Illinois Digital Learning Lab Five-day Panel Discussion begins Monday, May 18, 2020

Hello Colleagues,

Today, Monday May 18th begins a five-day asynchronous discussion with our colleagues from the Illinois Digital Learning Lab (IDLL).  This morning, Michael Matos, the Project Manager, will describe the lab and respond to the questions in my next post. We have one of the teaching panelists joining us today, Jennifer Siegfried. I will post some questions for her, and for the other project panelists who will join us this week.

Below you will find some background information about all the panelists, but first I want to encourage you to ask questions, today of Michael and Jenny, and of other panelists throughout the week.

I should mention that I have been part of this project serving as one of the five subject matter expert team leaders, along with Jennifer Maddrell, Joy Pak, Stephen Alderson, and Jeff Goumas. This is my second year with the IDLL, a project that I regard as one of the best investments made in any state to support instructors experimenting with new ways to integrate technology in their teaching, an in-depth and sustained professional development project. I think of the project as teacher research or action research professional development. In both the 2018-2019 and the current year I have seen the IDLL help build adult basic skills (including ESL) teacher expertise and leadership in Illinois, and have seen some participants become technology professional development leaders, supporting their colleagues in using and integrating technology. My hope is that other states that may not already have robust statewide integrating technology professional development projects may benefit from learning about the IDLL.

Below is the background information on our panelists. They will join us throughout the week, but each will be featured on the day in parenthesis following their name.

Michael Matos (Monday, May 18th and throughout the week)

Michael Matos manages all of Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition’s education technology work, including the Illinois Digital Learning Lab (IDLL). He is currently the COABE Representative for Region 4 and on the IACEA Board as Director of Region 1. He is also an Adult Education Tutor Trainer for Literacy Works, a position he has held for over 16 years.  Michael previously held several roles in adult education including Senior Director of Adult Education, Employment and Training; Director, Adult Education and Data; Computer Lab Director/Coordinator/Teacher; and ESL/ABE/ASE Teacher. Earlier in his career, Michael was a classroom teacher in Chicago public high schools, teaching CAD, Information Technology, Art, and Business classes.

Michael works in adult education to help instructors and students/clients succeed. He loves working to innovate education and educate for innovation.

Jennifer Siegfried (Monday, May 18th)

Jenny Siegfried is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Adult Education department at Waubonsee Community College in Illinois, a position she has held since 2005. She has taught adult ESL classes at all levels as well as ABE/ASE/High School Equivalency Language Arts classes. In 2019, she earned her MA in ESL from Hamline University. Her philosophy on incorporating technology has always been to jump in and try it, and participating in the Illinois Digital Learning Lab has helped her be more intentional about the technology she uses with students.

Laurice Hoffman (Tuesday, May 19th)

Laurice Hoffman is with Township High School District 214, Community Engagement and Outreach. She has been working in Adult Education for over 9 years as the Coordinator of Adult Literacy Volunteer Services with the Read to Learn Program, and as an ESL Instructor for low-intermediate adult learners. She is currently participating in a cohort through the Illinois Digital Learning Lab, which has afforded her the opportunity to collaborate with fellow educators throughout the state, as well as instructional designers at Google. She is passionate about experimenting with new digital tools and participating in rigorous analysis of the effectiveness of online and blended learning. She would like to share her experience as a participant in this lab, specifically, the advantages of having introduced technology in the classroom prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, and her use of the G-Suite products to create engaging lessons to measure learning. She believes that digital literacy in adult education plays a vital role in developing self-directed learners, and impacts every aspect of life. By participating in the Integrating Technology group discussion, she hopes to gain insight into best teaching practices, and learn effective curriculum development and implementation methods.

Dawn Brill and Jenna Korenstra (Wednesday, May 20th)

Dawn Brill is an ESL teacher at the YWCA Elgin, as well as the "DAISI person". Her students are Beginning Literacy (Level 1 out of 6 levels at the YWCA), and they are predominantly Spanish speakers. She had the opportunity to be involved with IDLL last year as they piloted it for the first time. She believes that the resources, both through equipment and networking, that IDLL provided for her program were invaluable to their students and teachers. It enabled them to share with their students that digital technology is one more tool in their “toolbox” as they continue to learn and use English as their second language.

Jenna Korenstra is an ESL teacher at the YWCA Elgin, and her students are Level two (out of six levels). Most of their students are Spanish speakers.  They have 10 hours of scheduled class each week, and she dedicated two of those hours for technology use and instruction. She became interested in ESL learning when she taught Navajo students in New Mexico for ten years. She earned her TESOL graduate degree at University of New Mexico, and has taught in a variety of ESL settings since then. She has learned a great deal this year as part of the IDLL!

Anya Enright (Thursday, May 21st)

Anya Enright was born and raised in Russia, in the Siberian city of Omsk. She was the first woman in her family with a University degree, and the first generation to immigrate to this country. Since the day of getting her degree, she has been involved in languages and adult education in Russia, Ireland, and now in the US. Building a highly rewarding career in Medical Remote Interpreting in the World for a leading American corporation, and being a speaker at many National venues, she saw that the key to success in life, especially being new in any country, is education. So, she decided to transition full-time to Adult Education.   

Now, a Cross Cultural Learning Leader, and an instructor with the ESL, Citizenship and College and Career Programs with Illinois Township High School District 214, the biggest in the Country, and a SMART Goal Trainer, she has the privilege of contributing to the success of others. 

She says: “The past year was very tech-driven for me. Being part of the technology project with the Illinois Digital Learning Lab (IDLL) and being a GOOGLE Community College Board Member, has allowed me to integrate and experiment with technologies with my students in class, and remotely, and prove its efficiency in learning. I definitely was more prepared than others to transition learning full-time online.”

Joy Klannukarn Pak (Thursday, May 21st)

Joy Pak has been involved in almost all areas of adult education, from tutoring low literacy learners to ABE learners to teaching various levels of ESL students for almost 20 years.  She is currently the ESL Program Coordinator for Chinese Mutual Aid Association in Elgin, Illinois.  In addition to those responsibilities, She also teaches low beginners to high intermediate ESL students. She’s assisted instructors and administrators on integrating digital technology in their program and classrooms over the years.  It was a perfect fit for her, she believes, to be a part of the Illinois Digital Learning Lab’s first year as a cohort member. This year she is honored to be a Subject Matter Expert for IDLL. She has an opportunity to assist a larger audience of adult educators and administrators with integrating digital tools.

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David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP, Integrating Technology group

Comments

Hmmm....maybe I need more coffee! I'll try the intro again :-)

Good morning! My name is Jenna Korenstra, and I just finished teaching my second year of ESL Level 2 at the YWCA in Elgin. I have taught in a wide variety of ESL/TESOL programs in the past 25 years, and each one presented unique opportunities and challenges. Our program at the YWCA does not, at this point, offer computer classes, so teaching technology skills and using technology as a tool in ESL acquisition both need to happen during regular class time. This is a great opportunity, as the Y does have a fully-equipped computer lab, as well as class sets of ipads and chromebooks. For me, this year's challenge has been all about changing my weekly classroom use of ipads with a limited number of websites and apps, to a biweekly  use with a wide range of use both in class and for homework. 

Dawn and I worked together this year, but she is definitely the expert and will be addressing more of the "big picture" ideas.

