OTAN News

WorldEd’s Remote ESOL Project

Since December 2020, a team at OTAN partner World Education, Inc. and some expert ESOL consultants have been investigating promising remote adult ESL (or ESOL) practices and program models. This research was motivated by the fact that the demand for English learning opportunities for adults remains largely unmet.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on adult ESL learning was disruptive, but it ultimately accelerated program innovation and transformation as providers stepped up to develop feasible education opportunities remotely. It created an opportunity to learn from these approaches towards the goal of improving and expanding them to meet growing demand. It also enabled those in the field to reflect on what supports programs may still be needed to fully leverage the power of technology to increase the reach of those who can be trained and to accelerate learning through strategies such as personalization, differentiation, and embedding digital and other essential skills into ESL instruction.

Over the last six months, the World Education team learned a great deal by interviewing staff at programs across the country and the team is excited to share their learnings and case studies of eight programs in several publications now posted on the WorldEd website  In addition to the publications, you can also watch a recorded webinar introducing the Project and its findings. And we are excited to see one of our California agencies, the Santa Barbara City College School of Extended Learning, profiled by the WorldEd team!