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
I was not surprised about the diverse areas the team of adult educators came from because the IDLL groups were organized the same way last year. Last year when I was a participant, I did not see the benefit of a team of educators or administrators from different areas of adult education. I was not sure how to relate to other team member's challenges and issues. Each team member wanted different digital technology and resources. However, at the end, I learned valuable insight on the diversity of our adult learners, different types of provider organizations and communities around Illinois. Because IDLL's cohort participants are comprised of a diverse range of adult educators and different digital technological needs, it is imperative that the subject matter expert be just as diverse and knowledgeable in digital tools and resources. It may appear that the team may not have much in common, but the collaboration and sharing leads to a bigger goal. The possibility of adult educators together providing quality services and access for all types of adult learners.
As a participant, I agree with Joy. Working in a cohort with a diverse group of programs was very good.We realized that the ultimate concern of all our programs was helping the students to accomplish their learning goals. We were able to look at tools that we didn’t think of because we were “only a CBO..”, or “we only worked with volunteers” or “we’re a community college and….” . The ideas offered by each group,and what the SMEs put into perspective, was to not limit our resources just because of our particular situations. We shared, critiqued and learned SO much from each other.
"The ultimate goal of teaching is to make the new seem familiar and the familiar seem new." (Samuel Johnson)
The uniting characteristic here was the students’ needs. IDLL united adult education throughout the state concentrating on their approach or lack of to digital literacy and technology integration in adult learning. IDLL brought large, midsize, and small organizations together. IDLL brought together community based organizations, vocational training programs, and community colleges together. IDLL united those organizations funded by different sources. IDLL brought together organizations teaching everything from Literacy (ESL and ABE) to HSE to vocational training. IDLL also included those that had participated in IDLL’s inaugural year, last year for this year’s project.
Each of the 5 cohorts also included a combination of the following in each:
These groupings also promoted a variety of tech tools and resources that were used within each cohort which was also a success.
These cohort arrangements, the engaged subject matter experts, administrators and instructors and their students and clients created an ideal Lab for experimentation. The cohorts developed support to what literacy is in the digital era and how to teach it. The cohorts supported how to prepare individuals to function in a continuously changing digital environment. The Lab is on the right track to support ideas for what level of digital skills their adult learners will need to be successful in learning, employment and navigating life digitally. The education providers in IDLL are developing digital literacy and helping students to gain independence by using these skills in various situations.
I want to thank our panelists for their thoughtful and often stirring replies. When I first proposed a week-long discussion on this one project I wasn't sure there would be enough to say, but my instinct that there already was -- and would be plenty more to talk about near the end of this year's project -- was proven correct. I appreciated Michael's thorough overview, his summary of some of the many resources that project participants used, and his explanation of the deliberate team diversity model. I appreciated all the teachers/instructors attention to detail in answering the questions. I also appreciated Joy Pak's comments about being a subject matter expert/team leader, many of which resonated with my own experience in this project as an SME/Team Leader. I also appreciated Jennifer Madrell's several comments about her "awesome" experience as an SME/Team Leader.
My heartfelt thanks to Michael, Jennifer, Laurice, Dawn, Jenna, Anya and Joy. You were all wonderful.
The discussion is archived in LINCS where others who were not able to join us may find it and learn from your experience and advice. I hope you will remain as members of the LINCS Integrating Technology group and read and comment in other discussions here that may interest you. I hope you will also initiate new posts with your questions, observations and learnings from your experiences as teachers/instructors, administrators, professional developers and classroom researchers.
David J. Rosen, Moderator
LINCS CoP Integrating Technology and Program Management groups
To have a state program like IDLL is an investment that can only improve your adult education programs. As Anya said, " 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." The fact that experts are willing to share their expertise and "novices" are grateful to learn, and investments of equipment and knowledge are being made available to all types and levels of adult education, is an exceptional opportunity for Everyone involved. Who are the ultimate benefactors? Every aspect of society that is in someway "connected" as it truly enhances our ability to communicate. And whether we are plugged in or not, communication of ideas and methods to improve ourselves and help others brings us full circle to the goal of education in any day and age. Moving forward, digital technology is here and an IDLL program is a remarkable tool and resource to have. Thank you, David, for the time you have invested in this program and highlighting it for other states to see. And Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalation: Becky and Michael, thank you for taking on IDLL and moving it forward. And to all participants this year, thank you for sharing your concerns, knowledge and expertise.
Thank you David for allowing us to have this discussion. Thank you all IDLL participants for sharing your knowledge and expertise. What you do for your learners is unmatched. You are all awesome!
Please don't miss IDLL's Closing Event June 26th, 2020 on ZOOM. This event will be a learning experience that you don't want to miss. Open to all and details will be posted everywhere on Tuesday, May 26th, 2020, Stay tuned!