I initially hesitated when Dawn asked me to work with her in the IDLL project. I wasn't sure I wanted to commit more time, and although I was sure I would learn, I wasn't sure I had anything to contribute. (Last year - my first year at the YWCA - both Dawn and Joy had been extremely helpful in answering my tech questions and solving my tech issues.) But the bottom line was that I wanted to challenge myself to learn more about technology in the classroom: to adapt what I already knew, to learn more from other teachers, and to try new resources. I hoped that being an IDLL participant would both inspire me and provide me with a framework for meeting my goals. 

I also wanted to apply a more constructivist process: instead of using a prescribed computer curriculum (as was often required in other programs) and hoping that it would meet some of my students' needs, I wanted to identity my students' personal and collective technology strengths and needs and find computer programs, curriculum, websites etc. that would enable my students to use their strengths to successfully address their needs. 

For example, this year my class had many visual learners, and they always wanted to see in writing what I was saying. (All of my students are Spanish speakers, and they were often frustrated with the apparent discrepancies between English pronunciation and spelling, especially in comparison to Spanish.) I was able to write what I was saying through the use of the whiteboard, posters, etc but I thought it would be extremely helpful if students could see their own voices changed to text. This would help them correct their own pronunciation and improve their spelling.) I introduced my students to the "Notes" app on our ipads, and they were fascinated. They worked in pairs to practice word pronunciation, to read and record dialogue scripts, to compare the text with their scripts, and to correlate the correct spelling with their improved pronunciation. 

I knew that being part of the IDLL project would help me with the goal of identifying and responding to students' needs. It would give me opportunities to learn about other programs and new ways to use technology in my classroom. I especially looked forward to hearing from people who are working constantly with the challenges of problem-solving in adult education programs. I was hoping to become more knowledgeable in concrete ways, but also to be inspired!

Good Morning! Jenna Korenstra and I work in a small but very active CBO AEFL ESL program located in the YWCA Elgin (Illinois). We have been active working with refugees and immigrants since the early 70s with programs in ESL, workforce and home health programs. We have had childcare and exercise programs over the years, and continue now to focus on ESL Classes, family literacy and parenting classes, workforce and career classes and a School Age Care Center. As technology entered into the education programs in school, we were donated 5 computers and from there we have not looked back. Over the last couple years, we have started to incorporate digital literacy into our ESL Classrooms, NRS Level Basic Literacy through Advanced. We use the Best Plus test as our standard testing, with some Best Literacy, and are in the process of incorporating the CASAS E-tests. We do not have strictly “computer classes” at this time, so incorporating digital literacy skills and lessons has been a challenge: exciting for some instructors and “out of our comfort zone” for others. Students at all levels have a variety of digital skills and experiences, but the common thread at all levels is the cell phone. Moving forward, Jenna and I will answer questions David submitted to us for our separate, but very positive, experiences with IDLL. Thanks!

Dawn will write about our vision and hypothesis - I will just state them here and add my classroom application.

Our vision statement: to accelerate student learning through the use of technology in and out of the classroom.

Hypothesis: Offering students the opportunity to experience technology devices and different apps in the classroom setting will encourage them to use devices available to them outside of the classroom setting to increase their ability to achieve their learning goals. Participation in IDLL will help us explore and implement new ways to use technology in the classroom and empower our students to continue their use of technology outside the classroom to meet their English language acquisition goals. 

  1. Why were we interested in being a participant in the IDLL project….     

When the IDLL project was announced in fall of 2017, it explained itself to be an ideal project to be a part of. We were VERY interested in the opportunity for additional digital equipment and, because we had started some basic digital literacy in our ESL Classes, we were very, very interested in learning more apps, programs and educational tools to share with our students. We entered, and were fortunate to be a part of, the first IDLL. This year, if we were accepted, Jenna agreed to be a co-participant with me. We work in the same cohort and have been able to contribute to our cohort with  different digital literacy experiences in each of our classes. Sharing these experiences, along with those of our cohort and IDLL project colleagues, has given us exactly what we were looking for: tools and support in teaching digital literacy skills to our students.  

We have been fortunate to also work with Laurice, who presented yesterday, and others who are very willing to network and share, in our Cohort “Paradigm Breakers”, so I will restate our hypothesis that she shared: To determine if offering students the opportunity to experience technology devices and different apps and programs in the classroom setting would encourage them to use devices available to them outside of the classroom, and would this increase their ability to achieve their learning goals. Our hypothesis basically stayed the same as we developed our tools to measure, and lessons to present to, our students.

In the first sprint, I modeled use of available technology, using both an ipad and a chrome book (vocabulary, translator, websites, youtube, etc.) We watched a Youtube ESL video every Thursday and completed a whole-group written quiz. I assigned the video as homework for the three-day weekend, and on Monday students completed the same quiz individually. They also completed a survey about how many times they watched the video, did they watch it on a computer or their cell phone, and did anyone watch it with them.  Students compared the answers on their two quizzes and talked with a partner about how the information on their survey factored into their (improved) score. Students were encouraged but not required to share their results with the class. 

During the second sprint,  we did not preview the video or take a pre-test. The video and survey were assigned as weekend homework, and on Monday individual quizzes were given. It's important to note that the videos were short (5-9 minutes) and the quizzes were also short (5-10 minutes).

Completing these first two sprints showed me exactly what I had predicted: whole-group learning/practice improved student completion of homework and increased accuracy on the quizzes. The exciting part of the first two sprints was  seeing students become more confident in their abilities to both use technology and master the content in the videos, help each other with tech questions and activities (instead of being embarrassed about their lack of experience), and encouraging each other to use their survey information to build continued success. 

During the first sprint, I also introduced my students to Duolingo and used class time to learn, practice, and help each other become comfortable with the program. I used a class list to check progress. In the second sprint, I asked students to continue in Duolingo at their own pace outside of the classroom, using computers or cell phones. Students had the same response: they were excited to find a program they could succeed in, they asked questions and helped each other while working in the classroom, and they built confidence using the program outside the classroom. They were often eager to show me their latest high score/progress level! 

In both of these, class time instruction and practice led to increased confidence, independence, and achievement in using technology outside of the classroom to achieve language acquisition goals.

#3. We worked with our hypothesis through the first and second sprint, as our basic metric to measure student’s experiences was through the use of surveys. Since our cohort had students with a variety of educational levels, as well as second language or at risk populations, it took us throughout the first sprint to adapt a basic survey that we produced as a cohort, to the different populations we were serving. (more about this in #5). Since Jenna and I had Low Literacy, Low Beginning and some High Beginning (BEST Plus pre-tested) Students, we adapted our survey with pictures and translation.  This gave us a baseline to start with and what tools to begin working with that would help the students to continue practicing and learning their English outside of class. We found that almost all our students had cell phones, but only a small amount had access to computer. Some had tablets. Only a few used their phones for anything more than texting, translating or talking.

          For my class, I chose to implement “remind” as a way to communicate with my class, was accepted as a pilot program in Burlington English’s Core Curriculum, utilized Google Voice for listening, translating and speaking practice, and introduced i-Pad pros and Chromebooks to the students in class. For outside of class, the cell phone was the primary tool, and Burlington English Core has a Vocabulary Practice (and now Student Lessons) that can be practiced on a cell phone. The biggest challenges included teaching the students how to log in to a device, get onto the internet, get passwords for programs, find what they were looking for, get an app on their phone  (in English… I really appreciated the few who had app experience and could help translate!)…. I’m sure anyone can add many more to this list of challenges, even without the language barrier!

