Overview of Project and Courses:
Video Transcript: OCTAE and CAST: Improving Adult Education
Unlike the more standardized K-12 experience, there is no clear, agreed-upon best model for adult education. Adult learners are incredibly diverse and adult education instructors often come from a variety of other fields outside of education, sometimes with little formal training in teaching adults. All of these factors lead to an enormous variability in how, where, and when adult education happens. To address these challenges, the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education in partnership with CAST has developed seven online modules to help adult education instructors, administrators and programs create an educational environment where all of their students can thrive. Based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the modules feature engaging video case studies, key ideas in adult ed, pro tips, and activities that educators can use in their classrooms right away. These free modules were designed with the help of current adult education instructors and administrators with the idea that they can be widely shared within adult education programs.
The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), is the principal source of federal funding for states for adult education programs. The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education’s (OCTAE) Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL) administers AEFLA. The purpose of AEFLA’s basic state grant program is to:
- Assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and economic self-sufficiency
- Assist adults who are parents or family members to obtain the education and skills that— (A) are necessary to becoming full partners in the educational development of their children; and (B) lead to sustainable improvements in the economic opportunities for their family
- Assist adults in attaining a secondary school diploma and in the transition to postsecondary education and training, including through career pathways, and
- Assist immigrants and other individuals who are English language learners in— (A) improving their— (i) reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension skills in English; and (ii) mathematics skills; and (B) acquiring an understanding of the American system of Government, individual freedom, and the responsibilities of citizenship.
Key Project Goals and Outcomes:
Video Transcript: Travis Combs Explains Key Project Goals and Outcomes
Course Completion Information:
Each of the seven modules in this collection are designed with a UDL lens. While you do not need to complete these modules in any specific order, we recommend you consider completing the "Learning that Works for All" module first. This will ensure you have a basic knowledge of UDL. But, don't worry each module also includes a "Background Knowledge" section with key information about UDL.
To complete each module, you are expected to read the content on every page and then complete the 5 question knowledge check with a passing score. Throughout this course, additional helpful resources have been hyperlinked, but you are not required to view the information found in these additional links to complete this course.
Each of the seven modules is expected to take approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete. Therefore, should you choose to complete all seven modules, you are expected to spend approximately 10 hours and 30 minutes learning about Universal Design for Learning.
The seven Universal Design for Learning courses included in this collection are:
(NOTE: You will need to login to the LINCS Learning Portal in order to access the courses.)