SOURCES SOUGHT
U -- Development of Interactive Online Course Materials
- Notice Date
- 7/26/2010
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 611710
— Educational Support Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, R-3 Southwestern Region/Coronado NF, Federal Building, 300 West Congress, Tucson, Arizona, 85701
- ZIP Code
- 85701
- Solicitation Number
- 07262010
- Point of Contact
- Terry M Pargas, Phone: 520-799-8740
- E-Mail Address
-
tpargas@fs.fed.us
(tpargas@fs.fed.us)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Solicitation Notice #: 07262010 Solicitation Type: Sources Sought Synopsis: Request for Information (RFI) on development of an Online Course Module (OCM) for the M-581 Fire Program Management course, hosted by the National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute (NAFRI). 1. Introduction This RFI lists the requirements for the OCM needs to support the resident curriculum of the same course. This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, NAFRI is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Interested parties are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested parties' expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. 2. Background NAFRI is a national inter-agency wildland fire management training facility that provides training courses for individuals from a wide variety of agencies tasked with wildland fire management duties, federal and state. The M-581, Fire Program Management course is required for individuals who have just become or will shortly become a wildland fire program manager at the unit and or local level of a federal natural resource agency; U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A unit or local fire program manager is one who applies fire management principles and practices for the protection and enhancement of the wildland environment. A fire program manager integrates fire-related environmental, social, political, economic and technological information into land management activities to meet desired objectives. The manager initiates most actions based upon his/her experience in and knowledge of the functional responsibilities. The current course curriculum contains a wide spectrum of instruction that includes remote and resident sessions. Current curriculum consists of 5 units and 30 subunits. The development of an OCM for this course is the intent of this RFI. Based on the information received from this RFI, NAFRI will build a Request for Proposal (RFP). At this time NAFRI seeks to provide the best instruction at the best price to its work force. The OCM needs are; To allow access to those employed as federal wildland firefighters, course coordinators, lead instructors and coaches to review unit and subunit progress and results of tests on learning. Allow user profile creation at first login. Required user information: Last name, First name, Incident Qualifications and Certification system (IQCS) ID #, Agency, Geographic Area (GA), Unit, Email, & Phone. User login information is captured in a database that can be reviewed by national coordinator(s), GA coordinators, lead instructors and coaches. Have unit / subunit self testing and self grading.The program should provide unit and subunit tests on learning with an acceptable passing score of 70% before allowing individuals to proceed. Those that do not pass at the 70% level will be directed to a new but equivalent curriculum to review and retest. Each unit and subunit test/quiz will be graded by the program provided, and save the results to a database that can be monitored by both the participant and GA coordinators, coaches and instructors. Track progress - Ability of the participant to track their own progress and view each test/quiz score results. Course coordinators, coaches, or lead instructors from each GA will be able to login and review the progress and status of those students enrolled from their GA. Tests on learning will involve at least three levels of interactivity. Tests will include one diagnostic pretest and two mastery post test. Whenever possible a test item bank will be created for all performance measurement instruments/tests (pre & post). The test item bank will consist of the equivalent of three (3) questions per LO/ELO. All test items will be equivalent in difficulty and content coverage. The length of the self study curriculum will be based on review of current curriculum and the complexity of course purpose, scope, course and lesson objectives, and overall course content. Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI) level one will be used only for introductions. IMI levels two and three can be considered for actual lesson and assessment development. The "Host" for this curriculum must be a server that the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and U.S. Forest Service employees can access without restriction issues specific to one agency or another. Must be 508 compliant. Entire OCM must be usable as a self contained program of instruction on DVD to accommodate users without broadband or internet access. Alternate progress tracking, testing and grading abilities will need to be considered. References Current course curriculum, the Wildland Fire Qualification System Guide (PMS 310-1), http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/docs/pms310-1.pdf, and the Interagency Fire Program Management (IFPM) position and competency requirements http://www.ifpm.nifc.gov/standard/electronicver/3-UFPM.pdf Delivery Response to this RFI is due August 9, 2010 Progress and Compliance In addition to early 2011 draft, a monthly status report and check on content will be required to ensure compliance with overall intent. 3. Responding to this RFI NAFRI requests that you provide the following information: a. A response no longer than 5 double-sided pages exclusive of existing marketing materials. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. A submission may not be larger than 3MB; if any responsive document is larger than 3 MB, you may send it in more than one submission. In addition to the response to the RFI you also should provide a 1-2 page response to this acquisition strategy detailing what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. This information will be used by the government program manager to refine the approach for the final request for proposal. b. Pre-existing internal and external marketing materials for each proposed courses. For internal courses, in lieu of formal marketing material, interested parties may submit E-mails, flyers, etc., that they use to attract internal candidates for the courses. For each course, respond with the instructors' qualifications required to teach the course (i.e., education level and experience). c. The size of your company, large or small. If a small business, add in your Small Business Administration Status. The NAICS code is 611430, Professional and Management Development Training. d. The current market price for pre-existing courses using pre-existing pricing materials. This information will be used to develop the government's independent cost estimate only. e. A response indicating which task orders can be combined, if any. 4. Questions and Comments Respondents may submit questions or comments concerning this RFI, to tpeterson@fs.fed.us. Questions and comments regarding this RFI will be accepted via only email. Respondents should not directly contact any NAFRI personnel noted in this RFI. Submissions are due no later than August 9, 2010 - 1600 MST.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA/FS/8197/07262010/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02217729-W 20100728/100726235103-61eac5feca5f30af7f75d6f01c526ae1 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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