Monday, January 4, 2016

What's IN and What's OUT in Adult Education in 2016


There is no double that the field of adult education is going through BIG changes.  Out with the old and in with the new is the only way things change. But, what are those changes specifically? What are the buzz-words and terms that need to be on the tips of our tongues in 2016?  What practices do we need to put on the shelf indefinitely? We've banished digitized worksheet to the dustbin in past years.  We've learned that practice testing is not teaching, at least not for obtaining any long-term skill development.  Technology has made those tests both more and less accessible from various sources, but how we use the results is clearly innovating. So, please chime in with your new and old ideas and practices. I'll get the ball rolling with a few of my own.


OUT with 2015
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  • Common Core
  • Traditional, single-medium, instruciton
  • Fighting against implementing technology
  • An isolated field of adult ed
  • Heads on desks
  • Tired unresponsive social media
  • WIA
  • Mind-numbing Power-point style learning 
  • Cut scores 
  • Stopping out and retention problems
  • Race to the bottom with ever-lowering expectations


IN with 2016
----
  • College and Career Readiness
  • Blended Learning
  • Fighting our biggest challenges with technology as our weapon of choice 
  • Adult ed as part of workforce development
  • Heads in the clouds
  • Exciting participatory social media
  • WIOA
  • In-depth activities for building critical thinking skills 
  • Skill mastery 
  • Bridging time/place gaps with distance ed solutions
  • Raising results by raising expectations and setting ambitious goals
Let's hear from you!  Post a comment with your additions to this list.

3 comments:

  1. Out with pre-reading. In with reading and re-reading complex texts.

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    Replies
    1. Amen. Reading the questions ahead of the passages is often a good clue about what you're going to read and what you need to look for. Even then, the material is getting more sophisticated and needs to be reread to be sure you've got it. Thank you!

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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