Instructional Strategies

This brief highlights key findings from the first component of The Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM)-SkillBlox Instructional Support Pilot—an implementation study of the TSTM framework. Findings from this study—including promising practices and lessons learned in supporting TSTM-aligned instruction—are intended to shape TSTM-SkillBlox development but may also inform efforts in the field to support TSTM implementation.

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.

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.

Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, teachers delivered instruction in new ways, drawing on technology tools and digital resources to support learners whom they could not teach in person (Belzer et al., 2020). To succeed, teachers had to redefine their work—especially in the way they planned or designed instruction (Vanek, in press). This break from traditional instruction served as a laboratory of sorts and illustrated the promise of educational technology (hereafter, edtech) for improving and enhancing instruction. To explore and learn from the ways that adult educators are experimenting with digital technologies, the final convening of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences–funded Center for the Study of Adult Literacy included a session focused on this topic. The session titled “Leveraging Digital Technologies for Adult Foundational Skills Instruction” provided an opportunity for attendees to hear about promising strategies, resources, and practices that became visible through technical assistance provided by the EdTech Center@World Education to teachers, program administrators, and state-level leaders leading up to and throughout the pandemic. Authors: Dr. Jen Vanek, Director of Digital Learning and Research at The EdTech Center@World Education Jeffrey Goumas, Senior Technical Advisor at The EdTech Center@World Education Read the attached article below for the full paper.

In the first year of the Digital Resilience in the American Workforce (DRAW) initiative, Jobs for the Future (JFF), World Education, and Safal Partners launched a landscape scan to better understand what training resources and approaches are most relevant for educators seeking to increase foundational digital literacy and digital resilience for an adult learner population. Over the past decade digital literacy has emerged as an essential skill for personal, civic, educational, and career success. Yet few adult education professionals – including, but not limited to, those teaching in AEFLA-funded programs – have been trained to help learners develop the confidence, self-efficacy, and digital resilience they need to adapt to today’s digital demands.

A new report that explores how adult education programs have adapted over time to the constantly changing conditions in programs caused by ongoing but inconsistent and sporadic COVID-19 infections and local policies governing public health. The report also looks at lessons learned after more than a year of remote teaching.