Technology in Adult Education

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Comment by Barry Bakin on February 2, 2011 at 10:44am

Hi Renee,

Thanks for your comment.  I actually don't use Viewpoint that much because I have other tools to use such as Camtasia software.  Others who don't have Camtasia or a similar program may find the Viewpoint application to be helpful if they want to make videos for their students or give their students a way to make videos without buying software.

 

My classes aren't technology classes either. They are language (ESL) classes in which I have students use technology as an additional way to accomplish language goals.  By adding a technology component to my language instruction, I provide students with an introduction to using computers in a variety of ways.  In addition to word processing and internet searching, consider having your students use technology as a presentation tool.  Instead of doing an oral presentation unaccompanied, introduce the idea of creating a slide presentation, a web page or a video that can be incorporated into the presentation.

Comment by Renee Hewitt on January 30, 2011 at 5:54pm

Thank you for sharing your information regarding Viewpoint.  How do you use this in your classroom?  I am slowly moving into interactive media tools.  I have created a video and posted it on Teacher Tube.  I also created my first screencast not long ago.  That is a great tool for quick tutorials and demonstrations.  Our school has blended instruction in which students are on campus in a traditional classroom for part of the course and the remaining in conducted online.  Viewpoint would be a good way for me to create summaries of our class time and reinforce key topics.

I would be interested in hearing about any other technology that you found to be engaging to adult learners.  I have a wide range of skill ability in my students, but all are interested in learning more about computers.  I don't teach a technology class, other than an introduction to Microsoft Word and Excel.  However, I do want to teach my students other technology tools beyond word processing and internet searching.

Comment by Barry Bakin on September 20, 2009 at 1:46pm

Welcome Rob! I am sure that you will have a lot to contribute. We're not the most active of groups here but that can always change. Thanks for sharing your blog link. Your personal story of how you became a paramedic is certainly a riveting one and while I'm not a publisher, I think you could certainly get it published in print form if it hasn't already been done. I look forward to your participation here!

Comment by Rob Theriault on September 20, 2009 at 5:18am

After receiving gentle pressure from some peers i created a blog where I intend to share what I learn or have learned about education technologies through exploration or from others. Click on the link above and then look under the eLearner or the eEducator tabs.

Comment by James O'Reilly on August 23, 2009 at 5:26pm

Second Life Language Learning & Google Translator Toolkit
http://avalon-project.ning.com/forum/topics/second-life-language-le...

Comment by Daniel Bassill on April 10, 2009 at 8:23am

Marian,

I use graphic, such as this, to illustrate how my goal is to draw adults, and youth, to on-line information, and networks, where they use the information and relationships to solve problems that are important to each learner, and to the entire group of learners.

I also use maps, like this, to focus on all of the places where kids, or adults, need extra help because of the economic disadvantages of poverty, which contribute to poorly performing schools, high drop out rates, etc.

Thus, while a primary group of learners might be the youth and adults who are served by literacy, or tutoring, an equally important group of learners are the business and philanthropy leaders, and political leaders, who need to take much more strategic roles to help make tutor/mentor programs available in high poverty neighborhoods, and to help those programs have a constant flow of resources (volunteers, dollars, ideas, etc.) for many, many years.

If we can change the way adults who live beyond poverty use their time, talent, dollars, power, influence, etc. to help the people who do live in poverty, we can do much more to help that second group move up the economic ladder.

Just as an aside. When you look at my maps, you'll see that I use poverty as a primary indicator of need. I believe that adult literacy would need to have another layer of maps, showing immigration concentrations, and the influence of English as a second language on the learning successes of adults and youth in such neighborhoods. I'm not aware of anyone producing such maps.

Comment by Barry Bakin on April 10, 2009 at 12:36am

If you didn't see my posting to the main site about Rich Internet Applications for Language Learning created by the Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR) at Michigan State University I highly recommend that you check them out at http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/ria/index.php

So far, I've only tried the "Audio Drop Box" application but it's been very popular with my students. The "Audio Drop Box" application allows you to easily put a recording tool on a blog, wiki or other website. Students can record their voices easily in response to an assignment. The teacher accesses the recordings by way of the account they created at the CLEAR website. The student recordings can be downloaded as mp3 files and emailed back to the student with comments. The original posting is at http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/easily-add-voice-functionality

Comment by Marian Thacher on April 9, 2009 at 5:58pm

Daniel, thanks for posting information about your organization. I work with the system of adult education, different from but connected to tutoring programs, but I believe that everything we can do to bridge the gap between poverty and wealth is a contribution. So you are thinking of adult education as the education your tutors get through your organization and through their tutees?

Comment by Marian Thacher on February 28, 2009 at 10:57am

We had a great symposium for adult educators in California last week. One of our keynoters was Steve Hargadon, founder of Classroom 2.0 among many other things. You can see a video of his presentation, as well as videos and handouts from all the workshops. We are working on getting them posted and will be adding new slides and videos daily for the next few weeks.

Comment by Daniel Bassill on February 21, 2009 at 10:58am

I lead a volunteer-based organization in Chicago that connects adult mentors to inner city kids. I've been doing this for nearly 35 years, thus in 1993 I set up a second part of my organization aimed at helping volunteer-based programs be operating in all high poverty areas of Chicago. Through the web site of the Tutor/Mentor Connection I'm connecting people to my experiences, and to the knowledge of thousands of others.

Thus, when I talk of adult education, my focus is on ways to teach adults to access and use this information to help volunteer-based non profits grow in poverty neighborhoods, and to help volunteers who enter these programs learn more about the challenges of kids and families in poverty.

Through such learning I hope to create adult ambassadors who go back to their place of business, their churches, their communities and to college and social networks to educate others about issues of urban poverty, with a goal of expanding the public will to provide the resources needed in many places to help thousands of kids move through school to jobs and careers.

Are any of you focusing your own adult education on similar goals? Do you know people who are doing this?

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