Equipped for the Elections: Media Literacy and Voting | Part 2: Get Out the Adult Education Vote!

September 20 (watch the recording and access resources)

With an election on the horizon, adult educators have the opportunity to make sure all voices —regardless of voting eligibility— are heard. This is why adult education and immigrant/refugee-serving organizations are uniting to offer a non-partisan webinar series that highlights the voices and perspectives of adult learners and provides resources and strategies for developing media literacy and critical thinking skills towards being an informed and active participant in the upcoming election.

Equipped for the Elections: Media Literacy and Voting | Part 1: Building Media Literacy in an Election Year

September 20 (watch the recording and access resources)

With an election on the horizon, adult educators have the opportunity to make sure all voices —regardless of voting eligibility— are heard. This is why adult education and immigrant/refugee-serving organizations are uniting to offer a non-partisan webinar series that highlights the voices and perspectives of adult learners and provides resources and strategies for developing media literacy and critical thinking skills towards being an informed and active participant in the upcoming election.

Digital Adult Training and Development Network (ATDN) TechCast

May 8 (watch the recording and download the slides)

The integration of technology has revolutionized professional development resources, enhancing sessions with layers of additional content, including links to articles, websites, and notably, other presentations that used to be only available in person. Recorded sessions offer a dual advantage: they enable participants to revisit previously shared strategies and provide access to missed sessions. With the ongoing trend of session recordings, we are venturing into a new domain—podcasts. This session will delve into the factors that guided our creation of Digital ATDN‘s TechCast and examine how our new service has impacted other Digital ATDN services.

DRAW: What We’ve Learned From Building Digital Resilience

April 4 (watch the recording and download the slides)

Building digital skills, literacy, and resilience is necessary for our adult learners. Through the Digital Resilience in the American Workforce (DRAW) Initiative, we have worked with over 14 states to support the integration of digital skills, literacy, and resilience in their professional development and instruction. During this session, we will explore what the project team and participants have learned as they build digital resilience. Lessons will be shared to help participants consider what is needed as they build digital skills, literacy, and resilience in their own contexts. 

Helping Your Students Identify, Develop, and Utilize Their (not so) Soft Skills with the Change Agent

March 1 (watch the recording and download the slides)

Adult Education students have strong transferable skills (aka, soft skills). They just don’t know it yet! Time management, communication, and critical thinking skills are being cultivated daily by hard-working adult learners. Employers value and seek these crucial competencies. This webinar covers practical classroom activities that demonstrate simple ways to teach basic skills in a way that enables students to identify and amplify the transferable skills essential for employability.

Multilingual Book Club

December 8 (watch the recording and download the slides)

Learn about the Multilingual Book Club, a collaborative project of the Dover Adult Learning Center, Dover Public Library, and the University of New Hampshire’s Community Literacy Center. The Multilingual Book Club supports multilingual individuals in preparing read-alouds, enacts a culturally relevant multilingual book club, and develops a digital bookshelf for educators and caregivers. The program celebrates linguistic diversity in the region and positions adult education multilingual learners as experts. Representatives from the center, library, and community literacy center share lessons learned and demonstrate how to replicate the program in your program and community.

History of Voting Rights & Introduction to VERA

November 16 (watch the recording and download the slides)

This professional development workshop is designed for adult education program directors and their teams who wish to provide their learners with access to non-partisan information and resources related to the 2024 election. It provides multi-level (intermediate to advanced) interactive lessons about the history of voting rights that will engage students, add to their knowledge of U.S. history and current events, and provide ready-to-use handouts with standards-aligned activities that you can bring to the classroom.

Enhancing Digital Literacy, Skills, and Resilience in Adult Education

June 22 (watch the recording)

Implementing digital literacy, skills, and resilience into instruction is vital to the education of adult learners as they pursue their personal and professional goals. There are instructional strategies that have been effective in the integration of digital literacy, skills, and resilience in adult education. This session will offer instructional strategy findings from the Digital Resilience in the American Workforce landscape scan and provide opportunities for engagement in discussion, exploration, and planning.

