skip to main content

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

OTAN News

Upcoming OTAN Activities - Week of May 27

Posted on 05/28/2024

(All times PST)

OTAN will be closed for Memorial Day to remember and honor our fallen on May 27, 2024.

For up-to-date upcoming professional development from OTAN and others, visit the California Adult Education Professional Development Calendar.

Schedule your Professional Development with OTAN today. For more ideas consult What OTAN Offers webpage and then email support@otan.us for more information.

Canvas with OTAN: Sign-ups and renewals occurring now!

May Digest

This Upcoming Week’s Professional Development

Wednesday, May 29, 1-2:00 pm | Election and Voting Resources for Adult Learners | Attend this session to learn how educational technology tools to teach students about the electoral process for local, state, and federal political offices.

Wednesday, May 29, 2-3:30 pm | Advanced Canvas: Course Design | This is a session tailored for instructors seeking to elevate their course design using Canvas. This training emphasizes the development of student-centric courses that are both easily navigable and optimized for browser or mobile access.

Thursday, May 30, 1-3:00 pm | Perplexity and Pi for Tasty AI! With Barry Bakin, OTAN SME | Get introduced to and practice using two AI apps that will be helpful for teacher productivity and classroom instruction - Perplexity and PI!

Coming Soon!

Tuesday, June 4, 12-1:30 pm | Integrating Engagement Tools in Canvas Apps with Dana Thompson, OTAN SME | This session is designed to equip instructors with the skills to create captivating and interactive course content using Canvas. We will explore the effective use of various tools, including video integration, collaboration tools, and other multimedia resources, to enhance student engagement and learning experiences.

Thursday, June 6, 1-2:00 pm | Using Northstar to Develop Digital Literacy Skills | Find out how California agencies are using Northstar to help adult education learners and staff develop digital literacy skills. Individuals complete assessments and earn certificates, while agencies can also provide additional instruction with Northstar curricular materials. See the results and hear from instructors who were part of the pilot program sponsored by OTAN. Join us to find out how your agency can be part of this exciting program in the coming school year.

Thursday, June 6, 1-3:00 pm | AI Tools for Tasks: AskYourPDF and Kaiden with Barry Bakin, OTAN SME | AskYourPDF uses AI to work with your existing PDFs and other documents. It uses AI to analyze and extract insightful information from your existing PDFs. Learn how it creates quizzes directly from a PDF. Kaiden offers AI tools that help educators deliver personalized instruction and makes "teacher management" tasks more efficient.

Wednesday, June 12, 12-1:30 pm | Advanced Canvas: Mastery Paths with Dana Thompson, OTAN SME | Learn how to set up a Mastery Path and tap into best design practices for creating everything from enrichment to practice learning for your adult learners.

Wednesday, June 12, 1-2:30 pm | Media Literacy and Adult Education with Jennifer Gagliardi, OTAN SME| By teaching basic media literacy skills, adults can readily apply ed tech resources and critical thinking skills to separate facts from the factoids and make informed choices for themselves and their families. Learn how we can teach our students how to separate fiction from fact.

Friday, June 14, 1-2:00 pm | OTAN Tech Talk: Using MagicSchool AI for Your Classroom with Audrey Dierdorff | This OTT will give an overview on how MagicSchool is different from other online AI tools, where prompting is created by the user. MagicSchool AI creates prompt boxes with suggestions on how to write a prompt for desired results. While using the different MagicsShool AI choices to create content, teachers are also learning how to be prompt engineers.

Scroll To Top

OTAN activities are funded by contract CN220124 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.