RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC

Page updated 01 Oct 2024
Includes the following six sections:
  1. THE RUNWAY: OVERVIEW
  2. RUNWAY RATIONALE
  3. RAAF RUNWAY LEARNING GOALS
  4. GUIDELINES: CHECKING WEB SOURCES FOR ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, BIAS AND REPUTATION
  5. SOURCING AND CURATING ARTICLES FOR RAAF RUNWAY
  6. LINKS TO PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION (PME)  WEB PAGES
  7. MILITARY HISTORY RESOURCES

LINKS TO IMPORTANT RUNWAY WEB PAGES:

01 THE RUNWAY: OVERVIEW

  • The Runway is a professional development portal where complex information is presented to users in an accessible and easy-to-understand way. In addition, the Runway is designed to be a self-directed learning experience for the individual user.
  • It provides Air Force members with articles, research and innovative ideas that have been carefully sourced and curated across a range of ten topics: Air & Space Power, Leadership, Communication & Cognition, Cyber, Military Management, Strategic Influences, Technology, Innovation, Wellbeing and Military History.
  • The Runway supports Program Wirraway, the Air Force’s professional military education (PME) program. The Program Wirraway ‘core’ pathway comprises four levels of learning, each containing the broad themes of air power, communications, military management and leadership, which are also represented in the key topics on The Runway. See Taking education to new heights.
  • The Runway has several mediums to learn from, including articles, videos and podcasts, and is designed to challenge your thinking and push you to take responsibility for your continual development and professional growth. 
  • Now, more than ever, we are aware of the changing needs of our organisation. The pace of change is faster now than before—and this is the new normal within which Air Force members must operate.
See RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, ETC.

02 RUNWAY RATIONALE

  • Runway enhances the learning of RAAF personnel by providing them with high-quality curated posts that are easy to access and can improve RAAF members' awareness of defence-related matters and current affairs.
  • Note the definition of curation from….. Best-Practice-in-Online-Content-Curation.pdf (cardiff.ac.uk):
  • 'Online content curation is the process of selecting, reviewing, and organising resources available on the web for a particular audience [1]. It is much like putting together a reading list, but with the benefit of attaching a review of, and commentary on, the resources you are recommending.'
  • Runway demonstrates that the RAAF values education and contributes—cost-effectively—to the RAAF being an effective Learning Organization defined by….' Building a Learning Organization (hbr.org) as:
  • 'A learning organisation is an organisation skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behaviour to reflect new knowledge and insights.
  • The Runway provides RAAF members with high-quality, curated articles. 
  • Runway Linked Articles/Videos/Podcasts can be summarised quickly and instantly available online. 
  • Runway content is available online without requiring a reader to log on.
  • Runway provides posts that:
    • Support Learning Objectives that are focused on improving people's awareness of a variety of topics and are relevant to members of the RAAF.
    • Includes links to high-value curated articles from reputable sources.
    • Highlights the curated article's main points that will let the reader decide if it is worth reading in full.
    • Provides collections of articles on a single topic.
    • Lists of references related to the post for further reading and study.
    • Are accessible to everybody without the need to log onto the site.
    • The Runway is accessible on nearly all types of devices.

03 RAAF RUNWAY LEARNING OUTCOMES

  1. Air and Space Power...Develop an awareness of: The role and capabilities of air and space power in military operations, focusing on surveillance, precision strikes, and global communication.
  2. Communication & Cognition...Develop an awareness of: How the cognitive processes help in decision-making and forming beliefs. Developing critical thinking is crucial for objective analysis and evaluation of issues, leading to informed judgments.
  3. Cyber...Develop an awareness of: Cyberwarfare. Cybersecurity, Cyberdefence, Cyberattack, and the different strategies that can be used to make a cyberattack less likely.
  4. Leadership...Develop an awareness of: How effective leadership can enhance capability? The different types of leadership that can be applied depending on the situation or context. The importance of EI/EQ in how you exercise leadership.
  5. Military History...Develop an awareness of historical sources informing current strategic, operational, and tactical decision-making, including documented differences from our past, such as culture.
  6. Military Management...Develop an awareness of Military Management regarding tools, technology, innovation, trends, future development, and the management skills you might need during your military career.
  7. Strategic Influences...Develop an awareness of Australia's strategic environment and how nations, including ours, attempt to shape the environment to meet their needs and requirements.
  8. Technology & Innovation...Develop an awareness of how it can contribute to our economy and military capability.
  9. Well-being...Develop an awareness of How individuals can improve and maintain their well-being in terms of health, happiness, and prosperity.

