Technology and Learning Colleagues,
The first part of the results of a national survey of adult education administrators, teachers and others, "Learning for Life:The Opportunity for Technology to Transform Adult Education, Part 1: Interest in and Aptitude for Technology " is now available. Take a look at this Press Release, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/research-shows-technology-has-the-potential-to-reshape-adult-education-2015-03-31 and read the report at http://tytonpartners.com/tyton-wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Learning-for-Life_The-Oppty-for-Tech-to-Transform-Adult-Education_March-20151.pdf
Funded by the Joyce Foundation, and carried out by Tyton Partners in collaboration with COABE, the survey (which you may have participated in a few months ago) finds that:
- 86 percent of practitioners, including administrators and teachers, believe technology solutions can effectively support instruction
- Fewer than one in five practitioners believe technology is challenging or difficult
- More than 80 percent of respondents reported consistent access to the Internet and on-site computers
- Even with limited funding, investing in technology is a budget priority for most program administrators
- Almost 90 percent of adult education programs take advantage of free, open educational resources (OERs)
- More than 50 percent of respondents believe smartphones can benefit student engagement, classroom instruction, or learning opportunities outside the classroom. But, only 27 percent of survey respondents say they use mobile apps and games to support adult education instruction.
One of the purposes of the study appears to be to get developers of education software to pay more attention to adult education market. I found this in the Call to Action intriguing:
- "Attract supplier interest – Given funding challenges noted in the report, stakeholders should consider how to make the market more attractive. Policymakers could fund or incentivize use of learning technology, thereby increasing the market opportunity. Programs could, simply with peers in their area or under the auspices of the state, aggregate purchasing to make those sales more attractive to suppliers. Or philanthropy could run prize competitions to draw more investment targeted to adult education solutions."
Take a look at the study and let us know what you think.
If you will be at the COABE2015 conference in Denver in April, there will be a session on this there.
David J. Rosen
Technology and Learning CoP Moderator
djrosen123@gmail.com
Comments
David, I just saw this study as well. Do I understand correctly that it was requested by COABE and funded by the Joyce Foundation? At any rate, I was happily surprised by the results. To quote a phrase, we've come a long way, baby! The fact that 86% of adult educators express enthusiasm for technology integration was heartening. We are clearly past that hurdle. And 84% of programs always have Internet access for instruction - that's a lot of progress!
The study does promote adult education as an under-recognized market, and makes it look enticing. And hopefully the WIOA emphasis on technology integration and workplace and academic skills will provide a boost as well.
Wouldn't it be great to have an influx of software developed for adult learners, rather than repurposed from K12 or higher ed? What do we wish for that we don't have now? More simulations for workplace tasks? Smartphone apps with all curriculum, the way websites are provided now? Vocabulary apps that can be trained by the user, i.e., add vocabulary as you encounter it? And, of course, reasonably priced!
Marian Thacher
Hi Marian,
The study was funded by the Joyce Foundation. I don't know if it was requested by COABE or if COABE was asked to be a partner. Does anyone here know the answer to that question?
I agree that as a field we have made a lot of progress in integrating technology, and am happy to see the results of this study reflect that. If more adult basic education programs had funding to upgrade their hardware and software, and if they had more opportunities for sustained professional development -- including practice in using new hardware and software, and opportunities to reflect on their use with colleagues and other experts -- we'd make even more progress!
I hope foundations, including but not limited to the Joyce Foundation, will step up to help strengthen the adult education market, that is, that they will provide some initial funding so that adult education programs can demonstrate to policy makers that they do use technology effectively, and that it does make a positive difference. If policy makers then respond by allocating funding for programs to use technology, the market could grow, and software developers could take a greater interest in adults' learning basic skills.
A critical piece of this strategy should be evaluation and research. Policy makers will want to know that _independent_ evaluators have found that programs integrating these products have had success, and they will want to know from researchers if those interventions are significant and if, with experimental or quasi-experimental research designs, the results of the experimental group show a significant difference as compared with the control group.
What do I wish for?
I am interested to read what others wish for.
