Montana LINCS Update
Problems with the links in the email?
Click here to check out the DL Research #12 posting if you missed it last week.
2. ABLE Shoptalk Minutes and NRS Information Posted
ABLE Shoptalk Minutes
Click here http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/shoptalk4-20-10.pdf to access directly the Shoptalk Minutes from 4/21/10. All minutes are posted at http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/opiabledm.htm .
What’s New in the NRS?
Click here http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/What's_New_NRS_Feb_2010.pdf to access information about the NRS.
3. Book Recommendations from Diversity Discussion List
Factory Girl by Leslie Chang
This book details many examples of working women in China and their attempts at professional development, literacy, etc.
China from the Inside by PBS Click here http://www.pbs.org/kqed/chinainside/women/activists.html .
This unit on women in China has extensive discussion about women in the current Chinese economy as well as commentary by Chinese experts on women’s issues, health and education.
4. ESL: Blog from TESOL Conference
Click here http://blogblossoms.edublogs.org/2010/04/18/tesol-2010-boston/ to access a Holly Dilatush created during the TESOL conference in Boston.
5. MAACE News: Newsletter and Conference
MAACE Newsletter
Click here http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/maace/MAACE_news_4-2010.pdf to access MAACE newsletter.
MAACE Conference 2010 10/21/10 Helena: Call for Presenters
Click here http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/maace/call4presenters2010.htm for information about Call for Presenters. Deadline is 5/7/10.
6. Reading: Introducing Comprehension Strategies to Adult Readers
Click here https://www.famlit.org/readingstrategies to access a multi-media resource (website, text, video clips) meant for adult literacy practitioners who work with adults who struggle with comprehension issues. The resource focuses on coding text and question-answer relationships.
7. Technology: Free Sites Beginning to Move to Pay For
Tech&DL Discussion List
Click here http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/technology/2010/date.html to access an interesting discussion on the NIFL Technology and Distance Learning Discussion List.
Richard Sebastian writes:
While there is a lot we can unpack about the announcement from Ning--paid vs. free services, data ownership & security, the often fleeting existence of technology products and services, the role of educators as technology consumers--I want to discuss instead the conflict I feel related to my colleague's complaint. On one hand, I too would like not to feel overwhelmed by so much information, and want to protect the adult education teachers and students I work with from feeling overwhelmed as well. It is my job to filter out the noise and offer them well-vetted, stable, and free (or inexpensive) technology solutions. On the other hand, it is clear that in this fast-paced, uncertain world, teachers and students need to begin to learn to navigate this frenetic world of technology themselves, by being flexible and learning how to quickly and nimbly master new technologies. So when a program they use disappears or gets too expense or stops working, they can easily find a new one to meet their needs.
Does anyone else feel this same conflict? Can anyone recommend ways for instructional technology people like me to achieve a balance between serving as a good information filter and helping others learn how to filter this information on their own?
The World Turned Upside Down: A Special Report on Innovation in Emerging Markets Need to Become Nimble
Americans – all Americans – need to become more nimble in this fast paced world. The special report in the April 17th edition of The Economist, http://www.economist.com/surveys/downloadSurveyPDF.cfm?id=15894419&surveyCode=%254e%2541&submit=View+PDF, is both fascinating and frightening. The frenetic pace of innovation in countries like India and China could leave us in the dust. Innovation, disruptive technology - or whatever you want to call this wild change that has engulfed the world – needs to become a part of our culture. And not just at the elite academic and business levels of society We all have to constantly be learning, learning, learning! And sharing our knowledge as well.
8. Writing: Research from Carnegie Corporation – Writing Next
Click here http://www.all4ed.org/files/archive/publications/WritingNext/WritingNext.pdf to access Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools. There are some interesting points that effect adult educators and really come as no surprise.
The Executive Summary states the following:
Writing well is not just an option for young people—it is a necessity. Along with reading comprehension, writing skill is a predictor of academic success and a basic requirement for participation in civic life and in the global economy.Yet every year in the United States large numbers of adolescents graduate from high school unable to write at the basic levels required by colleges or employers. In addition, every school day 7,000 young people drop out of high school (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006), many of them because they lack the basic literacy skills to meet the growing demands of the high school curriculum (Kamil, 2003; Snow & Biancarosa, 2003). Because the definition of literacy includes both reading and writing skills, poor writing proficiency should be recognized as an intrinsic part of this national literacy crisis.
Norene Peterson
Adult Education Center
415 N. 30th
Billings, MT 59101
norenehp@bresnan.net