Teaching with the Immigrants and Immigration Series of The Change Agent

April 20 (watch the recording and download the slides)

The Change Agent presents the most recent series of issues on immigrants and immigration. Students write about their journey to the U.S., how they have created new community once they got here, and ways they have found and used their voice for advocacy.

Equity, Program Improvement, and Collaboration: What Data Can Do for You

Thursday, January 27th, 2:00-3:30 EST (watch the recording)

Explore California’s Adult Education Pipeline Dashboard, a data tool that supports collaborative planning and allows providers to dig into their data, as an example of how collecting robust data can support program improvement and equity initiatives. We will use case studies to demonstrate strategies that move beyond NRS reporting to help address equity of service, identify program improvement topics, and support collaborative conversations with partners by parsing out your data and looking across data points.

Presenters: Blaire Toso, Ph.D., Alexandra Lozanoff, and Alexandria Wright of WestEd

The 70/70 Quiz: A Pause for Critical Reflection

Thursday, January 13th, 2:00-3:00 EST (watch the recording)

The 70/70 Quiz is designed not to focus on the preparedness of students, but rather on the intuitive capabilities of the instructor. The instructors develop a review quiz that they are confident that at least 70% of their students could pass at a 70% proficiency level, given the instructors’ intuitive sense of the first few weeks of instruction. When the instructors process the results, they can better plan the rest of the academic journey.

Presenters:

Carmela Ochoa, Lauren Zajac, Patrick Lohan, and Christian Torres of  Moraine Valley Community College.

Designing Remote and Hybrid ESOL Programming around Student Choice

Thursday, December 9th, 2:00-3:00 EST (watch the recording)
This webinar showcases how Holyoke Community College redesigned its ESOL program (WIOA Title II funded) to foster student choice and independent learning, while addressing students’ digital skill development and device needs. Examples will illustrate ways in which student choice and a metacognitive focus are expressed differently at distinct student language proficiency levels, in fully remote and hybrid programming. We will also hear about early outcomes from and student feedback on the redesigned program. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss their own ESOL program redesign choices or plans. The webinar will also touch on key considerations for designing and scaling remote programs identified by this research.

Holyoke Community College’s program is one of eight case studies of innovative ESOL programs from around the U.S. featured by the Remote ESOL project as part of its landscape scan of technology-enabled ESOL programs and practices.

Presenters:

Pesha Black, Director of English for Speakers of Other Languages, Holyoke Community College, MA

Silja Kallenbach, Vice President, World Education

Finding and Using the Best Online Resources for Your Students

Thursday, November 18th, 2:00-3:00 EST (watch the recording)

As we work in this new virtual environment, many of us are experiencing the ‘paradox of plenty’ – the choice of so many online tools and resources that we feel paralyzed and overwhelmed. This session will help teachers simplify their planning for virtual instruction. Illinois Adult Education Professional Development Network’s Anita Kerr and Amber Fornaciari will explore a four-step process for lesson design and identify specific high-value online resources to streamline our planning and instruction. More is not always better – let’s simplify!

Presenters: Anita Kerr and Amber Fornaciari of the Illinois Adult Education Professional Development Network

Addressing Racial Equity in our Adult Education Classrooms, Programs, and the Field 

This three-part series of webinars examined the way implicit racial bias shows up in adult education and how it creates inequity for learners. First, we look at implicit bias — what it is and how we can both face it and work constructively to change it. Second, we share classroom materials and strategies that both teach about equity in the context of basic skills and make your classroom more inclusive and relevant to all. In our third and final webinar, we showcase programs that made changes to make racial equity a key part of their program practices. The webinars took place in April, 2021. Cynthia Peters, editor of The Change Agent, led the webinar series.

Webinar 1: April 13, 2021, 4:00 to 5:30 PM ET, “Implicit Bias” (watch the recording recording and download the slides)

Implicit bias shows up in all individuals, organizations, and institutions. This webinar investigates how racial bias shows up in ourselves and in our field, and we propose solutions — some short-term and some long-term.

