Montana LINCS Update
Problems with the links in the email?
Go to the Email Archives in the upper left-hand corner on the home page at http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/index.htm .
June is almost over, and, no, it’s not a five-week month. Darn! However, MTLINCS will be taking a summer break after this email. Why? Well, after a trip to NRS land, the Billings tornado, and the golfball-size hailstorm, MTLINCS deserves a break, don’t you think? Surely, you will be receiving MTLINCS emails in the future, but in the meantime, it’s time for you to relax and review.
Remember -- you may take a look at any of the previous emails that have been sent. Just go to the Email Archives at http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/email_archives/email_archives_index.htm .
What are your interests?
· Calendar - What's happening in Montana? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/Calendar.htm.
· Content Standards? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/CS/csindex.htm.
· Distance Learning? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/DL/dlindex.htm.
· ESL? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/esl/eslindex.htm.
· Leadership Academy? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/LA/laindex.htm.
· Research-based Instruction? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/RI/riindex.htm.
· Student and Program Highlights? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/student_highlights.htm .
· Where in the World Are You? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/opiableww.htm.
· MAACE? Then go to http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/maace.htm.
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And now some updates!
1. Montana ABLE Student Highlights
Click here http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/student_highlights.htm to read about the Bozeman GED Graduation.
2. ABE Career Connections: A manual for Integrating Adult Basic Education into Career Pathways
Click here http://www.policy2performance.org/wp-content/uploads/ABE_Career_Connections_Manual.pdf to access the manual.
As the U.S. labor market continues to shift to jobs requiring at least some postsecondary education, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners are exploring ways to prepare adults to obtain and succeed in such jobs. Although more research is needed, initial results suggest that career pathways-a series of linked educational courses and training programs that lead to advancement within an industry-are a promising approach. Adult basic education (ABE) career pathways, in particular, focus on strengthening connections between ABE and postsecondary education to help more adult learners acquire a postsecondary credential or degree and well-paid employment.
3. Distance Learning Discussion
Click here http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/englishlanguage/2010/date.html to check out the Distance Learning discussion that has taken place on the English Language Acquisition Discussion list.
Three recommendations from the field:
Whereas the Canadian
piece, Getting Online: Distance Education Promising Practices for Canadian
Literacy Practitioners (http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/abstracts/workforce/RC_work_abs64)
surveys the field and investigates what is being
done effectively to use technology in and for learning. They then extract a
Best Practices type of summary … they developed a couple of practical resources
for practitioners (e.g., an online course regarding this topic).
Expanding Access to Adult Literacy with Online Distance Education (http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/abstracts/workforce/RC_work_abs13.html)
New Technologies for Literacy and Adult Education (this has a global perspective
and targets people living in poverty)
(http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/abstracts/workforce/RC_work_abs76)
4. Distance Learning Study: Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom
Click here http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102684231603&s=74044&e=001eU3ipVE_rVUo87okltWSET-g4_EGnzNJ7Sij2wBonrJ45zQXmzB4ii_DXloBSZNFRcVYcu7I4MbicTUf0pOsT-C2lnKHvXdeLN8Oo_nte3UuiKNblMnhWS9N60EKu76u4ZADiwrO9fYdNPE7LsRIEu7V4MWVPqsrsfwLYJ7ZBJxT4FteF9XfPoh4sB27yBZGjUP5axtQyyTK9jIsP6OlFwpMNNh8sC1F to access the study.
Study sees the future, and it is online learning
A
new report conducted for the U.S. Department of Education has concluded that on
average, students in online learning situations learn better than those who get
face-to-face instruction, the Bits blog of The New York Times reports. The study
looked at the comparative research on both kinds of learning from 1996 to 2008,
mainly in colleges and adult continuing-education programs, though some research
pertained to K-12 education. The analysis found that the average student who did
some or all of a course online tended to rank in the 59th percentile in tested
performance, compared with the average classroom student who scored in the 50th
percentile. "The study's major significance lies in demonstrating that online
learning today is not just better than nothing -- it actually tends to be better
than conventional instruction," said Barbara Means, the study's lead author and
an educational psychologist at SRI International, which undertook the federal
study.
5. Numeracy: GED Prep and Pre-GED Videos
Click here http://mlots.org/ to access the videos.
The Media Library of Teaching Skills (MLoTS) http://mlots.org has just added two new GED prep and pre-GED class numeracy videos, Numeracy: Positive and Negative Numbers and Numeracy: Jeopardy Game for Numeracy Reinforcement. They were recorded at a young adult GED prep program in Boston, JFYNetWorks. You will find the link to these videos near the bottom of the front page.
MLoTS is free, can be used by individual adult education teachers who want a "video window" into other teachers' classrooms and for more formal (face-to-face and online or blended) professional development. It includes adult education classroom and tutoring videos in reading, writing, numeracy, English language learning (ESOL/ESL) adult secondary education, and family literacy. It includes links to many more videos, including tutoring, ESOL, and integrating technology in the adult education classroom, made by others. MLoTS is designed for adult educators, includes standards-based lessons and can be used for short, teacher group inquiry discussions. For example, adult education professional developers have used the MLoTS videos to organize weekly 30-minute professional development discussions at lunch.
I hope you find these adult education classroom videos useful in your own professional development and in organizing PD for others. Please forward this email to your colleagues. The MLoTS staff is available to make -- or help you make -- teacher professional videos in your state.
David J. Rosen, President
Media Library of Teaching Skills
6. Reading Discussion Has Begun: Reading Patterns and Profiles of Adult Literacy Participants
Click here http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/readwrite/10ASRP to access information about the discussions.
On June 21-26, Drs. Mellard and Greenberg will be hosting a guest discussion on "Reading Patterns and Profiles of Adult Literacy Participants". This guest discussion will be hosted on NIFL's Reading and Writing Skills List. To subscribe, please go to: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/readwrite/ You will be sent an email requesting confirmation of your subscription. Please follow the directions in the email to verify your subscription request.
For information about the discussion go to:
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/readwrite/10ASRP
7. Transitions: The Missing Piece
Click here http://www.nyc.gov/html/adulted/html/video/the_missing_piece.shtml to access the video.
The Missing Piece is a new documentary highlighting three initiatives in New York City that build on the leadership potential of adult learners: The Mayor's Office Transition to College Internship (T2C), IMPACT and the Future Now GED Program at Bronx Community College, and the Adult Education Alumni Alliance.
8. Where in the World
Have you checked out MTLINCS Where in the World lately? Click here (http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/opi/opiableww.htm) to find out WHY we do what we do!
Norene Peterson
Adult Education Center
415 N. 30th
Billings, MT 59101
norenehp@bresnan.net