Resources
EdTech Center resources include publications, webinars, articles, and other formats that explore topics related to all aspects of using technology with adult learners.
IDEAL Distance Education and Blended Learning Handbook
The Revised 7th Edition of the IDEAL Distance Education and Blended Learning Handbook addresses both administrative and instructional issues that are at the core of successful blended and distance education. It is informed by current research and policy guidelines and... Read more →
Distance Education Strategy Sessions
Since March, the EdTech Center has hosted Distance Education Strategy Sessions on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. The virtual strategy sessions convene leaders, practitioners, educators and more to share and discuss your distance learning questions. All of the strategy session... Read more →
English Now! Implementation Guide & Scale-Up Webinar
World Education worked with ten adult learning programs in eight states from 2018 to 2020 in the scale-up of English Now! learning circles. The English Now! Implementation Guide, written by Kathleen O’Connell and Priyanka Sharma, provides additional guidance, sample lessons... Read more →
IDEAL Consortium Handbook Webinar Series on Distance and Blended Learning Programs
We are excited to share recordings of a three-part webinar series offered through collaboration between the SABES Program Support PD Center and Dr. Jen Vanek of the IDEAL Consortium. The content of each webinar is drawn from IDEAL’s Distance and... Read more →
Innovative Digital Learning Resources
In partnership with the Migration Policy Institute, EdTech Center’s Alison Ascher Webber led a panel at the National Immigrant Integration Conference showcasing innovative program models that leverage educational technologies to train hard-to-reach adults and extend learning beyond classroom walls. The models presented were designed... Read more →
Workforce Edtech Tools
The WorkforceEdTech.org Tools repository is a growing collection of impactful technology tools for use in adult learning and workforce development settings. The repository is designed to help adult learning and workforce development organizations, as well as employers, better leverage the... Read more →
Technology Testing Report
The new report, Leveraging Technology to Increase Opportunity and Economic Security for Adults, shares findings and recommendations from the EdTech Center @ World Education’s national field testing of seven technology tools for increasing access to learning and employment opportunity for lower-skilled... Read more →
WEBINAR: Technology Testing for Adult Learning and Employment: Learning from Innovation in the Field
Over the past year, the EdTech Center has been field testing seven education and workforce development technologies funded by the Employment Technology Fund: Care Academy, Cell-Ed, Nepris, Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment, PAIRIN, Signal Vine, and SkillSmart. Our work, supported by... Read more →
WEBINAR: Accessing Free Mobile Learning Apps
Team WorldEd is competing in the Adult Literacy XPRIZE communities competition! The Adult Literacy XPRIZE Communities Competition aims to “put free learning tools in the hands of those who need them the most, so learning can happen anytime, anywhere.” They... Read more →
WEBINAR: Field Testing to Support a New Northstar
The Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment is a battery of free interactive online modules that assess one’s ability to perform basic computer skills, like using the internet, email, operating systems, Microsoft Office, social media, and information literacy. The goal of the... Read more →
WEBINAR: Upskilling Front line Workers with Cell-Ed
This webinar shares case studies from piloting Cell-Ed to explore how mobile learning provides a pathway to literacy, language, and job skills as well career ladder promotions for adult learners who cannot attend class and extend and differentiate learning for... Read more →
IDEAL Consortium Updates
IDEAL Consortium Updates, 2016-present The IDEAL Consortium at the EdTech Center will be publishing newsletter reporting on trends and prioritized initiatives in member states. Report on the 2019 IDEAL Institute, Fall 2019 Stronger Together! Discussion and Collaboration on Critical Issues... Read more →
WEBINAR: Virtual Career Exploration with Nepris
Nepris is an online skills-based volunteering platform that allows employers to engage directly with job seekers and learners through live, virtual interactions, providing real-time industry connections and career exploration. Workforce boards and adult education organizations can use Nepris to offer... Read more →
WEBINAR: Innovative Digital Learning Models for ELL Immigrant Adults
Mobile and other technologies make possible anytime, anywhere learning to extend education to previously underserved adults and to expand learning beyond classroom walls. Technology can also accelerate outcomes through personalized instruction and practice. In this webinar, our EdTech Center experts... Read more →
Innovative Digital Learning Models for ELL Immigrant Adults
The EdTech Center @ World Education compiled the follow data showing the range of instruction using different proportions of distance and face-to-face learning. Click on the image below or download a PDF version of the chart. Read more →
