The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence introduced a student-centric, educational and web-based platform, known as the NCOLCoE World Campus, Nov. 25, 2019.
The World Campus site is a centralized online delivery system of Professional Military Education, makes online learning easily accessible for Soldiers beyond the NCOL CoE's brick-and-mortar walls.
"The goal of this academic portal is to design a centralized educational platform to enhance the lifelong learning experience for Soldiers across the globe," said Sharonne Joy Jacobs, NCOL CoE World Campus manager.
The NCOL CoE understands that Soldiers have rather unique challenges in working toward achieving their educational goals, which is why the online platform will be a hybrid of information composed of resources from the government, private sector, and academia.
"Think of the NCOL CoE World Campus as a one-stop shop for all of your Professional Military Education, as well as your collegiate academic needs," Jacobs said.
The World Campus has a college or university website style and look, but operates within the Department of Defense design guidelines. It is hosted on the Armed Force Public Information Management System, which means more interaction, videos, tutorials, and interactive multimedia instruction products for the user. Equipped with the right resources, the user can be prepared and ready to attain success throughout both their career and academic pursuit due to the resources provided on the online portal.
The site’s learning resource center provides the learner with access to library materials, information services and collections of military history, leadership, military science, and management. It also includes access to Purdue University’s online writing lab, which contains writing resources and instructional materials to help assist the learner in developing their writing skills.
The World Campus course catalog contains a detailed listing of Professional Military Education courses within the NCO Professional Development System.
"The catalogs are very similar to those colleges and universities give to their prospective students and those already enrolled at the college or university," Jacobs said. "It includes course scopes and maps, module information, lesson objectives, and hours."
Features will continue to be added to the academic portal to enhance the user’s experience. Jacobs said the addition of an e-Portfolio is a future initiative she hopes will be integrated into the World Campus soon. It will be a digital repository created by a student of their course-related work, essays, posters, photographs, videos, and artwork.
"The primary purpose of e-Portfolios is to provide students with a broader, scaffolded and more integrated learning experience to foster stronger preparation for their professional life,” she said. Research shows that e-Portfolios have the potential to enhance graduate employability and prompt students to reflect on learning.”