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Leading adult education through support for and the effective application of technology.

Career Technical Education

1. The Adult Learner Variability Navigator (ALVN)
by Susan Gaer
Posted November 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, High School and GED, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

The Adult Learner Variability Navigator (ALVN) is a one of the only tools for adult educators that links learner factors, and strategies to research. The project was funded through Digital Promise, a global nonprofit working to expand opportunity for every learner.
2. HyFlex in Action: Revolutionizing Adult Education with Flexible Learning Models
by Alisa Takeuchi, OTAN Subject Matter Expert
Posted October 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, ESL and Citizenship, High School and GED, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

The HyFlex (Hybrid-Flexible) model of instruction has gained significant traction in adult education, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This instructional approach allows students to choose between attending classes in person, participating online in real-time, (simultaneous instruction) or engaging with course materials asynchronously. (Only some agencies do the asynchronous option) As adult education continues to evolve, the HyFlex model offers a promising alternative to traditional and fully online instructional methods, but its effectiveness and implementation challenges must be carefully considered.
3. Treat yourself to Twee’s Free AI Tools
by Kristi Reyes, OTAN Subject Matter Expert
Posted September 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, High School and GED, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

Adult educators who are early adopters have embraced the power of generative AI tools to create customized lesson materials, differentiate instruction, and save time. Using Large Language Models such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and others effectively requires an understanding of how to prompt the tools, but sometimes the output just does not give us what we are hoping for. Other times, the generative AI tool may “hallucinate” – give inaccurate information. In these cases, iterative prompting (conversing with the AI to give or request more clarity or by providing examples) can help, but by that point, how much time has truly been saved?
4. Accessibility: Creating an Equitable Learning Environment -- An Agency Approach
by Debra Jensen, OTAN Subject Matter Expert
Posted August 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, High School and GED, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

What is Accessibility? According to Wikipedia, Accessibility is “the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities.” . I like a more personable definition ( it mirrors the graphic above), “Educational materials and technologies are “accessible” to people with disabilities if they are able to “acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services” as people who do not have disabilities”
5. Enhance Adult Education Lessons with Online Video Using AI Tools
by Kristi Reyes, OTAN Subject Matter Expert
Posted July 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, ESL and Citizenship, High School and GED, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

Whether you teach Economics or ESL, Citizenship or Math, including video content in lessons has numerous potential benefits, including alignment with adult education standards. Videos that support lesson content can build students’ background knowledge, a key shift of the College and Career Readiness Standards. One principle of the adult education standards for English language learners, the English Language Proficiency Standards, is integration of multimedia technology into curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The standards’ 21st Century definition of literacy includes visual and digital literacies. Video is a means to boost these literacies, building students’ college and career readiness.
6. Put A Little MagicSchool Into Your Classroom
by Audrey Dierdorff, OTAN Subject Matter Expert
Posted June 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, ESL and Citizenship, High School and GED, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

As large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Gemini are being utilized more and more in education, we, as adult educators, need to become prompt engineering aficionados, finessing prompts to get the results we want. But really, who has time for that? Here is where the rays of light come from the heavens and illuminates MagicSchool.AI. MagicSchool was created to alleviate teacher burn-out by creating easy to use AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools for lesson planning, differentiation, assessments, and more.
7. Hybrid, Hyflex, and Online Live Learning Modalities
by Diana Vera-Alba, OTAN Subject Matter Expert
Posted April 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, ESL and Citizenship, High School and GED, Adult Basic Education

Description:

In the last ten years, Distance Education has evolved into various modes of instructional delivery that have increased our students' Digital Literacy skills and provided thousands upon thousands of adult students the opportunity to attend classes in flexible modalities that have addressed their changing needs. Educators and students benefit from the flexibility of the various learning modalities that are now available for adult education programs to adopt. Preparation is key to the success of these innovative and engaging learning environments. In this article, you will learn about the characteristics that differentiate the Hybrid, HyFlex, and Online Live learning modalities and some tips to assist you in preparing for, planning, and implementing these innovative modes of instruction.
8. Enhancing Adult Education with Ethical AI: Using with Students
by Susan Gaer, Subject Matter Expert, OTAN
Posted March 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, ESL and Citizenship, High School and GED, Holidays, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

Introduction: In the January article, "Streamline Planning with AI: Craft Custom Lessons," Susan Coulter detailed how teachers can harness the power of AI through platforms like Chat GPT and Google Bard to streamline their lesson planning. However, the transformative potential of AI in education extends beyond the classroom. In this article, we will explore how adult education students can ethically and responsibly leverage AI to enhance their language and content development.
9. Streamline Planning with AI: Craft Custom Lessons
by OTAN SME Susan Coulter
Posted January 2024

Category:

Career Technical Education, ESL and Citizenship, High School and GED, Holidays, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

Every district has their own format for writing lesson plans, and I remember it being a manual and time-intensive process. Typically, this involves crafting lesson objectives, carefully choosing, arranging, and presenting different activities to address a particular learning goal.
10. Let’s Continue Classroom Collaboration!
by OTAN SME Cindy Wislofsky
Posted December 2023

Category:

Career Technical Education, ESL and Citizenship, High School and GED, Older Adults, Adult Basic Education

Description:

Collaboration. Collaboration Tools. Collaboration Activities. All good terms for working in groups to move learning forward and enhance the learning experience.
11. Accelerate Learning with EdReady
by Susan Coulter
Posted April 2019

Category:

Adult Basic Education, Career Technical Education, High School and GED

Description:

EdReady is a personalized math and English readiness learning system that evaluates the skills of each student in the context of their goal and then provides a learning pathway to mastery.
Total Web-Based Class Activities: 11
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OTAN activities are funded by contract CN240137 from the Adult Education Office, in the Career & College Transition Division, California Department of Education, with funds provided through Federal P.L., 105-220, Section 223. However, OTAN content does not necessarily reflect the position of that department or the U.S. Department of Education.