Highlighting KET: Multimedia Resources in the ABE Classroom – Webinar and Follow Up Discussion

Dear LINCS EBPD, Math and Numeracy, and College and Career Standards Groups,

On February 1st, from 2 - 3:30 PM EST, Kentucky Educational Television (KET), the nation’s largest statewide public broadcasting network, will host an interactive webinar and discussion on effectively incorporating video resources into adult education classrooms.  Presenters from KET will provide best practices for integrating video and multimedia resources, as well as introduce several free online resources for GED testing, math and numeracy, and workplace interview skills.

To register, visit:  https://msg.adobeconnect.com/ket1/event/registration.html

Leading the webinar will be Tonya Crum and Amanda Dawahare from KET’s adult education department. Their team produces some of the top resources in the adult education field and offers training sessions on smart use of multimedia in the classroom.

Following the webinar, the discussion will continue in the LINCS Evidence-Based Professional Development , Math and Numeracy, and College and Career Standards groups. This discussion is a key element of KET’s presentation and a great opportunity for webinar participants to connect with other adult education professionals.

Please register now and share this announcement with all who you think would be interested.

See you there!

Susan Finn-Miller, College and Career Standards Moderator

Brooke Istas, Math and Numeracy Moderator

Jackie Taylor, EBPD Moderator

Comments

Good day or evening!

Thank you to Tonya Crum and Amanda Dawahare from KET for facilitating yesterday's webinar on effectively incorporating multimedia resources into adult education classrooms! Tonya and Amanda are online with us to  continue our discussion this week by addressing the following topics:

1.Multimedia in instruction: what works and what doesn’t?

  • What are some additional resources for the classroom?
  • What are some challenges you face with incorporating media into your regular instruction?
  • Has anyone tried creating your own videos or podcasts for your students? If so, how did it go?

2.Ways social media can be used to extend the classroom

  • Social media is a great way to share online resources with your students and keep in touch with them.
  • How are you using social media in your centers?

3.We see adult education classrooms and corrections classrooms across the spectrum when it comes to technology.

  • What are the next steps for incorporating technology in each kind of learning space?
  • How can mobile devices help your classroom?

I look forward to hearing from you and our guests this week and learning from your experiences in using multimedia resources in adult education.

Thanks,

Jackie Taylor, Moderator

Evidence-based Practice COP

jackie@jataylor.net

On Twitter: @jataylor10

There are limited multimedia resources available to our instructors and adult learners.  We have a teacher's computer at each site, 4 or 5 laptops at a one site, a computer lab at two sites, no computer access at one site, and 2 computers at another site. Three of our sites have a Smart Board and projector.  Two have none. Teachers are limited in using technology by the technology available for their use.  

We have held professional development on using the Smart Boards in class, but those classes obviously do not apply to everyone.

We would love to use smart phones for classroom questioning and responses, and have tried this, but many of our students have the Trac phones with limited talk and messaging.  

It is our hope to have accessibility to technology for every student.  Anyone know of any funding or grants we could use to purchase necessary equipment? 

How is the internet access at the sites where you do have computers? Can the teacher bring a laptop to the site where there are no computers? Is it possible to provide WiFi access at any sites so that students can use their devices without incurring data fees? What works on the Smart Boards for your classes (other than PD)?

I see you have a definite challenge with such different levels of access at each site!

We do have Internet access at all but one site.  We are working on securing laptops for our teachers.  At this time only, five of our instructors have their own laptops.  One step at a time, is my motto!

 

We do lessons with the Smart Board having students come to the board and answer questions asked.  These are some free sites our instructors have used.

 http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html

http://mrsgebauer.com/smartboard.html

 https://modernchalkboard.com/  

We have a teaching consultant here who is talking a lot about "Bring Your Own Device" and mobile options. If you are interested in that possibility, check out his blog: http://blogs.ket.org/techteaching/?paged=3

 

I admit I really am into BYOD! "Bring Your Own Device" can save a lot of the cost for programs when it comes to using technology in the classroom. While it's true many students use Tracfones and other limited data plans, it's becoming increasingly common for cheap, prepaid phones to include Wi-Fi options. If this is available on their device, it will allow students to connect to a program's wireless network to access assignments and activities without using their data.

Likewise, these sorts of devices are a good solution for programs wanting to buy devices for a "classroom set" of technology. Rather than spend hundreds on an iPad, there are several more cost-effective options. Amazon's recent Fire tablet is $50, coming with full internet capabilities for web-based resources like Fast Forward and PBS Learning Media. These websites also work on mobile devices, and I have seen some local adult education programs buy several cheap ($40ish), prepaid smartphones (with no minutes, just the free wi-fi) for students to use in class.

Because a TracFone smart phone more than meets my needs, I use a Samsung Galaxy Centura I picked up on Amazon for $14.99. Apps work great on it, but the WiFi is horrendously slow. TracFone does have more expensive smart phones, which might offer better WiFi performance, but the problem might also be caused by customizations TracFone made to the operating system, which would likely have a similar effect on all their smart phones. Something to keep in mind when considering this route.

Last November, I got a Kindle 7” for $35 on a Black Friday sale to see if it would be viable for my program. It’s a nice, budget tablet that I could use offline with learners. I recommended it to my executive director, but we unfortunately didn’t have the money to buy any. From time to time, Amazon offers deals, such as buy 5 get 1 free. If anyone plans to buy some, keep an eye out for sales.

EveryoneOn does not work everywhere or the speeds may be to slow to be useful. Before committing to it, people should check the coverage map and then test it out on the 14-day trial to see if it's usable in their locality.

Teachers, we would love to hear how you have tried to incorporate media in your teaching and what successes and failures (read: learning opportunities) you have experienced. What tools have you tried that you would like to share with your colleagues? Can you share any links to show us your favorite resources or your own creations?

Please take this opportunity to vent about or cheer for media in the classroom!