The CCC held a visioning workshop in Atlanta, GA in March 2019 to discuss and articulate research visions for authoring rich graphical content for new workforce training. The workshop’s goal was to articulate research challenges and needs and to summarize the current state of the practice in this area. This workshop is in response to growing needs in the field and new research programs such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: Advancing Cognitive and Physical Capabilities (FW-HTF).

Historically, materials such as books and movies were used in addition to hands-on experiences for education and practical training. Increasingly, various other types of computer generated media have been developed. Computer-driven simulators and augmented/virtual reality experience have been used in place of or as a complement to hands-on experiences. Computer networks aid in the rapid dissemination of these materials and frameworks. However, the authoring of this material is still a time-consuming process requiring specialized computing skills. The goal of this workshop is to examine how computational methods for content authoring can be revolutionized to allow educators to focus only on pedagogical and application specific issues in preparing new education and training materials. By simplifying the authoring of content, materials can be prepared more rapidly. The iterative improvement of materials can be enabled/enhanced. Further, by freeing educators from extraneous concerns, materials of higher quality can be prepared.

This CCC workshop will gather researchers in a variety of computer disciplines related to content creation, and practitioners in workforce training. Specifically:

Researchers in Content Authorship: These workshop participants include computer science researchers in human computer interaction, computer graphics, multimedia, robotics, and data/information visualization.

Researchers in Educational Technology: These workshop participants include researchers who study how to best use existing and emerging technologies in education and training, specifically on practical issues in industry training and how to assess its effectiveness.

Producers of Educational/Training Materials: These workshop participants include both producers of media including small companies and educators (e.g. community colleges, cooperative extension services).

Consumers of Education and Training: These workshop participants include representatives from various sectors – manufacturing, service and government – who need frequent workforce training and education.