          In the second sprint we “honed in” on what we wanted to use with our students and begin to evaluate the student’s reactions. We did an IDLL “progress” survey with our students that Michael, IDLL director, requested throughout the entire lab. Interestingly, this survey went along with what our “developing post survey” was looking like, and we had some very positive results. We gave this survey to upper level NRS classes too.

The third sprint “sprinted us” into 98% digital (distance) communication and learning with the mandatory shut-down. It was rather a pleasant surprise to us when I saw the majority of my students communicate regularly with me through “remind”, texts and emails, and give a "whole hearted try" to learn the newest of our technological communication tool: ZOOM. With the assistance of “help” tutorials on ZOOM and Burlington English(and thank goodness for me as the instructor!!) and translated instructions and a staff person (shout out to A. Vargas!) who sat in on a few ZOOM classes to help access, and then explain some of my instructions, we continued several Burlington English In Class Lessons (ICL) via ZOOM as well as Daily Oral Lessons and short, basic “How are you doing?” time.

4. What have we learned? Our third sprint started just before COVID-19 hit and, well,having to go into distance learning basically helped us to prove our hypothesis!! Everything we had worked on with our students was now being proven: experiencing digital devices and programs/apps within the classroom setting DID help them to feel more confident to use the devices available to them outside of the classroom to continue their learning process. Even for the two of us: had we not been using some of these in our classroom with our students, we would have had a very difficult time transitioning to offering our classes to our students in our home. As for myself, the learning curve steepened as the challenge to learn new tools and REGULARLY implement the digital learning methods in class AND distantly. I have proven to myself there is SO MUCH MORE to learn!!

Our cohort used surveys to collect evidence to support our hypothesis.  We did a midterm  IDLL “progress” survey that was requested to be given throughout the entire lab. Through our results, it became evident that our students were finding the technology tools and resources that we introduced “fun to use, easy to use, they would recommend the tool to others, they had learned outside of class and would like to continue to use technology to learn English”  While the final surveys for many of us are taking different forms, our cohort’s hypothesis: “To determine if offering students to experience technology devices and different apps and programs in the classroom setting would encourage them to use devices available to them outside of the classroom, and would this increase their ability to achieve their learning goals “, seems to be proven by the students in our classes who have continued to communicate and study with us distantly..

Yes Anya. Our original survey was developed by our cohort. Then, each of our programs adapted the surveys to the needs of our programs and students. Our midterm survey was developed by our IDLL Director, Michael Matos.  Each program develops their post surveys and will give the results as best as we can.

My tech projects were straightforward and the evidence was predictable: comparison of pre and post test scores, and Duolingo class lists monitoring progress. The more interesting part for me was the anecdotal evidence: seeing the changes in my students' attitudes. They took more ownership of their progress, they showed enthusiasm and interest, and they built community as they met their goals. 

There were a lot of challenges!

I felt overwhelmed by the possibilities, and I wanted to try everything - but unfortunately, so much of it is new to me, and I couldn't process all that information as quickly as I'd like. I was inspired by all the options and ideas, but I had to choose a few that felt manageable, both for me and my students. I wanted to be very intentional about what I taught and how I taught it, but I wanted to meet very specific goals - so I had to break down every "outcome" into a series of steps/specific language for my students. (At the beginning of the school year, most Level 2 students don't have much English, so clarity is everything.)

Time was always a challenge: I committed 25% of my class time to instruction through technology, but I could easily have increased that to 50%. My students were so enthusiastic about using computers! I could have used more planning time, and time to explore all the programs and apps and curriculum that were recommended through IDLL and other sources. I spent at least 3 extra hours a week working on this project (including time meeting with Dawn, etc.).

Perhaps the other biggest challenge was that many of my students did not have computers at home. It would be wonderful to find ways to address this, or maybe even have "open hours" in the YWCA computer lab for students to practice and develop their skills. 

As others have mentioned, moving to online classes in March was definitely an unexpected opportunity! I was so grateful I was already in a technology "mindset", and that I was proactive about moving ahead, rather than being apprehensive. All the ideas Dawn and I had been discussing, all of the options/possibilities for meeting students' needs, and the confidence I had in my students because of our activities during Sprint 1 and 2, came together for an easy transition to online learning during Sprint 3. (Well, maybe not easy - but certainly less stressful than it might have been!) 

I taught two Zoom classes every day, I emailed and texted my students with links to websites and Youtube videos, and I talked with students individually through both Zoom and cell phones. There were certainly limitations, for a variety of reasons, but I communicated daily with most of my students, and we finished our planned curriculum for the semester - and we had many moments of community and laughter and encouragement. 

As a participant in the IDLL project, I had a strong sense of greater purpose and support. I didn't have to figure everything out for myself, and I didn't have to limit myself to workbooks and dittos. I saw the possibilities and the positives, and I'm really grateful for that. 

I've learned a lot about the big picture of technology in adult education in Illinois. It's easy to get lost in a small program and to feel limited by time and physical space. Being part of IDLL is a way to share the vision of others who are working in a variety of programs, and to become excited about the possibilities! Because of this, I took advantage of many PD opportunities during the year, and I'm ready to try more new programs and apps throughout the summer. There were times when I was tired and frustrated, and I was overwhelmed with the magnitude of the project and the topics presented. At these times, Dawn was extremely helpful and encouraging - I"m not sure I would have continued on my own. However, it was definitely worthwhile! I'm looking forward to a few more years at the YWCA and more opportunities for integrating technology in the ESL program. 

The greatest challenge for me was to have the time to learn what I wanted to teach my students and to stay one step ahead. Realistically, it is a time commitment, no matter what digital literacy level you claim to have as an instructor. Instructors with a lower level of digital literacy will definitely be spending hours learning and then applying what they learn and proving the hypothesis determined by their cohort with different techniques and methods. High level digital instructors will spend less time learning, but more time exploring new digital tools, teaching their colleagues in the cohort and proving the hypothesis determined by their cohort with different techniques and methods. Meetings with the cohort and the IDLL lab involve at least 1 hour a month as well as in person meetings that have lasted 4-8 hours, 3 times a year. I consider myself being the lower level of digital literacy and easily added 10 hours a week to learning, implementing, evaluating and reporting for IDLL.

The attitude and interest level of my students made the challenge of time spent in IDLL well worth it. Students were willing to experiment with devices we had been able to purchase such as Chromebooks, i-Pads and Google Voice, and participate in the surveys and experiment with the applications presented to them. The challenge became what they were able to do outside of the classroom. At this time, we do not have any "checkout procedure" in line for students to take equipment home.  Those who could afford the phones or other devices, the data, the internet connections, were more than happy to participate from home. Besides being able to pilot Burlington English Core and use this outside the classroom, Duo Lingo was the most popular learning app. I can see, moving into the future, the FREE apps and programs are going to be what our students will be able to use to continue their learning. The affordability of what is needed to learn digitally, NOT that low level English learners cannot learn digitally, is the main challenge our students, and we as their instructors, now face. 

