x
Loading . . .
New Post-Grad Course
Hello fellow members of the Rebel Squadrons. Over the past 10+ months (since a bus ride home during Christmas of ’07) I have been working on a pet project which started out as an idea and a vision. On that bus-ride I wrote up the original outlines for a new XvTED Academy program based around a 4 tier system of difficulty levels. Since then, I have worked on and off of writing the content, adding visual aid to the content, and reviewing the content with a panel of peers to produce a well defined, well detailed, and well documented program aimed at teaching people how to use the XvTED program.
For those of you who are slightly unaware of what XvTED is, it is the program that the TacOps division (and the RgF before them) uses to build the XvT and BoP ITOD missions which are flown on a regular basis in the club. Over the years we have had a dwindling base of capable builders to help aid in not only the Fleet level missions but also Squadron level ITODs. The purpose of this program is to help teach new people to fill these positions, as well as give people a better understanding of what it takes for our regular ITOD builders to produce your monthly (well, they’re supposed to be) missions.
The course website is located at http://vsg.rebelsquadrons.org/xvtedacad and is currently populated with a sign-ups page, a current student listings page, an alumni page (which I hope to fill with many eager people), and an instructor page for the logistical handling of the program. Other pages already included are five individual course pages which give you the outlines of the course material as well as a Challenge program for the first two courses for those people who are already familiar with the program to some degree and feel that they already have a good handle on the course material. The final links on this page take you to a downloads section which hosts links for all of the relevant available files to the course as well as links to pages hosting the final submissions from the students for completion of a course.
To give you all a basic understanding of the Academy course right here, it revolves around 4 course level difficulties broken up into 6 separate courses. These courses are: Level 1 – Program Basics, Level 2 – Detailed Construction, Level 3 – Advanced Construction: Train/Campaign, Melee/Tournament, and Combat/Battle, and finally Level 4 – Instructor’s Course (not yet completed). Level 1 looks at introducing the student to the program for the first time, teaching the very basics surrounding the construction of a mission while also trying to enforce good building habits. Level 2 then builds upon the foundation of Level 1 and teaches the student how to build a full-bodied mission, near comparable to ITOD quality missions. The Level 3 courses take what was learnt in Levels 1 and 2 and have the student apply them to a project based assignment to help them learn to apply a running storyline or a common theme to a series of missions. Finally, Level 4, which has yet to be completed, will be aimed at bringing in new instructors to the program. It will focus on advanced troubleshooting, instruction of lower course levels, and interaction with other builders.
For now, course material will be held off-site and supplied to those accepted to the program. The trial period will determine the best methods for supplying material and aid in the learning process. The sign-up sheet will only show those courses available to your completion level for registration, removing courses completed and adding new courses as they become available to you.
And finally, as with any good learning program, there are rewards for completing them. First and foremost is the introduction of a new set of medals for the courses, which can be viewed at http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/medals/view?id=371. Next is the integration of the XvT/BoP Mission Building skill level that is viewed on your profile. This will be removed from manual editing and will be linked to the program to represent a proven skill as opposed to a self-credited skill. On top of this, for Level 2, a person will be recommended to TacOps as a person possessing the necessary skills while lacking the experience as a possible mission builder for the team, while upon completion of Level 3 (T/C) a person will be recommended as having both. And finally, one more reward which is undergoing the final stages of review and approval is the awarding of a minimal amount of recurring VSG merits to count towards personal and squadron merit totals.
So, I suggest to anyone interested (or even just mildly curious) in the program to go to the website and read over the information provided there. The sign-up page will have been unlocked as soon as you have received this email and the first set of people selected for the test run will be chosen by this weekend. So, good reading and I look forward to imparting a portion of my knowledge onto you guys!
For those of you who are slightly unaware of what XvTED is, it is the program that the TacOps division (and the RgF before them) uses to build the XvT and BoP ITOD missions which are flown on a regular basis in the club. Over the years we have had a dwindling base of capable builders to help aid in not only the Fleet level missions but also Squadron level ITODs. The purpose of this program is to help teach new people to fill these positions, as well as give people a better understanding of what it takes for our regular ITOD builders to produce your monthly (well, they’re supposed to be) missions.
The course website is located at http://vsg.rebelsquadrons.org/xvtedacad and is currently populated with a sign-ups page, a current student listings page, an alumni page (which I hope to fill with many eager people), and an instructor page for the logistical handling of the program. Other pages already included are five individual course pages which give you the outlines of the course material as well as a Challenge program for the first two courses for those people who are already familiar with the program to some degree and feel that they already have a good handle on the course material. The final links on this page take you to a downloads section which hosts links for all of the relevant available files to the course as well as links to pages hosting the final submissions from the students for completion of a course.
To give you all a basic understanding of the Academy course right here, it revolves around 4 course level difficulties broken up into 6 separate courses. These courses are: Level 1 – Program Basics, Level 2 – Detailed Construction, Level 3 – Advanced Construction: Train/Campaign, Melee/Tournament, and Combat/Battle, and finally Level 4 – Instructor’s Course (not yet completed). Level 1 looks at introducing the student to the program for the first time, teaching the very basics surrounding the construction of a mission while also trying to enforce good building habits. Level 2 then builds upon the foundation of Level 1 and teaches the student how to build a full-bodied mission, near comparable to ITOD quality missions. The Level 3 courses take what was learnt in Levels 1 and 2 and have the student apply them to a project based assignment to help them learn to apply a running storyline or a common theme to a series of missions. Finally, Level 4, which has yet to be completed, will be aimed at bringing in new instructors to the program. It will focus on advanced troubleshooting, instruction of lower course levels, and interaction with other builders.
For now, course material will be held off-site and supplied to those accepted to the program. The trial period will determine the best methods for supplying material and aid in the learning process. The sign-up sheet will only show those courses available to your completion level for registration, removing courses completed and adding new courses as they become available to you.
And finally, as with any good learning program, there are rewards for completing them. First and foremost is the introduction of a new set of medals for the courses, which can be viewed at http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/medals/view?id=371. Next is the integration of the XvT/BoP Mission Building skill level that is viewed on your profile. This will be removed from manual editing and will be linked to the program to represent a proven skill as opposed to a self-credited skill. On top of this, for Level 2, a person will be recommended to TacOps as a person possessing the necessary skills while lacking the experience as a possible mission builder for the team, while upon completion of Level 3 (T/C) a person will be recommended as having both. And finally, one more reward which is undergoing the final stages of review and approval is the awarding of a minimal amount of recurring VSG merits to count towards personal and squadron merit totals.
So, I suggest to anyone interested (or even just mildly curious) in the program to go to the website and read over the information provided there. The sign-up page will have been unlocked as soon as you have received this email and the first set of people selected for the test run will be chosen by this weekend. So, good reading and I look forward to imparting a portion of my knowledge onto you guys!