Webinar 2: April 20, 2021, 4:00 to 5:30 PM ET, “Classroom Strategies for Talking about Race” (watch the recording and download the slides)

In this interactive webinar, we share ideas about how to use relevant, student-written content to help students understand topics like race, racism, inequity, inequality; how to use this understanding to navigate their lives in the United States; and how these conversations can build stronger connections between students.

Riva Pearson, ESOL teacher at JVS in Boston, co-presented this webinar.

Webinar 3: April 27, 2021, 4:00 to 5:30 PM ET, “Action Steps for Programs and the Field Addressing Racial Equity” (watch the recording and download the slides)

In this webinar, we offer various steps that programs and the field can take to move towards equity in adult education. We explore how you can use orientation and other program-wide policies and practices, along with hiring and staffing policies, that help you address equity. We also investigate how we can advocate for changes in our field that will help reduce racial inequity.

Note: Carmine Stewart, President and CEO of Aspire Consulting and Educational Services, and Vice President of Programming at Seeds of Literacy in Cleveland, Ohio, co-presented this webinar.

Engaging Learners in Synchronous Remote Instruction

December 10 (watch the recording)

During this session, from one teacher to another, Rachel Riggs shares how she sets up her virtual classroom for better engagement, adapts “classic” ESL activities to the remote setting, and uses new activities/strategies that engage learners during synchronous remote instruction. She also shares some of the tools she’s used to make her presentations and activities more engaging.

Presenter: Rachel Riggs is an ESL Instructional Specialist for Frederick Community College in Maryland. She has years of experience teaching English language learners, both domestic and abroad, from beginner to academic level ESL.

Readability for All: Improving Literacy & Engagement through Enhanced Readability

Friday, October 23, 2:00-3:00 EST (watch the recording)

The EdTech Center @ World Education has partnered with Adobe and Readability Matters to bring you this webinar on readability in digital texts and literacy. We introduce readability and why it matters and share promising tools for supporting enhanced, personalized readability in digital texts for learners. We also show examples of how you can use these tools with content and articles from The Change Agent.

Using the “Pandemic” issue of The Change Agent in the Classroom

Thursday, October 1, 2:00-3:00 EST (listen here)
This webinar focuses on the new issue of The Change Agent on the pandemic. This issue is full of powerful, multi-level writings by students about how they are coping with the virus at home, in their communities, and at work. Activities and discussion questions aligned to the College and Career Readiness Standards make this classroom-ready, and our online features (including audio versions of articles) make this a great resource for distance learning.

Introducing the Transforming Distance Education Course!

Tuesday, September 29, 1:00-2:00 EST (listen here)

The EdTech Center @ World Education launched the Transforming Distance Education course. This course is freely available and includes the following modules:

• Getting Started with Distance Education & Blended Learning
• Outreach, Screening, & Orientation: Supporting Distance Learners from the Start
• Effective Distance and Blended Learning Instruction
• Assessment in Distance and Blended Learning

Access the webinar to learn about the skills you will gain, digital micro-credentials available, and options for adapting the learning content in your own professional learning initiatives.

Presenter: Jen Vanek and team, World Education

Voter Education, Registration, and Action…during a Pandemic!

Thursday, September 24, 2:00-3:00 EST (listen here)
Listen to this webinar that introduces our new Voter Education, Registration, and Action materials for 2020. The election process is more complicated this year due to the pandemic, which makes it that much more important to share information with students about how to vote, why voting matters, and how to make sense of current debates about voter suppression and fraud. You’ll leave the webinar with ready-to-use, relevant, student-written content that will help you teach all of this and more. The content is bundled in Lesson Packets available as PDFs or in Google slides (that can be adapted for your distance learning classroom).
Presenter: Cynthia Peters, World Education

Skillful Navigating and Advising from a Distance

May 21, 2020 (listen here)
As instruction moves online in response to the pandemic, many adult learners are facing challenges that require skillful advising and navigating. Onboarding and supporting online learning, job searching, connection to essential resources, advocacy, career exploration and emotional support are just a few ways that instructors and navigators are increasing their advising services. Some of the challenges are: what information to share, where to share it, and how often? How to support learners as they transition to online learning, navigate complex job search, connect to social services and continue career exploration? In this webinar, you will identify a specific need you have related to the advising and navigating part of your work, and identify a strategy and a tool that will help you address that need.

