In February, AmeriCorps members in Northeast Ohio Literacy Corps were introduced to the concept of best & promising practices. They have had the past month to go out in the community to find best & promising practices that are relevant to their programs & will present them next week during mid-year training.
Experience the splendor!! (Okay, not really without a group to discuss it with and Carmine’s amazing facilitation. But at least you can read the same materials.)
I have previously written about how Khan Academy has created a motivating, free learning environment by tapping into our innate desire to earn points and badges.
Thanks to Mozilla and the MacArthur Foundation, now anyone can create awesome badges to reward people for learning. They are already planning to use it for School of Webcraft. No, not World of Warcraft…School of Webcraft. Addictive challenges that can actually prepare you for a job. Who knew?
I imagine many colleges and universities using iTunesU might quickly jump on the bandwagon. Stanford, Yale, Harvard, and MIT are also offering free courses online (mostly just videos & readings). Though it’s super exciting to say “I’ve taken a course at Yale,” at this stage in my life I need to see something out of the experience I can put on my resume. A badge would motivate me. MIT is piloting a free facilitated course, and said they may charge a small fee for certificates in the future, which I think is more than reasonable. Will they charge for badges soon, too?
My next prediction: LinkedIn is going to get covered in badges. No more blocks of blah prose text or those bubbles where you add your skills…we’re going to see a more Pinterest-style amalgam of visual displays of accomplishments. I have to admit: I was already attempting to add “badges” by joining or creating groups to visually indicate what matters to me. For example, I want everyone to see I earned my Girl Scouts Gold Award. (So what if it was high school? I created and ran a theatre day camp called Dual Facade Productions with two friends at 17 years old. It was awesome and I’m still proud of it.)
So some people may lecture me about the benefits of internal motivation yada yada, but I sincerely believe that in our hearts we are all just scouts looking to earn badges. People wither and die without some kind of positive reinforcement. And you know the cute online graphics are quickly going to turn into little felt things to sew onto your jeans or backpack. Then they transform into hats and stuffed animals and sweaters and pretty soon you’ll have your online campus bookstore for badges. And not just for kids! Badges are motivating, they’re fun, they’re easy to identify, and definitely marketable. What’s not to like?
I just found out about open badges 30 minutes ago, and I already have big plans for how to integrate badges into my trainings and projects. Forget certification…I’ll be issuing badges soon. Okay, I’ll probably call them certifications just to make it sound more professional. But this is an exciting development for elearning! Here’s what’s running in my head right now:
AmeriCorps programs and AmeriCorps Alums chapters across the country are getting ready for AmeriCorps Week on March 10-18, 2012. Here are some fun resources to help you get ready for the celebration:
Buy some AmeriCorps Week Gear from National Service Gear by tomorrow March 2nd (to be printed & shipped by March 9th)…or get AmeriCorps Gear to wear any time of the year!
Join the AmeriCorps Week Photo Project by printing this red sign, taking a photo with it, and tagging #AmeriCorpsWeek or @AmeriCorps
So now that you are wearing your tee shirt and pin, head full of great community engagement ideas, Tweets full of #AmeriCorpsWeek hashtags, one hand full of bookmarks, another holding a big red sign ready to take a photo….now it’s time to GET INSPIRED with some amazing videos:
(“Okay, but Meagen,” you say, “how can I watch a video with my hands full of bookmarks, a sign, a camera, while reading the Impact Guide, and Tweeting at the same time?” I’m sure you’ll figure out. Ask a volunteer to help you. That’s how AmeriCorps Gets Things Done!)
I’m looking forward to facilitating midyear training for an awesome group of AmeriCorps members in Northeast Ohio Literacy Corps March 12-15. What are your plans for AmeriCorps Week?
It’s grant writing season again, and this year I found myself updating local Census data, but still relying on literacy levels from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy back in 2003. It’s been 9 years! Like many of my colleagues, I was wondering when a new national assessment might be released.
Fellow members of ProLiteracy were able to do their networking magic and discovered that the National Center for Education Statistics is currently collecting data for an international studies that will provide data for the U.S. This will be beneficial not only to inform policy & practice in coming years, but also to provide international benchmarks to see how the U.S. ranks among other nations.
The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a cyclical, large-scale, direct household assessment under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The assessment will be first administered in 2011 to approximately 5,000 individuals between the ages of 16 and 65 in each of the 27 participating countries.The goal of PIAAC is to assess and compare the basic skills and competencies of adults around the world. The assessment focuses on cognitive and workplace skills needed for successful participation in 21st-century society and the global economy. Specifically, PIAAC measures relationships between individuals’ educational background, workplace experiences and skills, occupational attainment, use of information and communications technology, and cognitive skills in the areas of literacy, numeracy, and problem solving.
In the United States, data is being collected by the National Center of Education Statistics and the study is being called the International Survey of Adult Statistics. Though there are two different names and webpages, they are actually both the same thing. Follow our blog to get an update when the survey results are released!
One of the fellow ProLiteracy members lamented that she felt the data from NAAL has little applicability for her practice. Personally, I feel the investment is cost effective because it (theoretically) helps us decide as a country and community where to put our resources to create a more just and socially inclusive society. While NAAL and PIAAC are useful for making the argument for funding of adult literacy at large, she’s 100% right that it doesn’t help us make better decisions about specific interventions. For that kind of “practitioner relevant” research we can (and should!) look to best practices. Look for a blog post on definitions and resources for best practices in literacy next week.
The Learning for Life Starter Kit is a FREE set of resources, forms, and trainings developed in 2010 for the Learning for Life Pilot Program in Cleveland, Ohio. It was revised in 2011 for implementation as the Sullivan GED Scholarship Program.