Opportunities come in expected and unexpected forms. Within my class, being involved with IDLL has fulfilled an expected opportunity that I had when I applied to join the project. It has given me the opportunity to learn from educators using digital technology from all over the state. It has given my students an opportunity to experience different resources in digital literacy that enhanced their learning of the English Language. When my students used Google Voice, it was a joy to see them willing to speak English and be able to get the result they were hoping to by listening to and understanding answers, repeating to practice pronunciation, and asking for translation to comprehend certain vocabulary and grammar challenges.  As far as unexpected opportunities, I have been given opportunities to present to others. Primarily, I have shared many of the programs, equipment and tools with my colleagues at the YWCA for in house professional development time or one on one training. Now, I have been given the chance to share here my experiences here: an unexpected opportunity and privilege… thank you.

The leadership of Michael Matos has been an integral part of the success of this project. Michael coordinated a midpoint meeting at the offices of Google in Chicago. Several of us had the opportunity to present our digital technology tools and resources and collaborate with Instructional Designers at Google. This has encouraged me  to participate in a cohort opportunity on a national level. As Dawn eloquently stated, it has been a privilege to participate in this discussion as well. 

 Has it been worth it?   Jenna and I both say "Absolutely." To not only have this opportunity to learn from Subject Matter Experts and instructors in the area of digital learning, but to be offered an investment of digital tools for your program… as Jennifer S. said earlier, “HECK YES”!  Will the commitment offer challenges? YES... In  good ways! If you have the time, IDLL will offer many exceptional opportunities for you and your students to grow in the knowledge and use of digital technology! 

 

Hello and thank you to all of the presenters here for sharing about your experiences.

I have a few questions for the ESL teachers about using online curriculum and how to structure your classes going forward. Our department is looking at options for online curriculum right now and depending on grant funding we might be able to purchase something. Right now we use free online resources for course content, WhatsApp for communication, Zoom classes and Google Classroom(free version). We also use CASAS testing. Everything was quickly thrown together in March, but now as we realize we may have to continue with online instruction a lot longer than anticipated, either fully online or in a blended format, we're trying to evaluate what works best.

1. How did you like Burlington English? What do you think of their pronunciation coach feature? How does it compare to just practicing with Google voice text? Do you like their test prep course?

2. What do you think of curriculum such as Ventures that has an online e-text? Teachers can present in a zoom class and students can work independently outside of class. This would be less expensive than Burlington, but offers fewer resources. Do you feel that using an online curriculum like Burlington English or Ventures is helpful or do you prefer creating your own course content?

3. Do you have a preference for a free LMS? Google Classroom vs. Edmodo?

Thank you,

Jennifer Kluempen

ESL Instructor

Trenton, NJ

 

Hi Jennifer, 

Your situation is very similar to what is happening with almost all the ESL programs that had to transition quickly to distance learning.  The main problem was that a lot of programs had no backup plan to transition to distance learning and there was a mass scramble to put something together within a short time frame.  I'd like to address your questions because I've used the digital tools you mentioned as well as my colleagues in their classes.

1. I should mention first that I do not work for Burlington English and that this was my first year using Burlington English with my intermediate level class. In my opinion, I found Burlington English is one of the best resources to use when we had to immediately move to distance learning, especially if you are teaching a live Zoom class.  As you probably already know, teachers are spending more hours preparing and planning for their class because now they have to incorporate digital resources into their lesson plans to make it engaging during a live Zoom class or a virtual class.  Burlington English has In Class Lesson slides and lesson plans that are readily available for teachers to use.  It truly is a comprehensive blended learning curriculum that is level appropriate for your ESL students.   I know about the pronunciation feature but I haven't received any feedback yet from my class about it.  I do like how the system determines whether the words are clearly pronounced based on the students prior recordings from their "speak" lessons. The next question you asked was about Burlington English's CASAS prep test feature.  We have used it a few times so I really can't give you a complete overall analysis, but the students, who were high beginners, that used the CASAS test prep did make level gains on their post-CASAS assessment.   

Hi Jennifer,

I can speak to questions 2 and 3 (My program has had Burlington English for years, but I rarely use it.) First, I think there's an area between purchasing and using an e-text and creating your own course content from scratch. When my ESL class moved online, I continued using what we'd been using in class - Google Classroom and the print Stand Out textbook. I found that a number of activities in the textbook could be adapted for online learning (or at least online accountability) with a little creativity and a few minutes of prep. Here's an example: in our printed book (Stand Out 4, page 139), there is an activity where students work in groups to fill out a table of jobs and skills (jobs were given, skills were to be added). It was really easy to adapt that to a Google Doc that everyone could work on, then put it into Google Classroom with instructions for each person to add 1-2 skills to the chart. While we missed the interaction that we would have had in person, there seemed to be some benefits to this format - students ended up writing more skills for more jobs than I've observed when teaching this lesson in person, and ended up adding additional jobs to the chart as well. Here's the Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Q6yMAlD3xZo3fqmhW3-fHZeMPFf7T7fzc9K3CzQWVM/edit?usp=sharing Plus, Google helped them check their own spelling, which is something they rely way too much on me for when we're in person!

For other activities in the book, I did similar things. For listening activities, I downloaded the audio from the Stand Out website and put it into Classroom, along with a Google Forms quiz or a question for students to answer for accountability. For reading, I created a Google Doc for comprehension questions or made a Google Forms quiz. One activity asked students their opinion on appropriate/inappropriate workplace behaviors, which I did via a Google Forms survey. For grammar points, I could attach a YouTube video (there are YouTube videos for pretty much any grammar point you would want to teach, and then some) and add practice exercises from the book in a Google Doc. Most of these things were already in our book; I just translated them to an online format. I think I prefer this over a fully online text because students still have the support of the printed textbook if they want/need it. By keeping the activities the same, the students with lower digital literacy could do the work in the print book before transferring it to the online format, much like we used to write papers by hand before typing them up.

Here's an example of a Google Doc for comprehension questions: https://docs. google.com/document/d/18l7z8FbEzYbokaBR0QP1xnK9MGUwh5sq8hOvyGGYLvM/edit?usp=sharing  

Here's an example of a Google Form survey: https://forms.gle/E3RtjbnwnVPUaQ1u8

We also had weekly Zoom meetings, which allowed us to have the interaction we were missing in class (we used breakout rooms to practice interview questions and the annotation tool to identify new vocabulary in text). Zoom also allowed me to help troubleshoot problems and model how to access/complete upcoming activities. I recorded all these meetings and sent them to students afterwards so they could review as needed (which they did, a lot!). Some of my colleagues have also had a lot of success with screencasting for modeling or giving instructions.

As for question 3, I'm sure you've figured out that I used Google Classroom with my ELLs. I like Google Classroom because it's more limited than a full LMS like Canvas or Blackboard, and of course it integrates with G-Suite, giving you a lot of possibilities. But it's not very intuitive. Our first couple of Zoom meetings were spent showing students how to find the assignments, how to submit them, and how to check what assignments they still had to do. And while I like that it's limited, it can also be frustrating. It's difficult and clunky to have an online discussion, and the "Stream" can be overwhelmed with student comments and questions if you have those turned on.