Presenter: Dani Scherer, Curriculum and Professional Development Specialist, National College Transition Network (NCTN), World Education, Inc.

Adult ELLs: Student Engagement and Learning. What does that look like in a time of crisis?

May 14, 2020 (listen here)

How can programs support adult learners with educational opportunities during this unique time? Is it realistic to expect learners to continue their education during a time of COVID? Some learners are telling us – Yes this is a critical time to be connected and continue learning. Being connected and part of routines is a best practice in times of crisis and uncertainty. Realizing where our students are on a social-emotional level and meeting them where they are is what adult educators can do now. Let’s share how we can adapt instruction into components that our students can connect with at this time. Finally, let’s reflect on and adapt our expectations and connect to the new, more immediate goals of our students.

Panelists: Heather Ritchie, Professional Development Specialist, joined by ESL teachers Genevieve Rene, Sheryl Sherwin, Lindsey Crifasi @ Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, Washington DC

Cultivating Champions for Adult Education – The Who, How and Now of It

Feb. 13, 2020 (listen here)

Join us in this conversation where adult education program staff will share, question and learn about cultivating literacy champions. We will explore how staff, instructors and students can share information with people from other areas – funders, policy-makers, neighbors, and potential new volunteers, teachers or staff – about the field of adult education. We want to make information stick out and stick in people’s minds! We want people to hear and remember about the impact our work is having in our communities. And, finally, we want people to help us take action to support the amazing students that we work with – whether via funding, advocacy, or word-of-mouth.

Panelists:

• Leslie Haslam (Exeter Adult Education)
• Judy Mortrude (World Education, Inc.)
• Heather Ritchie (Carlos Rosario Int’l Public Charter School)

Census 2020 Activities for Adult Education Classrooms & Programs

Jan. 28, 2020(listen here)

In this webinar, we’ll hear about resources and activities aimed at mobilizing adult education students and their communities to get out the census count! The teaching resources we will share address census basics (what it is, why it matters, and how to participate) as well as census issues (such as past misuse of census data and what’s different now) as they build language, literacy, and numeracy skills. We will also share examples of program-wide campaigns that energize students and give them an opportunity to practice their leadership and civic skills.

This webinar is part of a series, sponsored by the National Coalition for Literacy and its member partners, to educate and mobilize the field to support a full census count. The decennial U.S. census data collection determines the resources and representation your community will receive for the next decade. To see other webinars in the series and find educational resources, please go to NELRC’s Stand Up and Be Counted/Census page.

Panelists:

• Jennifer Gagliardi (Milpitas Unified School District)
• Stephanie Kriebel (San Mateo Adult and Career Education)
• Andy Nash (World Education, Inc.)
• Heather Ritchie (Carlos Rosario Int’l Public Charter School)

Census 2020 and Adult Education: a Call to Action

Dec. 4, 2019 (listen here)

The decennial U.S. Census data collection determines the resources and representation your community will receive for the next decade. The high-profile argument over a potential citizenship question is expected to have a chilling effect on the response rates of hard-to-count populations, which include many of the adults we serve—foreign-born individuals, low-income households, people of color, rural residents, and children under 5. Family literacy and adult education programs have important roles to play in reaching out to these hard-to-count communities and supporting community efforts to bring out the count. For this reason, the National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) has taken on Census education as a priority goal for 2020. In this webinar, attendees will learn about Census 2020 directly from Census Bureau representatives and hear from NCL members about the unique role adult education can play in the 2020 count. This webinar will outline how and why the Census happens, how people can respond, how to mobilize your community around Census complete counts, and how to incorporate the Census into adult education programs and content.