How can we adapt this to help create our program?
The documents are free to modify and duplicate for non-commercial purposes (i.e. you do not charge students!) as long as you attribute the Sullivan GED Scholarship Program.
As creator of the Learning for Life Starter Kit and an accomplished leader in literacy program development, Meagen Farrell can help guide your organization to create a Starter Kit that fits your unique needs. My experience and resources can help you find the appropriate instructional materials, assessments, data management, and structure to create a quality program. Then I will train your team how to use the materials to increase your adult learners’ literacy skills for a better quality of life.
May 1, 2012: ANNOUNCING the launch of PrepWorks.org, a collection of resources for GED test preparation. We’re linking to all the free videos and practice for GED test prep we can find…all in one website! Check it out!
One of my GED Scholarship recipients took the test last Spring and didn’t pass the math portion. She got 400 the first time, retook the test this Fall and earned a 430. But she still didn’t have the 2250 total (450 average) on all 5 areas of the GED test. So she retook Writing, and Science in January and increased her scores in Writing, but not quite enough in Science. She’s determined to pass, wants to be part of the GED graduation in June, and has specific classes picked out for this summer to learn how to work in a dental or medical office. Her dedication inspired me to do some research for additional online resources to support her self-study:
Before you use these links, a warning: At these sites don’t give away your email address, sign up for any accounts or contests, or click links for ads. They are free website because they post advertisements or sell GED materials, and most of the ads are selling fake diplomas, overpriced courses, or degrees you don’t need yet. Focus on the lessons and don’t get distracted. Consider the ads like someone talking really loudly on the sidewalk outside the window while you’re taking the GED test. Don’t waste your time even looking at them!
Here are a few links for FREE online GED practice tests. To time yourself online at the library you can go to this Online Stopwatch, click “Count Down” and set the timer for 10-30 minutes per test. To figure out the amount of time, look at the number of questions and multiply it by 1.5: for example, 10 questions x 1.5 = 15 minutes, or 20 questions x 1.5 = 30 minutes:
I also recommend you read some science topics and take notes you can review any time at home. If you make a habit of reading your notes, rewriting notes, or using vocab flashcards for 15-30 minutes per day for 40 days, you will be very ready. Pick the same time of day, set an alarm on your cell phone, or tape a note to the milk in the fridge…anything to remind you to study EVERY day. Not only will you be ready for the test, you will have practiced a study skill you can use to learn for the rest of your life!
Some helpful study materials online:
GED for Free’s GED Science Prep Lessons (note: you do NOT need to “sign up” to view the lessons)
McGraw Hill’s GED Science Student Center: Click a chapter, and you will see links on the left-hand side of the page for Chapter Outline with definitions to learn, online flashcards to practice. AFTER you have studied the chapter outline and flashcards, do the chapter review quiz, and GED practice quiz: give yourself 15 minutes for each quiz. Note: This is just a companion to the McGraw Hill GED Science book that you can purchase at Amazon (I recommend you get it used: save some $ and the planet).
McGraw Hill’s Science Vocabulary to Memorize You can practice flashcards online, but I recommend writing them down yourself to help you remember better–you can use index cards or scrap paper cut in four pieces.
If you come across science terms you don’t recognize, search in Dictionary.com. You can get a decent dictionary at the local Dollar store, but look for a “College edition.” If you have a question or want a concrete example of something use good old Google or your search engine of choice. For example, from McGraw Hill’s GED Science Student Center, Chapter One, Chapter Outline, I wanted to know “What is an example of equilibrium in everyday life?” The first search response on Google was this blog post on Equilibrium in Everyday Life with examples like a toaster, seesaw, walking, fish, etc. It included a few more science terms you might want to look up like fulcrum and V3 neurons, but I learned something new from it, too!
Don’t pressure yourself to read all the lessons and learn all the vocabulary and topics to pass. To keep you motivated, focus on one thing at a time that interests you. Use the dictionary, draw pictures, re-read the passage, and search for additional information online until you feel like you know that topic well enough to teach it to someone else. Pretend that instead of studying, you are creating a lesson to teach to your niece or nephew or to train a new person at work. Rewrite it in a way to be able to explain it to someone else. But as soon as you find yourself hearing your cell phone timer go off because it’s study time, and you say, “I don’t really want to,” then switch to a new topic and say, “I’m going to learn something new today that will help me pass the GED test!” Or reward yourself after 15 minutes studying with chocolate or a hot bath…whatever it takes to keep yourself motivated.
Come out to support The Literacy Cooperative’s efforts to obtain funding to pilot a Tutor Training Collaborative in Cuyahoga County!
On February 23, 2012, at Shaker Launch House, Cleveland Colectivo is hosting a Fast Pitch Presentation Night. Presentations start at 6:30pm, expected to last until 8:30pm. Click here for details. Admission is $5 and you get to vote on the one idea to receive the cash collected that night. Several projects will be invited to submit a full application for funding. In addition to the potential funding, it is a great opportunity to increase awareness and support for the Tutor Training Collaborative. Please save the date, share this in your networks, and bring some colleagues and friends! You can just show up, but I’d love if you would email me (Meagen at farrellink@yahoo.com) so I know how many friendly faces to expect.
About our project: Our vision for the tutor training collaborative is a centralized portal that provides quality tutor recruitment, training, certification, and recognition for adult literacy providers in Cuyahoga County& eventually for greater Northeast Ohio. The purpose of the program will be to increase adult learner outcomes through better prepared and trained tutors. The Literacy Cooperative has been coordinating a planning workgroup that is currently pursuing grants to pilot the project.
Come out to support The Literacy Cooperative’s efforts to obtain funding to pilot a Tutor Training Collaborative in Cuyahoga County!