04. GUIDELINES: CHECKING WEB SOURCES FOR ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, BIAS AND REPUTATION

Recommendations for assessing the accuracy of a web page or web source:
  • Check the date and relevance of the information.
  • Identify the author and their qualifications.
  • Look for author credentials and relevant expertise.
  • Check the website ownership and look for potential conflicts of interest.
  • Evaluate the website's reputation for media bias and fact-checking.
  • Determine the source type (government, university, commercial, or personal).
  • Look for sources to back up claims and check their credibility.
  • Consider language bias and perspective and verify information with multiple sources.
To find more information about a web page source, you can do the following (note may not work if you are accessing the web from within a restricted network).
  • Right-click on the web page and select "View Page Source" or "Inspect."
  • Use the search function to find specific information in the source code.
  • Look for the author or publisher and dates indicating when the page was created or updated.
  • Check for metadata, advertising, or tracking codes that reveal the financial interests or affiliations of the publisher.
Web links to sites where you can fact-check a source.
It's important to note that no single source is perfect, so it's always a good idea to cross-check information and use multiple sources to get a more comprehensive understanding of a topic.
University and government web pages are generally reliable sources of information, but it depends on the government and whether it is transparent and accountable. 
  • University web pages are focused on research and scholarship.
  • The content is peer-reviewed before publication to ensure accuracy.
  • Official agencies and departments run government web pages.
  • They are subject to strict regulations and oversight.
  • The information provided is based on research and data analysis.
  • University and government web pages have a reputation to uphold.
  • Inaccurate information could damage their credibility and reputation.
  • They take great care to ensure the information is accurate and trustworthy.
Try to avoid using blogs and company web pages.
  • Blogs and company web pages often have a bias and promote their interests or products.
  • They may selectively present information and exaggerate claims to persuade readers.
  • They may lack journalistic standards, and fact-checking processes, and be written by untrained individuals.
If you do use a blog or company source, important to check whether the person writing the blog has the qualifications and experience to write knowledgeably about the topic.
  • Verify the qualifications or experience of the author before using a blog or company source.
  • Unqualified authors may provide misleading or incorrect information, leading to errors in your work.
  • Evaluating the author's credentials can help determine their credibility on a topic.
Using Wikipedia
  • Wikipedia is a good starting point for a general understanding of a topic, but it should not be used as a reliable source or cited.
  • The information on Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, leading to varying levels of accuracy and reliability.
  • Verify the information with reputable sources before using it in your work.

References

Note the following guides as to how to evaluate online sources:

05 SOURCING AND CURATING ARTICLES FOR RAAF RUNWAY

06 LINKS TO PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION (PME)  WEB PAGES

AUSTRALIA

Home | Australian War Memorial (awm.gov.au)

UK

USA

Other sites and resources related to PME

07 MILITARY HISTORY RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION

In studying military history, a military professional might find it helpful to understand the broader conflict in which air, land and maritime power has been applied. The purpose of this article is to recommend reading that can provide the reader with a relatively brief overview of the various military conflicts in which Australia has been involved.

RUNWAY INDEX PAGES

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

HISTORY IN AN HOUR RUPERT COLLEY

OXFORD'S VERY SHORT INTRODUCTIONS

PUBLICATIONS FROM Air and Space Power Centre (airforce.gov.au)