Research and Evaluation

• Expanding Access to Adult Literacy with Online Distance Education: An Overview of Online Distance Education
  PDF(672K). National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, 2003. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Literacy, this monograph explores the potential of online distance education to serve the needs of adult basic education students.

• Technology in Today's ABE Classroom: A Look at the Technology Practices and Preferences of Adult Basic Education Teachers PDF(1.33MB). World Education, 2003. The report provides highlights from World Ed's recent survey of the Northeastern United States.

• Assessing the Impact of Technology in Teaching and Learning: A Sourcebook for Evaluators. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 2002. The Sourcebook provides an overview of measurement issues in seven areas, from learner outcomes to technology integration. A collection of appendices includes examples of measures used in a variety of technology projects previously funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) (formerly the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI)
   

• Learning Online: Extending the Meaning of Community PDF(134K). A Review of Three Programs From the Southeastern United States. NCAL, 1999. Describes the general features of "online learning communities," and then highlights three organizations that demonstrate these features.
   

• Informal Adult Learning and the Internet. Susan Imel, 2003. This brief article provided as a Trend and Issues Alert by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, addresses issues related to the Internet and its role in informal learning.
   

• National Center on Adult Literacy Research Projects. List of various in progress research projects.
  
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Noteworthy Practices

• The TECH21 project is the Department's National Technology Lab for Literacy and Adult Education located at the National Center for Adult Literacy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The project strengthens the goal of models of learning, instruction, and professional development.
   

• Project IDEAL (Improving Distance Education for Adult Learners) is established to discover the potential of distance teaching strategies to increase access to education for adult learners. and to systematically examine effective distance learning practices. The project is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education.
   

• California's Outreach and Technical Assistance Network(OTAN)provides ABE and ESL resources and publications for teachers, students and administrators.
   

• Massachusetts provides links to information on the state's Adult and Community Learning Services, Family Literacy, and GED programs, including curricula frameworks, information of commonly used adult education acronyms, and an extensive list of web resources.
   

• Florida's Office of Workforce Education Adult Education provides links to Florida's Distance Learning and Technology Project (TechNet), as well as online adult education curricula frameworks and a checklist.

Additional Links

• The Department of Education's Community Technology Centers (CTC) program.
   

• Enhancing Education Through Technology. Section of No Child Left Behind that describes proposed grants for education technology.
   

• The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology (OET) was established to provide leadership in the development of policies and resources in order to use technology to promote achievement of the National Education Goals. The OET website provides links to the National Educational Technology Plan currently being developed, the State Educational Technology Directors Association's National Leadership Institute Tool Kit, The What Works Clearinghouse, and other resources related to technology and distance learning.
  
  ERIC Clearinghouse. Provides summaries of a number of books focusing on information and technology with links to ordering them.
   

• The Literacy List Adult Literacy Resource Institute, University of Massachusetts, Boston. The Literacy List provides a collection of free adult basic education (ABE)and English Literacy websites, electronic lists, and other Internet resources for ABE learners and teachers.
  
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