Panelists:

• Michele Diecuch (ProLiteracy)
• Cathy Hartz (Census Bureau)
• Tabitha Stickel (Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy, Penn State)
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Census 2020: Preparing Your Adult Education Program, Participants, and Community — featuring California’s Adult Education Program 

Oct. 11, 2019 (listen here)

Census 2020 is critical! An undercount of your community will mean a loss of resources and representation for the next decade. Adult education programs like yours can make a difference.

The National Coalition for Literacy – adult education’s largest umbrella organization – is supporting Census 2020 awareness & capacity building efforts. This webinar will highlight California’s campaign to prepare and connect adult education learners to Census jobs.

Neil Kelly of the California Adult Education Program office will discuss the development and outcomes of work with adult education programs and students across the state. John Werner of the Sequoia Adult Education program will share their Census Enumerator job preparation program resources.

Building a Teacher Pipeline

Jan. 11, 2019 (listen here) 

The field is facing a wave of staff retirements and the on-going challenge of teacher retention. Many programs are also committed to building a staff that reflects the diversity of their students. Hear how two programs – one primarily ABE and college prep, the other primarily ESOL at all levels – are nurturing teacher pathways for their graduates, moving them from volunteers all the way up to certified teachers.

Presenters:

• Don Sands and Manny Knaggs, X-Cel Education
• Kevin O’Connor and Luby da Silva, Framingham Adult ESL Plus

Where Math and ELA Skills Overlap

Jan. 18, 2019 (listen here)     

Did you know that certain math standards reinforce the standards for reading and writing and vice versa? For example, the math standard #3 — construct viable arguments and critique reasoning of others — is very similar to the reading and writing standards that push students to be able to say *why* they think what they think and to make arguments using evidence. Furthermore, math and ELA present overlapping opportunities to teach key basic skills, including: learn complex/nuanced vocabulary, read directions carefully and respond appropriately, organize information, and describe/narrate steps for solving a problem. In this webinar, we will explore these areas of overlap and give you some activities to try out in the classroom.

Presenter:

Cynthia Peters, World Education

Accessing Free Mobile Learning Apps for ESOL and Literacy

Feb. 7, 2019 (listen here)

In this webinar, we’ll discuss the requirements, strategies, and timeline of the XPRIZE Communities Competition for those who have joined or are thinking of joining Team WorldEd. We’ll hear about the recruitment strategies being planned and implemented by team members and check in about what assistance and recruitment materials team members would find helpful.

Presenters:

• Silja Kallenbach, World Education
• Jen Vanek, World Education

Pre-webinar: Read about the Adult Literacy XPRIZE finalist apps at https://tinyurl.com/yd4drjsp

Teaching Critical Thinking and Argumentation

Feb. 21, 2019 (listen here)

There is solid guidance available to help instructors use evidence-based practices to teach math, ELA, or ESOL. But what do we know about teaching critical thinking? Join us to learn specific ways to sharpen analytic skills and help students develop an argument, evaluate evidence, and spot the “logical fallacies” (slippery slope, strawman, etc.) that mislead people and reflect poor argumentation.

Presenter:

Amy Trawick, CALLA

Pre-webinar: A lesson example will be sent out for review in advance of the webinar.

IET programs: how are they evolving?

March 8, 2019 (listen here)

Two years ago, many adult education programs were implementing their pilot rounds of IET programming. In this webinar, we reconnect with programs that contributed to our IET webinar series in 2016 to find out how their IET programming has developed as they adapt to changes in the economy, learn from past mistakes, build on their strengths, and form new relationships.

Presenters:

• Tyla McCaffrey-Pimentel, Genesis Center, Providence, RI
• Lyn Warne, RSU 39, Aroostook, Maine
• Maureen Moreira, Asian American Community Association, Boston, MA

Pre-webinar: Please listen to our presenters describe their IET programming in 2016.