If you want something more powerful, Canvas has a "Free for Teachers" version that works really well. My college is switching to Canvas this summer, so I decided to use the free version with my High School Equivalency students when we went online so we could all get our feet wet. Many of my HSE students are ESL completers with low digital literacy skills, and the feedback I got was that they found it easy to figure out and easy to navigate. (One caveat - while student navigation is easy, it is not quite so intuitive on the instructor end. That said, there is a robust online support community since many colleges and universities are switching to Canvas now.) The free version of Canvas is also what I-DEA uses for their curriculum, so folks have definitely used it successfully all the way down to beginning literacy ESL. AND the Canvas app is free and works great - there's almost no change in functionality between the Web version and the app.

In my opinion, the print textbook + Google Classroom combination works well for putting a curriculum together quickly with less training needed for instructors. Longer term, I think something like Canvas would give you more options down the road, with the benefit of indirectly preparing learners for tasks they would be expected to know at the post-secondary level. I'll be interested to hear others chime in with thoughts on Burlington English and e-texts.

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. It's very helpful to hear how you do things and thanks for the example documents.

Since we haven't used a formal curriculum in our program, I'm wondering how you plan out your classes using a print text like Stand Out. Our sessions run about 12 weeks each, and then we post test. Some students have dropped out at this point and we register new students to fill up the classes again.

Usually only a handful of students move to the next level class. Many students need more time before moving up a level. Right now our program only has two ESL evening teachers so we only have 2 levels. Many students are going to repeat the same class again. Do they use the same print book again? How do you provide a variety of lessons so that they are not repeating the same thing each session? Does your program purchase and give workbooks to the students? Or do you give the purchasing info to students who want to buy their own? We're not allowed to ask the students to buy the books. 

Thanks,

Jennifer

I can answer some of these questions if you don't mind a wall of text!

First, a little background: We adopted the Stand Out series program-wide last summer (Books 1-5). Since our classes are eight weeks long, we divided Book 1* into two courses and Books 2-5 into three courses each, for a total of 14 different ESL courses. Each book corresponds to an NRS ESL level (Book 1 = NRS 2, Book 5 = NRS 6), and we always start students at the beginning of a book. Each student receives the book at no cost to them, but they need to keep it through all three courses (they sign a receipt acknowledging that they'll have to purchase a replacement if their book is lost/damaged, but the books we give them are theirs to keep.) Let's say a student comes into our program and places into NRS 4. They'll get a copy of Stand Out Book 3 and start at the beginning, and they'll keep that book through three eight-week courses (a total of 24 weeks of instruction). Since our courses meet for seven hours a week, that gives us 168 instructional hours. In theory, plenty of time to make a gain on the CASAS. 

(I realize that my program has some advantages that don't help you. First, we have the instructor and student numbers to sustain 14 courses at a time, both morning and evening. It's possible that we're also seeing our students for more hours each week. Additionally, the eight-week quarter allows us to manage enrollment so that we can replenish our student numbers without disrupting existing classes, which is a challenge in open-enrollment programs.) 

Now, onto the questions that you actually asked... :)

So what happens when students don't make a gain? The way that our program is structured, students are in an NRS level for three courses before they *need* the CASAS score to move up to the next book. The hope is that instructors are able to identify students who are struggling and have them repeat courses as needed before they get to the end of a book/NRS level. In my experience, students who are struggling in a course are typically happy/relieved to repeat the course and its content. They know they didn't get it the first time around, and aren't comfortable with the idea of moving on to new information when they haven't grasped what they've already worked on. Some students will erase any work they've done in the book, and some instructors will photocopy pages as needed for students to have a fresh start. Often, these students get to be the "star" when they repeat a class because they're already familiar with the content.

Occasionally, students do get "stuck." When a student has taken a course twice and still isn't making progress (or needs to get their CASAS score up to go to the next book), they can take a more personalized "enrichment" class in our computer center. Computer center staff will work with the student to help them practice English independently on our computers, often with Burlington English and other software (Rosetta Stone and Reading Plus are two I know we have). That's probably not a realistic solution for your program, but perhaps these are students who get priority for working with a volunteer tutor or they gain the privilege of using a Burlington English seat for additional practice.

Since your classes are multi-level, there are some other ideas to explore. When I was teaching multilevel classes at a CBO, I really loved using a picture dictionary as my main text. A picture dictionary gives everyone the same topics and vocabulary to work on, but work can be altered to provide challenges at different levels. This can be adapted for online/blended learning. Most LMSs, including Google Classroom, will let you create student groups and assign different work to different groups. For example, your instructors could set up a "low" group and a "high" group (and students would never have to know which group they're in). For the lower group, an instructor could create an assignment that gives more support like a multiple-choice quiz in Google Forms. For the higher group, all you'd have to do is make a copy of the quiz and change the questions from multiple-choice to short answer to provide more of a challenge. It's more work, but it's doable.

That said, for your situation, a set curriculum like Burlington English or an e-text might be more welcome by instructors. You'd have to weigh the option of learning something new vs. re-imagining something familiar. I'm always up for a challenge (and I'm a digital native), but not everyone is - especially when we have the added stress of a pandemic affecting every aspect of our lives. 

 

*Book 1 gave us a headache because we rarely have enough students placing into NRS 2 to sustain three courses. Instead what happens is the book is divided in half, and instructors choose three units to teach during each eight-week course. That way, if/when students repeat, they'll get some known content and some new content.

Thank you so much for sharing how you plan your programs. It really helps to hear how other teachers and programs organize and use curriculum. I hadn't thought of splitting the books up into different courses. I can see how that works for a larger program, but it might also work for a smaller one too.

Speaking as a teacher, and having shared with the other teachers in our program, we are feeling a bit stressed with the time needed to prepare online lessons for Google Classroom as well as prepare for Zoom classes. Our main focus has been on communication with students and trying to meet their needs right now during the pandemic.I love having the flexibility to develop creative lessons on my own, but it does sound appealing to have more support and the structure that comes with an etext or Burlington English.

We have no idea yet what things will look like in the fall, if we're allowed to meet in person at all. There's talk of greatly reduced class sizes - something like no more than 10 people in a room at one time possibly. So we'd have to have a blended class with technology supporting online learning. I don't think we'll just drop all of the technology we've been implementing since March. I can only see us expanding upon it.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn from other educators here on LINCS. Thanks to everyone who has been sharing on this discussion thread.

Hi Jennifer, I didn't get a chance to answer your second question but Jenny did a great job in replying.  I just want to add to the thread here.  I've worked for years with Community Based Organizations so I understand about limited funds and outdated digital technology. I'd like to say again that I don't endorse particular products but I LOVE Ventures and Standout, along with all of their supplemental materials.  Of course you won't ever find a complete all in one resource that covers what you want to accomplish in class, but Standout and Ventures sure comes close to it.  The Ventures Teachers Resource Room have great collaborative materials for teachers and Ventures Arcade is a free interactive site for students to use without an account.  

When financial funds are tight, teachers have to be creative.  Depending on the program you work for, they may already have a curriculum or LMS to follow.  Some places are fortunate enough to give textbooks out to their students.  I work for a nonprofit, so there are no funds to purchase and give textbooks out to students.  Teachers that I work with do not have a set curriculum and follow the guidelines of the Illinois ESL Content Standards, which are aligned with the federal College Career Readiness (CCR) standards.  What they choose to teach and what materials to use are based on teacher's preference.