David J. Rosen
Technology and Learning CoP Moderator
djrosen123@gmail.com
One thing we are seeing in California is a number of districts going with Google Apps for Educators and purchasing chromebooks. Sometimes the adult schools don't even know they have access to Google Apps, but once they find out it seems to be a pretty good access solution. I wonder if this is the way we'll be going in the future - always-on Internet access and everything in the cloud. Between smartphones and tablets we are getting much closer to 1 to 1 computing.
Marian Thacher
A colleague recently called my attention to a slightly less cheery take on the new Learning for Life study, Part I results from the T|H|E journal. http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/03/31/adult-ed-lagging-way-behind-in-tech-use.aspx Here's a sentence that caught my attention: "The primary hold-up for giving those students broader access to technology is budgetary. As the report explained, 'Program administrators must contend with covering basic needs - e.g., staff salaries, utilities and basic supplies - and instructional investments tend to be a lower priority when juxtaposed with the fundamental elements required to operate an adult education program.'"
I am wondering what you -- someone who cares about technology and learning, and perhaps one of the respondents to this survey -- think of the results of this study?
Here's the article:
Adult Education Lagging Way Behind in Tech 03/31/15
While schools have placed a great deal of attention on technology in the classroom, it appears one instructional segment, adult education, has been left behind. Although 86 percent of adult education administrators and practitioners said they believe that technology solutions can "effectively support" adult education, only 54 percent of students in those programs always have access on site to computers for instructional purposes. Another 36 percent have only "occasional" access, and the bulk of the remainder have even less.
Two-thirds of these same professionals said they believe that technology-enabled instructional resources could provide practice opportunities for students outside class time. More than six out of 10 noted that technology could provide personalized instruction for students and help their students proceed through material at their own pace.
These results come out of a survey of 1,000 program administrators and practitioners across the adult education system done by Tyton Partners<http://tytonpartners.com/>, which provides investment banking and strategy consulting services. According to Tyton's new report, "Learning for Life: The Opportunity for Technology to Transform Adult Education<http://tytonpartners.com/tyton-wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Learning-for-Life_The-Oppty-for-Tech-to-Transform-Adult-Education_March-20151.pdf>," that system currently educates 4.1 million adults in adult basic education, adult secondary education, English as a second language, basic adult literacy and similar programs.
The primary hold-up for giving those students broader access to technology is budgetary. As the report explained, "Program administrators must contend with covering basic needs - e.g., staff salaries, utilities and basic supplies - and instructional investments tend to be a lower priority when juxtaposed with the fundamental elements required to operate an adult education program."
As a result of financial obstacles, 85 percent of adult education professionals reported that they turn to free online technology resources, such as Khan Academy<https://www.khanacademy.org/> and Google Docs<http://www.google.com/docs/about/> to support their instruction; 90 percent said they leverage free open educational resources.
An area that deserves more scrutiny, according to the report, is the use of smartphones to deliver instructional support. The authors estimated that between 2.3 million and 3 million students - about 55 to 75 percent - own smartphones. Those have the potential, according to the majority of respondents, to deliver instruction outside of the classroom, improve student engagement and improve classroom instruction, among other benefits.
The paper encourages four "key groups" to take action to help spur innovation in the segment:
"Although not a panacea, advanced learning technologies have shown enormous potential in K- 12 and university settings, and arguably offer even greater value for busy adults trying to build essential skills to improve their lives," said Matt Muench, program officer at the Joyce Foundation http://www.joycefdn.org/, which supported the research project. "If there is any area of the education market that would seem most to cry out for new thinking and new tools, it would be this enormous slice of American learners. Yet few entrepreneurs are engaged with the challenges, venture capital dollars ignore the problem and when we go to the education innovation events around the country, there is almost no discussion about this problem and how technology and new thinking might solve it."
The project was done in partnership with the Commission on Adult Basic Education http://www.coabe.org/. The report is available for download on the Tyton Partners Web site http://tytonpartners.com/tyton-wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Learning-for-Life_The-Oppty-for-Tech-to-Transform-Adult-Education_March-20151.pdf.
David J. Rosen
Technology and Learning CoP Moderator
djrosen123@gmail.com
David, I don't say it nearly often enough: Thank you for the resources you share with us. I was not aware of this report. I appreciate the resources you gather in your "lists". I often read things people share on LINCS and pass them on to staff - but I don't say "thank you" to all of you who share. Thanks to all of you - and especially you, David, for your long-time leadership role!