[NIFL-TECHNOLOGY:1446] Captured Wisdom CD-ROM

The following CD-ROM sounds like a great resource for adult education programs, and can be ordered for free through the National Center on Adult Literacy.

Faith Goldstein

Technology Coordinator

Mayor's Commission on Literacy

email: faith.goldstein@phila.gov

phone: (215) 686-4486

Visit the Mayor's Commission on Literacy at www.philaliteracy.org

Free Adult Education CD-ROM

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--- Reviewed by Sarah Petrin

Resource: Captured Wisdom CD-ROM Library

Produced by: National Center on Adult Literacy (NCAL)North Central Regional Educational Library (NCREL)

North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium (NCRTEC)

Review: Highly recommended for adult education instructors and program

directors in CTCs

Cost: FREE! Call 1-800-356-2735 to place an order.

The Captured Wisdom CD-ROM Library is composed of two

CD-ROMs containing six short videos describing adult

education activities that successfully integrate

technology. The videos can be viewed with Quark

software, which is easily installed by following a link

on the CD menu. Each video gives a brief overview of

the project's subject matter before introducing the

instructor who carried out the activity. Throughout the

video, the instructor discusses how s/he stressed the

use of technology and students discuss how the

computers motivated them to complete their work.

After watching the video, viewers can find additional

information on the project through a predetermined

question and answer session with the instructor.

Questions are grouped in the following focus areas:

learners, instructional activity (details), project

management, technology issues, products & assessment,

and miscellaneous points of interest. Although you

might not find every question helpful, many of the

technology related questions raise program

implementation issues commonly addressed by CTCs.

The real benefit of having this tool is seeing how

technology fostered new possibilities for teachers and

students to carry out innovate projects. One project

derived from an ESL center in Grayslake, Illinois,

where a class of new immigrants learned about the

Internet by doing research on their home life and

culture. Students then compiled sufficient materials to

make a presentation in front of the class. Some

students found information they never expected to find,

such as local baseball league scores from Japan.

Discoveries such as this heightened interest in the use

of technology for personal enrichment.

Another motivating project also hailed from Illinois,

this time from a GED class in Mount Vernon. "The

Restaurant Problem" involved students of all ages in

assisting a troubled restaurant recover from

economic slumps. Students were assigned various roles

in the business, from accountant to HR manager.

Spreadsheets were given to students who had to

determine mistakes in expense reports, profit margins,

and budget management. An employee was fired for

frequent absences. A letter from an irate customer had

to be responded to with free meal certificates and a

letter of apology for poor service. The student's

enthusiasm for the project prompted them to compete in

a real exercise to develop a computer generated menu

for a restaurant in their town.

If you need innovative project ideas that will motivate

participants to enhance their use of existing

technologies in your center, this resource will be a

great benefit to you. I also highly recommend it to all

adult education instructors and program directors.