If you are looking for a free online ESL curriculum I suggest you look at USALearns.org. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Burlington English but the videos and exercises are good for low beginners to low intermediates to work with.  Quizizzes.com and Readworks.org are other free resources to utilize.  All of them will allow you to create a class and track student progress and printout reports.  There is a learning curve to all of them and you have to put up with the ads on the websites, but hey its free and my students don't seem to mind at all.  Students do not need to create an account, the exception is the USALearns website which requires an email.   I saw that you are using WhatsApp, which is a great tool to keep your students connected to you and one another. Also use YouTube. The app is on everyone's smartphone.  I like the animated grammar explanations using PowToons on YouTube. So, good luck on developing your online curriculum! 

  

 

Hello Colleagues,

Our last two presenters this week are Anya Enright and Joy Pak. Anya is a member of the 4Ts Team for which I am a team leader and subject matter expert. Joy was a participant in the first year of the IDLL, and this year is an IDLL team leader. Anya and Joy, please introduce yourselves and let us hear your answers to the questions i posed.

Members of the Integrating technology group: today and tomorrow are the last days to ask our panelists questions. Please do!

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group

 

 

 

Thank you, David! Hello, dear Colleagues! Hope everybody is having a good day and keeping well! Beautiful and sunny here in Chicago. 

If would present myself in a very short introduction, I would say "I am the product of education in many countries, first generation of immigration to this country, supporting others in building their "American Dream" using technology".

I am originally from Russia, Siberian city of Omsk, where I got my degree as an educator and a linguist. My Adult Education career in Russia was mostly business driven. I was a corporate trainer for a couple of big names, including IKEA. 

Now I enjoy my 5th year with one of the biggest Township High School Districts, District 214, Community Education/Adult Education Department. Our students are mostly from Northern Chicago suburbs but I also have some, who don't mind a ride, and come from Chicago. I am an instructor at several programs  - ESL, Citizenship and College and Career Ready. I also collaborate with "Read to Learn" program at the District 214 as a "SMART GOAL" tutor trainer. 

I am a founder and a host of "My American Dream" podcast that has started as a result of building  My American Dream. 

Excited for this opportunity meeting all of you and looking forward to our discussion! Thank you for having me!

 

Best,

Anya Enright 

 

Hello LINCS community! 

My name is Joy Pak. I'll give you a little bit of my background before I launch into my postings about my experience as a Subject Matter Expert.  I've been involved in almost all areas of adult education, from tutoring low literacy learners to ABE learners to teaching various levels of ESL students.  I am currently the ESL Program Coordinator for Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) in Elgin, Illinois. I still teach ESL students, but I also assist instructors and administrators on integrating digital technology in their program and classrooms.  I have been fortunate to be a part of  the Illinois Digital Learning Lab for two years.  The first year as a participant and this year as a Subject Matter Expert. So I can give you my perspectives and experiences of being both a participant and subject matter expert.  Feel free to post and comment on anything! Here are the following questions that I will post separately in this discussion forum:

  1. Why were you interested in being an IDLL Subject Matter expert/team leader?
  2. Tell us what your different team members teach, and who their students are (subject matter, level, income level, or other variables that would give us a picture of who and what they teach
  3. What have you found of particular interest that your team members have done so far?
  4. Team members have all been provided with a $3,000 budget to purchase hardware or
  5. What have been some of the challenges your team has had this year?
  6. What have you or your team members found especially useful about the research sprints?

Before I even knew about IDLL and the LINCS community, I was pursuing every website and app I could possibly find on the internet that dealt with improving English skills.  I spent long hours searching up level appropriate sites and apps that I could easily bring into my classroom.  I had plenty of success, but I also experienced the same amount of disappointments.  When I first joined IDLL last year, I was a participant.  I was excited to spend even more hours exploring all the digital resources that other adult educators shared.  I felt like a kid opening up all those presents on Christmas morning!

When I heard there was going to be another IDLL project, I wanted to be a part of the project again. This time I felt that I could contribute and assist other adult educators to not only share my resources that I spent hours curating but also to direct  them to specific resources that would be the most beneficial to the clients or learners they serve.  I thought this was a great opportunity to help adult educators with any necessary support to integrate digital technology at their organization. If they were successful, it would undoubtedly mean success for their learners!

Hello Joy,

I think you have articulated, in your description of your journey in this project one of the important outcomes of the IDLL, that it has been shown to be a good way to build teacher/instructor expertise and leadership in discovering, testing, using, and integrating technology at the program and state level, as well as to build significant expertise in the state for others' professional development. You are typical of many of those who have participated in the IDLL the past two years in that you were already keenly interested in your own professional development, were pursuing expertise as a teacher (in your case an ESL teacher), and you were ready for a sustained opportunity that offered you top-notch resources, a budget that you controlled for the purchase of hardware and software, the help of a subject matter expert/team leader and a team/cohort of peers who shared those interests and that together developed a shared vision, and hypotheses and that met regularly to review progress.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology and Program Management groups, and SME/Team Leader in the IDLL project

My wonderful Pak Attack cohort members (please note that the name was NOT my idea. It's a sports reference??)

Susan Wilson is from the C.E.F.S. Adult Literacy program. It is 100% one-on-one individual tutoring. Her adult learners range from nineteen to fifty-nine, and are either immigrants or born and raised in Illinois. Some of her adult learners have a college degree in their own country, some have completed high school through the Special Education program, and some have never obtained their high school diploma. Her organization helps those who require rehabilitate skills due to a physical illness, such as a stroke. Her learners have low literacy skills and low basic digital literacy skills, especially with a mouse or keyboarding.   

Carey Applegate works at Neighborhood House located in Peoria and offer classes in reading, math, social studies, and science.  It focuses on workplace skills workshops and GED classes. Her learners’ level range from emergent to roughly 8th grade reading level. The vast majority of her learners are African American and the other learners are immigrants or Caucasian.  Over 88% of her learners are classified as living in extreme poverty.

Michelle Schallmo is an innovative adult education instructor at Triton College. She specializes in teaching computer classes to students who are ESL Level 4 or higher and Level 3 and 4 GED students.  She has created her own computer curriculum and recruits ESL students every semester into her classes.

Mayra Diaz is an intern with Telphochcalli Community Education Project in Chicago.  The demographics she serves are low income immigrants who are Spanish-speakers with low English proficiency as well as little to no digital literacy skills.  She has diligently worked on creating a basic digital literacy skills curriculum in Spanish.

Kristy Laurx is an instructor at Waubonsee Community College. She specializes in teaching and assisting intermediate ELL students whose goals are to obtain successful level gains in CASAS.

What have you found of particular interest that your team members have done so far?

I love their dedication to their learners! When all Illinois residents was issued a stay at home order due to the pandemic in March,  each of my team member’s organizations literally stopped all their programming and classes. These are unprecedented times but through this crisis, my team members have found ways to go above and beyond to continue with learning and offering services to those in need.  They have engaged and communicated with their learners and clients through whatever accessible technology is available. My team members have sent text messages, emails, phone calls, or make house calls to drop off materials or food. It amazes me how quickly they could be versatile, adaptable, and resilient through this pandemic.

4. Team members have all been provided with a $3,000 budget to purchase hardware or software. How have your team members used that, and what challenges, if any, have they had in choosing what to spend, and getting what they ordered?

