The Learning Lab is the first institution outside the US to be appointed an ADL Partnership Lab, after being invited by the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense, Readiness and Training (OSD, R&T) to work with the Pentagon and other agencies on its Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative.

The Partnership will facilitate stronger collaboration with the US and enable the UK to have a strong input into developing learning materials.

The ADL Initiative was established by the US Government to develop dynamic and cost-effective learning software through the development of a common technical framework for computer and internet-based learning materials. It is the driving force behind the development of the SCORM e-Learning standards that will allow for internet-based education and training materials to be shared across technologies. The ADL Initiative's Shareable Courseware Object Reference Model (SCORM) enables learning management systems to reuse content and save recreating it. SCORM is already seen by many UK educational and government organisations as the key to the future distribution of e-learning content.