Hello Gina,

Thanks for this informative reply about AlphaPlus/AlphaRoute.  I have  
some questions about this (interspersed below):

Davdi J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net


On Nov 22, 2005, at 11:48 AM, Bennett, Gina wrote:


> Wow, David; you present an interesting (& not too far-fetched!)

> scenario. I had not considered that distance education could become an

> essential part of dealing with some kinds of emergency & emergency

> recovery.

>

> I live & work in a rural part of Canada, where I support distance

> education at the literacy & postsecondary levels. I have had quite  

> a bit

> of experience working with AlphaPlus (AlphaRoute delivery) so  

> perhaps I

> can speak to that... AlphaRoute is an incredible collection of online

> literacy learning resources and learning objects, but it makes no  

> claims

> about being a full literacy 'curriculum'. The literacy learner still

> requires, in most cases, a tutor/mentor who can put the online

> activities into some sort of context that makes sense to the learner.


Tell us more about how this works.  Where t=do the mentors come  
from?  How are they trained? Are they paid? What services do they  
provide? Does a student have one mentor or many?

> The system is well-designed so that the mentor can communicate with  

> the

> learner online (there is an embedded, simple-to-use email program) but

> if we were physically isolated (e.g. by quarantine) for more than a  

> week

> or two, I expect the learning experience would suffer.


Why would it suffer?  What else would it need?


> So in answer to your question: what's missing in our current  

> systems? I

> would respond: a strong virtual community that can sustain the learner

> through periods of physical separation, or at least until the learner

> develops a sense of virtual identity & of 'being' online. I would LOVE

> to do some research on this: what kinds of activities create a  

> sense of

> community online? There's been quite a bit done in this area for

> postsecondary learners, but what's effective for literacy learners? I

> think we need to go beyond the notion of just creating an "online

> learning community" (lots on that) -- we need to research strategies

> that will bring the literacy learner's existing community (maybe just

> the family during a quarantine) into the fold. Stream of conciousness

> here: I think we need to find ways to overlap the learner's current

> community with their learning community. This, of course, is not just

> true for distance learning modalities but for any kind of literacy

> learning venture. But we will have to think outside the box to make  

> this

> work for distance education.


Why couldn't this happen now?  Why couldn't friends and families of  
learners enroll together?


> I agree with some of the other posters on this topic that we can't  

> rely

> on internet alone (certainly not just broadband) although a scenario

> like this certainly adds some meat to the argument that internet  

> access

> is quickly becoming an 'essential service'...

>

> -------------------

> Gina Bennett

> eLearning Support & Coordination

> College of the Rockies

> Box 8500

> Cranbrook, BC  V1C 5L7

> 250.489.8287

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: technology-bounces at dev.nifl.gov

> [mailto:technology-bounces at dev.nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen

> Sent: November 22, 2005 9:03 AM

> To: The Discussion List Technology & Literacy

> Subject: [Technology] Distance learning -- an option or a necessity?

>

>

> Technology Colleagues,

>

> Indulge me.  This post may seem a bit of a stretch, but that's what a

> discussion forum is for -- a place to try out ideas. It also follows

> from a discussion here earlier this year on adult education distance

> learning.

>

> I have been thinking about Asian Bird Flu.  I hope the predicted

> epidemic does not come to pass, or if it does, that its scope is

> tiny; but many experts claim that it is inevitable, and at a scale

> that could be between 5 and 50 million people afflicted.  In earlier

> world epidemics, for safety reasons public gathering places were

> closed or limited to only those that were essential.  Schools were

> closed.

>

> Suppose schools in North America or in other parts of the world

> actually were all closed, including all adult education schools and

> programs.  Suppose adult education could only take place by Internet,

> TV broadcast, radio broadcast, CDROM or DVD,  and telephone. Those

> with experience in delivering adult education at a distance -- many

> of you on this list -- would be asked to step forward and think

> through how to organize this adult education distance learning

> delivery system.

>

> I have been thinking about this, and would like to invite you to

> think about it, too.  What would be needed to deliver all adult

> literacy education (including English language learning) by

> Internet?  What would the issues be?

>

> * Access from home, including broadband access

> * Good content online in all areas, all levels: ELL, basic literacy,

> ABE, ASE, Transition to higher ed, etc.

> * Counseling

> * Online training for participants using online learning -- including

> technology skills

> * Online teachers/facilitators recruitment and initial training *

> Ongoing professional development and training for online  

> facilitators *

> An online assessment system * An online MIS * How to provide  

> services to

> low-literate adults and beginning level

> English language learners

>

> What else?

>

> How should this be organized? By community? By state? Nationally?

> Internationally? Some other way?

>

> What pieces of such a distance learning system do we have now?  Can

> some of the Project IDEAL states -- and Florida, California and other

> states which may be doing distance learning -- do some of this -- or

> all of it now?  If so, tell us what is in place in these states.

> Could Alpha Plus or other Canadian models point the way? What about

> Australian and Irish (NALS) distance learning models?

>

> Let's think together on this one, hoping we never have to use such as

> system under such calamitous conditions, but through the thinking and

> planning being prepared.  It may also suggest some things we should

> be doing whether there is an epidemic or not.

>

> David J. Rosen

> djrosen at comcast.net

>

>

>

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