 

The team decided to purchase useful everyday digital technology hardware, like Chromebooks, iPads, and desktop computers.  Software requests ranged from Apps specific to dyslexia/LD/dysgraphia/dyscalculia to Burlington English.  The technology purchase was practical and useful. There was a team member who was not able to use the purchased technology because the tech department at her community college needed time to format the new technology before students can use it.  

 5. What have been some of the challenges your team has had this year?

The word that comes to my mind when I think about all the challenges my team have overcome is their ability to be resilient. Even before COVID-19 occurred, some of the biggest challenges for my team members were facility or administration issues.  One of my team member's organization was located in a public school, down in the basement.  There were issues because it didn’t have permission from the school district to access the school’s Wifi.  Another setback from another team member was that her organization was acquired by another organization. As a result, all scheduled classes were delayed because of the transition to this new organization.  Another challenge for a team member was not being able to test her metrics because she had low enrollment. 

Then the pandemic hit and my team member’s place of employment all went into crisis mode. All programming and classes halted. even at my organization. Through all these unforeseeable challenges my team members have encountered, each of them were all amazingly resilient.  They bounced back stronger than before in order to continue the learning and to provide help for the people they serve.      

6. What have you or your team members found especially useful about the research sprints?

I realize that not only is there inequality among adult learners to access and integrate digital technology and resources, but it also applies to an inequality among the type of organization those same adult learners seek services from.  For instance, there is more opportunity to have hands on experience computers with a community college which will have more digital resources and accessibility. Community colleges can offer more available classes versus a community based organization, which may have small staff, limited classes, and a limited or insufficient amount of digital resources.  IDLL plays an integral part because it offers digital technology and resources to help close the gap of inequality for adult learners and those organizations who serve them.

The opportunity to participate in IDLL was a lucky ticket for me, who is a tech and innovation lover by nature and like to experiment. 
I have been using some kind of technology or on-line resources throughout my teaching career and I saw how it changed the dynamics of a class, engaged students into learning more and increased their interest and motivation. To become the part of IDLL made sense for me and was a great transition to more profound world of technologies and to upgrade my tech skills. 
Brining extra technology to the programs is an extra bonus and great investment into the future. 
 

Our hypothesis has not changed much throughout the year. Our 4 T’s team did a great job with putting our hypothesis together, the main idea of which was to build on strengths, the skills and technology our students already possess, what is natural for them to use already, as well as build new digital skills that will help them to improve fulfilling their daily tasks or getting a new job, or be successful at a test, or the Citizenship interview. 

Best,

Anya 

When you become a part of such a big project, you are immediately submerged into its world, its opportunities and resources. My main strategical decision in the beginning was to choose the right amount of technologies that will not overwhelm the students to the point that they will quit the program and choose the platforms that go with the style of my class. I had to be consistent. 

I consider myself lucky because I was able to do it for my 3 programs I am involved and I was able to measure digital skills at all 3. 
So, my initial main tech choices were: 

GOOGLE Classroom and GOOGLE Applied Digital Skills Lessons for my College and Career Ready (CCR) and ESL (Advanced Level) programs. 

USCIS.gov, You Tube and Kahoot for my Citizneship program.

Past year I also piloted Transitions by Ventures and absolutely “fell in love” with it’s text and e-resources. The best way to describe my experience with it is “very true to life and it has great grammar videos”. 
There was a question about it in a previous comment, I will say, yes, absolutely implement it.

After transitioning our learning on-line full-time because of pandemic, my ESL and CCR programs really enjoyed Readworks, Khan Academy and I saw more traffic on GOOGLE Classroom. 
My Citizenship class enjoyed uscitizenshipsupport.com platform. 

To have the communication platform with your students is crucial, so we used Facebook messenger with my ESL program, CCR - phone text and GOOGLE Classroom, Citizneship - What’s app group. 
And email is essential, of course. 

I saw different reaction to technology in class. Some loved it, some did not but the most amazing was to discover new “shades“ of my students, the ones I didn’t see before and their confidence growing. 

Best,
Anya 

 

 

 

 

When I think about proving our hypothesis, I think of it as a success overall. CASAS results, level gains, more successful Citizenship interviews, being successful at a job interview and getting real jobs, being able to hold a presentation or facilitate a work shop on resume and cover letter writing are excellent proofs for it. 

Transitioning on-line full-time in March brought many other interesting findings. We recorded "My e-Learning Experience" e-card with ESL program, where they all said that learning on ZOOM was a great opportunity to study and get together. Everybody learnt their names and some changed their negative attitude towards learning on-line for positive. I am not sure what it is about Breakout Rooms on ZOON but everybody liked being in them and even said I did not give them enough time there ;-) 

Leading 3 programs, I found out that they have different level of digital literacy overall. If to range them, I put from Advanced to Low/No Digital Literacy skills: 

1. CCR 

2. ESL 

3. Citizenship 

Good news that even my 72 year old participant learnt how to connect on Face Time for a remote class. On-line learning increased family support and engagement, no doubt. 

 

Best,

Anya 

11.  If you would recommend participation in the IDLL project to other Illinois adult education teachers what would you tell them to expect from their participation?

I would say, if you do not know anything about technologies in education or if you a tech guru, you will benefit in any case by learning or sharing. 

You will work with colleagues from all over the State and build a great crew led by best experts. You will bring innovation to your programs and bring Adult Education to a new level. 

Don't forget about new opportunities. I got a chance to tech mentor educators in the State of Illinois within ICCB Adult Education Professional Development Network and found out that instructors quit their jobs because it is too overwhelming for them to figure out or deal with technologies. I also joined GOOGLE Advisory Community College Board and it has been an interesting journey. 

I am wrapping up the day with the feeling of being thankful for this opportunity to share more details and feelings, get "more personal", the opportunity to learn and work with David Rosen, who led our wonderful 4 T's team, my wonderful colleague, Laurice Hoffman, who is also the the part of IDLL and it has been a very supportive collaboration. And, of course, Michael Matos for pushing us, his passion and all the resources that he finds and brings to reshape the future of Adult Ed. 

Thank you for reading and participating today to all of you! 

Best,

Anya Enright 

 

 

This is probably a good time to mention the IDLL Mid-Point Events held in January 2020.

The Illinois Digital Learning Lab (IDLL) is an innovative experiment integrating digital literacy skills and technology Integration through the development and implementation of best practices throughout the state. We recently held our IDLL midpoint meetings throughout the state: Google-Chicago, Cantigny-Wheaton, and Richland Community College-Decatur with our participants, SMEs and invited guests.
Adult educators in the IDLL presented on successes building technology-rich classroom environments integrating digital problem-solving. These presentations were a great professional development opportunity helping other educators differentiate instruction and accelerate learning, improving technology use to communicate and solve problems while increasing learners’ digital literacy, access-independence, and 21st-century skills. Innovative best practices engaged all that attended.