• IET in ESOL programs: https://tinyurl.com/y9blpfxg

Tyla presents about their culinary arts and healthcare programming (19:10-30:00)

Maureen presents about their building maintenance (30:20-42:10)

• IET in rural programs: https://tinyurl.com/yb8gdzla

Lyn presents about their boiler operator program (48:25-1:04:00)

Addressing implicit bias in the classroom

April 9, 2019 (listen here)

We all harbor implicit, unconscious bias based on the images and messages that have surrounded us throughout our lives. These biases follow us into the classroom, as do our political views, spiritual beliefs, and cultural assumptions. This webinar focuses on how to become aware and acknowledge our biases, and how to deal with their appearance in the classroom.

Presenters:

• Cynthia Peters, World Education
• Andy Nash, World Education

Pre-webinar: Please come to the webinar prepared to share one example of implicit bias that you have either: 1) witnessed, 2) experienced yourself, or 3) expressed yourself. If you would like to take one of Harvard’s implicit bias tests, you can find them here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html

Incorporating Technology to Support Workforce Skills

May 2, 2019 (listen here)

How does a focus on workforce skills shift the way we incorporate technology into instruction? What tools are most useful and how do they prepare adults for the workplace? This webinar will share digital strategies for improving learning and training, mentoring and support, assessment, and job search and placement. We’ll discuss innovative program models and lessons from integrating technology tools in programs across the country.

Presenters:

• Priyanka Sharma, World Education
• Kathleen O’Connell, World Education

Pre-webinar: In preparation for the webinar, think about a) what tech tools you are currently using in your program/class, and b) in what capacity (for communication, extended learning, career exploration, etc.)

Differentiated supervision and support

May 13, 2019 

Changes in the field have given rise to new positions (such as career navigator or transitions counselor), new courses (such as IET), and new instructor qualifications (such as digital literacy), adding complexity to the supervision demands on program managers. This webinar will focus on differentiated supervision of an occupationally diverse staff as the field changes.

Presenters:

• Luanne Teller, World Education
• Kristin Hempel, EastCONN
• Pesha Black, Holyoke CC

Pre-webinar: Before the webinar, please review these Characteristics of Differentiated Supervision and reflect on how they show up in your own program.

Communicating/Marketing Adult Education’s Value

May 21, 2019 (listen here)
Under WIOA, the job description of program managers has changed in many ways. Directors now need to be able to network with workforce, education, and other community partners; “market” adult education’s value; build partnerships; and braid funding. Hear from program directors that have made this transformation and have things to say about it. Bring your thoughts and questions.

Presenters:

1. Deanna Strand, Dover Adult Learning Center
2. Karisa Tashjian, RI Family Literacy Initiative, Providence Public Library

Pre-webinar: Find related resources in NELRC’s archive, specifically:

• Employer Engagement webinar: https://tinyurl.com/y7tkhl2y

Amanda Bergson-Shilcock presents on how to talk to employers to place immigrant job-seekers (32:00-47:00)

The Director of Workforce Development at a Boston hospital discusses what they look for and how to engage them (57:00-1:17:30)

• Building Partnerships webinar: https://tinyurl.com/y8rdmlzk

Karisa Tashjian talks about marketing workplace education to employers (5:45-21:30)

Getting more from your data

May 30, 2019 (listen here)
Data can help demonstrate your program’s effectiveness as help you solve persistent challenges. But you need to ask it the right questions. In this webinar, we will discuss strategies to use your program data to help you strengthen programming, address equity, and improve marketing and promotion.

Presenter:
Priyanka Sharma, World Education

Preparing for the 2020 Census

June 4, 2019 (listen here)
The Constitution requires that a census of US residents be taken every ten years in order to determine each state’s number of Congressional representatives and the apportionment of billions of federal dollars (including adult education funding). This webinar will review how the 2020 Census works, why it matters, challenges that threaten a full population count, and how adult education programs and libraries can help adults understand and participate in the 2020 Census.

Presenter:  
Andy Nash, World Education