Displaying results 1 - 10 of 16
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Developing digital proficiencies of English learners in adult education
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Description
All around the globe, the development of digital skills is considered a priority because individuals are increasingly asked to interact with digital information. Digital literacy is required to communicate effectively and accomplish social and work-related tasks. Although there is a significant body of literature on the development of digital proficiencies in educational settings from elementary school to university, there is limited research with adults who are continuing their education later in life, usually outside of formal educational systems.
The purpose of this paper is to report results from a study conducted with English learners in an adult education program in the U.S. The study evaluated the digital component of a new curriculum named CILIA-T (Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support), CILIA-T is a 16-module curriculum supporting adult learners to build their English skills, US History and Civics knowledge and digital proficiencies.
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Texas Standards 2.0 Webinar
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Webinar recorded on 11/3/2021 for the UMass ASAP project. Here, presenters Maria Elena Oliveri, Karl Haigler, and Anson Green provide an explanation of how the Texas 2.0 adult education/workforce development standards were created. These standards bridged adult education and job training programs using the O*NET job classification system. More info about the Texas Standards 2.0 project, including the Standards themselves, is available here.
(November 2021)
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Defining and Assessing Literacy and Numeracy Skills for 21st Century Adult Learners: A Summary of Research and Practice
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Numerous definitions of literacy and numeracy have been developed to date. In this report, we summarized and analyzed 20 definitions of literacy and numeracy. These definitions often respond to specific stakeholders’ goals and agendas. In this paper, however, we do not aim to provide an integrated definition of literacy and numeracy for all people in all places. Instead, we believe operational definitions of constructs as relevant as literacy and numeracy must respond to specific needs given at a specific moment.
(September 2022)
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Working Bibliography of Culturally Sustaining and Anti-Racist Assessment Resources
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Consistent with ASAP’s assessment principles of offering a justice-oriented, antiracist approach, we prepared a working bibliography of culturally sustaining and anti-racist assessment resources. We plan to periodically update this bibliography, so feedback on the structure, content, and organization of the bibliography is welcome, as are suggestions for resources not yet included (asap@umass.edu).
(January 2023)
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EdTech Strategy Session - Future of Work Report: AI at Work
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For the September EdTech Strategy Session, the EdTech Center @ World Education hosted LinkedIn's Senior Lead Manager of Economic Graph, Efrem Bycer. Efrem shared insights from the LinkedIn "Future of Work Report: AI at Work". With recent advancements in AI comes a shifting demand for certain technical and human skills, giving new areas to focus on as we aim to prepare adult learners for the future of work and technology. Watch the recording of Efrem's lightning talk here and register for the October EdTech Strategy Session here.
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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Adult Foundational Education
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Produced by the Equity in Adult Education Research workgroup of the Institute of Education Sciences-funded Collaborative Research for Educating Adults with Technology Enhancements (CREATE) Adult Skills Network, this brief intends to shed light on DEIA conditions, opportunities, and challenges as they manifest in AFE. As a network, we are particularly interested in the application of technology to promote foundational skill development and the implications of centering DEIA in this process. Having insight into the DEIA context of AFE is important for researchers as they approach their work, especially those who are relatively new to this area of education. As generators of new knowledge and as contributors to enhancing extant knowledge in AFE, researchers play an important role in capturing the AFE landscape to inform policy and practice. We encourage researchers to integrate a DEIA lens in their work, recognizing that such integration requires some background on DEIA issues in the particular context of AFE. We therefore offer this paper to researchers, as well as policymakers, practitioners, advocates, and others to increase understanding of DEIA in AFE. Subsequent CREATE publications will address a DEIA-focused approach to research in more depth.
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The Myth of the Digital Native
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Today’s college students may have grown up around technology, but that doesn’t mean they have the skills to thrive at school or work. Knowledge gaps remain a major barrier to success, particularly affecting low-income students. How can higher education institutions more effectively teach, assess, and measure digital skills? The Chronicle surveyed more than 1,200 faculty, higher ed leaders, and students to find out. The study discovered that:
78% of students said colleges strongly contributed to their digital proficiency
36% of faculty and leaders think their college instructors are “somewhat unprepared” or “not at all prepared” to teach digital skills
Only 15% of faculty and 16% of leaders think students are very well prepared to use digital tools in a work environment
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Linking Adult Education to Workforce Development in 2018–19: Early Implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act at the Local Level
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The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 includes new requirements and incentives to strengthen the link between its Title II -- adult education -- and the overall workforce development system. This report from a national evaluation of Title II examines the extent to which local adult education providers’ instructional approaches and coordination with other agencies in 2018-19 reflected this link and highlights the challenges providers reported collecting related performance data. A compendium provides detailed tables supporting the policy report. For more information about this report, visit the IES site here.
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Subject Area Frameworks for Adult Learners
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These aggregate frameworks provide a structure to support learning in five subjects relevant to adult learners: Civics Education, Digital Literacy, Financial Literacy, Health Literacy, and Workforce Preparation. They include domains, topics, and subtopics in each subject. The frameworks were developed by aggregating existing curricula, assessments, and frameworks used in adult education and compiling insights from organizations and individual instructors. Use them to support Teaching Skills That Matter-aligned instruction, to locate and use resources in SkillBlox, or as a checklist for planning instruction and assessment.
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Building Knowledge and Evidence About Using Digital Technologies in Adult Foundational Skills Programs
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Recent activities and events spurred adult educators’ interest in digital technologies, including the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE competition; the development of digital products by adult education publishers; and the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted adult foundational skills programs to shift from in-person classes to virtual instruction. As interest in digital technologies grows, the need for information about how to implement these technologies and what works for whom under what conditions also grows.
Although some form of technology has been used to teach adult foundational skills for at least 3 decades, the knowledge base about the implementation and effectiveness of technology with adult learners is limited. The recent expansion of technology use in adult foundational skills programs suggests the need for increased efforts to develop knowledge and evidence about the types of technologies and tools that can be used effectively to assist adult learners in enhancing their foundational skills and facilitating their lifelong learning.
Author: Judith A. Alamprese, Principal Scientist, Abt Associates
Read the attached article below for the full paper.