Presenters/presentations at the IDLL included:

  • IDLL Introductions, Overview, Purpose & Progress with Michael Matos, Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition https://bit.ly/36kF4LW
  • Amazing Technologies with Google and More with Anja Enright, High School District 214 https://bit.ly/2Xivcyi
  • Blended Learning Motivating and Developing Independent Learners, with Laurice Hoffman, High School District 214 https://bit.ly/3cUFICf
  • Digital Adulting: Adult Basic Education (ABE) in the Digital Age with Agustin Jaramillo, Greater West Town Partnership https://bit.ly/2Tqz6Un
  • Digital Literacy in Adult Education with Christine Kelly, College of DuPage https://bit.ly/2znPIFJ
  • Game On! with Jenny Siegfried, Waubonsee Community College https://bit.ly/2TqzjqD
  • Implementing Digital Learning in a Volunteer Based Program with Rebecca Eller, People's Resource Center https://bit.ly/3e9D8IR
  • Using Google’s Applied Digital Skills with Michelle Schallmo, Triton Community College
  • Virtual Reality to Make Writing an Exciting Experience, with Svitlana Podkopayeva, Elgin Community College https://bit.ly/2ylRFSq
  • VR, AR and more…. with Lisa Manalisay, Richland Community College https://bit.ly/2zkufxl

The presenters highlighted that technology pervades and the range of uses suggests numerous approaches for integrating into adult education.

IDLL:

  • Showcased that digital literacy is increasingly part of basic-literacy and integration of these skills into subject instruction is very important and to be literate in this changing world requires digital literacy skills.
  • Prioritized enhancing, expanding, and increasing digital literacy in response to changing needs.
  • Detailed that computers use is important in everyday life: applying for jobs online; reading the news; banking/paying bills; searching for information; communicating; preparing for transition to employment or higher education and more.
  • Discussed examples to four basic approaches to integrating technology into adult instruction and learning: technology as curriculum, as delivery mechanisms, as complements to instruction, and as instructional tools.
  • Provided hands-on opportunities to develop a comfort level with various tech-tools and provided a basis for using the technology appropriately.
  • Exemplified activities to teach computer skills enabling students to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and communicate information.
  • Noted that as the economy and society changes, adult basic education evolves with common themes: digital literacy and technology integration.

The Illinois Digital Learning Lab (The Lab) continues. Stay tuned for more innovations, findings and successes.

A Technology Integration Experiment: The Illinois Digital Learning Lab

2020 IACEA Conference - Thursday, March 12th, 1:45-3:00 Embassy

See presentation here: https://bit.ly/3ga4zUF Presented by IDLL participants: 
  • Ginger Harner, Shawnee Community College
  • Jennifer Maddrell, Designers for Learning
  • Michael Matos, Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition
  • Jenny Siegfried, Waubonsee Community College
 

Hello Colleagues,

This has been a wonderful week of discussion with our Illinois Digital Learning Lab panel of teachers/instructors, administrators, professional developers and an integrating technology subject matter expert. Although today is the last day, you are welcome to post questions for our panelists early today.

Below are four questions for Integrating Technology group members or others reading this discussion:

  1. What are your takeaways from the discussion?
  2. If you are interested in a professional development/action research project like the IDLL for your state, what you would see as the benefits as an instructor or a program or state adult basic skills education administrator?
  3. What else would you like to know from our panelists?
  4. What might be your next steps to do something like this in your state?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology and Program Management groups

Hi Everyone,

I would like to ask any panelist how they see Adult Basic Education technology use going forward, specifically:

  • Once we reach the new normal where students can come back to face to face classes, how do they see programs continuing to use technology for remote learning?  

This has been a fascinating discussion!  Thank you so much panelists!

 

Steve Schmidt

Moderator, LINCS Reading and Writing CoP

 

Hi Steve, 

For me personally, I plan to continue using Google Classroom or another LMS regularly. I think having students build and sustain a habit of receiving and submitting classwork online will only serve them well in the future. Plenty of jobs have some sort of online portal for information and paperwork, and pretty much all post-secondary coursework is done digitally these days. Furthermore, as an instructor, I found it MUCH, MUCH easier to receive, keep track of, and provide feedback on work that my students turned in digitally. Like exponentially easier. I realize that going forward, I'll need to dedicate some class time to training students in how to access/view this feedback...but again, isn't that what they'll need to know for college and careers?

I'm sure I'll continue to incorporate plenty of other techie things, but this is one small thing that I'm definitely planning to continue using.

Jenny

I'm not on the panel, but I'd like to make an observation as a facilitator of one of the IDLL cohorts. I don't think (or hope anyway) that I'm overstating things when I say that we may be witnessing a significant mindset shift in adult education. I'm a relatively new entrant to the adult education context having most of my prior experience working with educators in the K12, higher ed, and workplace learning spaces. On MANY occasions, I've had to bite my tongue as I've heard people (both teachers on the ground and administrators of large scale programs) rattle off countless (very real) reasons why online and technology-enhanced learning was not a feasible option for adult education (you know them all, but just to frame my point ... measuring "seat time", digital exclusion, digital literacy, etc.) The silver lining of the past few (Covid) months is that teachers on the ground are finding ways to overcome these (again ... very real) obstacles. It's my greatest hope that the trial and error/sharing and comparing I've heard among teachers will help to propel the field beyond the mindset that technology-enhanced classrooms are the exception to the rule and only for the most pioneering of teachers and students.

That said, we have to be mindful that those students who have been able to participate in these new-to-them virtual spaces don't represent anywhere near ALL of those who need support. It will take some time to adequately measure how many students we weren't able to reach via technology-enhanced learning, and it will be important to know and understand the reasons for their inability to participate. How much more work do we need to do to get technology in the hands of those who don't have it? What are the baseline digital literacy skills needed by students/teachers to make technology-enhanced education work for all - not just some? And so on ...

Hello Steve! 

Great question! 

At our last meeting with the programs, I was happy to hear, "If the District building is closed because of the weather, we don't have to cancel a class anymore, students can join a class remotely". I have worked with students that changed their jobs, schedules, moved far from the program location and it forced them to quit classes. I am happy it is n the past, now they can take advantage of technology.

On my "personal" professional level, definitely will continue using platforms we have implemented, honestly, it is impossible not to, especially now. Blended learning will be the way for me. I am also in the process of building the team of female leaders within my partnership with on of the biggest ESL/business platforms, which will allow participants advance their English skills. 

My overall feeling, the future looks promising and more technologies will come to our life, which will encourage more technologies in Adult Education. 

 

Best,

Anya

 

Joy and everyone on our panel,

I want to ask about a feature of the IDLL design that surprised me, that the cohorts/teams were deliberately very diverse. My team, and I believe other teams too, included a careful mix of teachers/instructors from across the state, from community-based organizations, community foundations, public school districts and community colleges. My team members taught different subjects (e.g. basic literacy, adult basic education, ESL, U.S. Citizenship test preparation, HSE prep, vocational training, and perhaps others) and at different levels.

As a team leader, Joy, how did this design work out for you and for your team? Was the design a surprise for you as a team leader? What were the opportunities and challenges? Did you and your team members learn more about the broad field of adult basic skills education in Illinois, the differences in types of provider organizations, and about the various opportunities and constraints of delivering these skills for different parts of the state, and different kinds of communities, because of this design?  How about members of other IDLL teams, what are your thoughts about this team design?

Michael and/or Becky Raymond (Executive Director of the CCLC, the sponsor of the IDLL), can you tell us what you had in mind when you decided on this diverse team design?

I am asking because I believe it is an unusual feature of a statewide professional development project to deliberately build in such diversity. Perhaps those who are learning about the IDLL through this discussion may, as I am, be interested in how this feature worked.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology and Program Management groups