Panel: Promoting Adult Education, Workforce Skills, and Civic Engagement through Digital Learning
This panel presentation took place at the 2017 National Immigrant Integration Conference. Presenters included: Alison Ascher Webber, Director of Strategic Initiatives, EdTech Center @ World Education Johan Uvin, President, Institute for Educational Leadership Aida Cardenas, Building Skills Partnership Stephen Alderson,... Read more →
How Investment in Technology can Accelerate Collective Impact in Adult Learning
Adapted from the Introduction: At the 2017 IDEAL Consortium Institute, ABE state leaders who support development and implementation of distance and blended learning in adult education tackled a series of questions. World Education EdTech Center staff and a representative from Aztec Software... Read more →
WEBINAR: Research-Based Recommendations for Digital Learning in Adult Basic Education
In 2014 the Joyce Foundation began a study on digital learning to identify which practices and product features might be associated with better outcomes for students and programs. In this webinar, Michael Ormsby and Dan Griffith with Essential Education examined which... Read more →
Using Google Tools for Teaching and Learning
Using Google Tools for Teaching and Learning was a series of virtual hour-long workshops covering Google Docs, Slides, and Forms. The workshops gave participants the chance to experiment with new techniques and learn new tricks to enhance instruction. The workshops... Read more →
Panel: Leveraging Trends in Blended, Distance, and Mobile Learning
This audio recording is from a panel that took place at the National College Transition Network’s 2016 Effective Transitions in Education Conference. Panelists discuss the potential that blended, distance, and mobile learning has for impacting our field and more especially how... Read more →
Webinar: Learning on the Go with Mobile Devices
Susan Gaer and Alison Ascher Webber share best practices from their own teaching and from the field of how adult educators use cell-phones (both basic and smart) and other BYO mobile devices to provide access to education to adult learners,... Read more →
Webinar: Assessing Core Tech Skills For Adult Learners With Northstar
The Northstar Digital Literacy Project defines basic skills needed to perform tasks on computers and online. It assesses foundational skills through 10 online, self-guided modules: Basic Computer Use, Internet, Windows Operating System, Mac OS, Email, Word, Social Media, Excel, PowerPoint,... Read more →
Webinar: Improving Teaching Using Technology for Formative Assessment
Systematic formative assessment makes a difference in how well students learn. Find out how you can improve teaching and learning by hearing what formative assessment is and the research upon which it is based. Learn how technology tools can improve... Read more →
Webinar: The New and Improved USA Learns
USA Learns is a free online instructional program developed for adults with limited English language skills who cannot attend traditional classroom programs because of difficulty with schedules, transportation, or other barriers. And now, USA Learns is NEW and improved! The... Read more →
Webinar: Blended Learning in the Adult Education Classroom
Hosted by the EdTech Center at World Education, this webinar was for those who are new or experimenting with blended (integrated face-to-face and online) learning. Together we will explore questions such as: What is blended learning? Why could blended learning... Read more →
Project IDEAL Research Reports
Below are reports that were written by Support Center staff on specific research and evaluation projects when the IDEAL Consortium was known as Project IDEAL. New Models for Distance Classes in Adult Education (2015) This report describes the innovations of a number... Read more →
Project IDEAL Working Papers
When the IDEAL Consortium was know as Project IDEAL, the Support Center at University of Michigan developed a series of papers that address assessment and reporting issues, state and national policy, professional development and curriculum selection. Exploring Distance Education Curricula... Read more →
Youth on the Move: Cambodia
March 2015 marked the conclusion of the first phase of the Accessing Information about Migration and Safety (AIMS) project. Implemented by World Education and local partners MEDIA One and Mith Samlanh, the sixteen-month AIMS pilot program made use of digital... Read more →
Integrating Digital Literacy and Problem Solving into Instruction
Integrating Digital Literacy and Problem Solving into Instruction accelerates learning for adult students by improving their use of technology to solve problems and communicate with others, while increasing their digital literacy and access. The project-based lessons can be adapted for... Read more →
How Technology Supports ConnectEd’s Work with Disadvantaged Youth
ConnectEd used a wide range of interventions to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth, but a key driver in moving forward was the use of technology. The ConnectEd program, a partnership between World Education and the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation, provided access to... Read more →