Marjorie: All right, everyone, except that recording disclaimer message. And now I'd like to turn it over to Renee Collins who will be presenting the digital learning guidance for California adult ed practitioners.

Renee Collins: All right. Thank you, Marjorie. Thank you, Marjorie. And good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us for our presentation on the California Adult Education Digital Learning Guidance. We're excited to be able to share it with you. It will be presented by our team from the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network or OTAN as well as the International Society for Technology and Education, ISTE.

My name is Renee Collins. I am the director of adult education at Sacramento County Office of Education, overseeing OTAN and the Cape Technical Assistance Project. And at this time, I would like to invite my colleagues to introduce themselves before we move on. Neda?

Neda Anasseri: Hi, everyone. Neda Anasseri. I'm the technology projects coordinator at OTAN. I'm really excited. We listened to you. We heard all the digital needs of all of your students, and your educators, and administrators. And we were able to work with-- we have a great partnership with our friends at ISTE so we're really excited to share with you the presentation today. And I'm going to hand it over to Anthony.

Anthony Burik: Hi, everyone. My name is Anthony Burik. I am the coordinator for distance learning projects at OTAN. I'm actually relatively new in my role since the summer.

You'll see reference to Penny Pearson in our slides. Penny retired in July. I was fortunate enough to take over for Penny so now serving in the coordinator role and excited to talk to you today more about the digital learning guidance. It's an exciting resource to share with the field. And we have a lot to say and share with you today. So I'm going to pass it over to Caroline.

Caroline McKinnon: Hello, everybody. My name is Caroline McKinnon. And I work for ISTE, specifically on the SkillRise team. And it's been an honor to work with OTAN on this project. You will see me popping up towards the end.

And the one thing I want to alert everybody to at this stage is we have a jam board that we're going to be using throughout this presentation. I'm just about to put it into chat for everybody. Feel free to open it up, reflect throughout, but we will have some time towards the end for everybody to reflect as well. And I will hand it back.

Renee Collins: All right. Perfect. Thank you, Caroline and all. So let's get started. Even though California educators have been engaged in providing distance learning for quite a few years at this time, the pandemic was a huge shift to instruction conducted almost exclusively online.

Especially challenging was the lack of hardware for our students and limited or no internet connectivity. As the pandemic evolved, it became clear that additional guidance was needed to support delivery of instruction at a distance. CDE-- Adult Education Office-- Support Carolyn Zachry initiated a discussion with me or OTAN to develop guidance that would both document what has transpired over the last two years but also provide research-based information about best practices when incorporating digital learning into instruction. Next slide.

So the development team that put together the digital learning guidance was a mix of SCOE and OTAN as well as ISTE and CASAS, CALPRO, and WestED. So from SCOE/OTAN, it was myself, Penny Pearson, Neda, and John Fleischman, who's the former director of OTAN. From ISTE it was Dr. Brandon Olszewski Caroline who is with us today Caitlin McLemore, who was an outstanding researcher and writer for ISTE, as well as Leah Downing and Joey Lehrman.

And then we had CASAS, and CALPRO, and WestEd write segments of the digital learning guidance that applied to their work in assessment, professional development, and data-driven instruction. And they were crucial partners in this work as well. So I want to just acknowledge their participation. Next slide.

All right. So I do not want you to even try to read what's on the slide here but what I do want you to pay attention to is the red print, which is the many, many, many advisors who provided input to the digital learning guidance, adult ed practitioners from throughout the state. There was just a depth and a breadth of knowledge and expertise that came together around this project.

Three Zoom meetings were held during the six month development period. And all of the meetings were well attended by this group. The 40 member advisory included classified staff, instructors, subject matter experts, coordinators, administrators, researchers, CDE staff, and national staff experts, or national experts. I'm sorry.

The advisors offered their expertise in a variety of ways, including input on the initial outline, feedback on draft versions of the guidance, recommendations for individuals to feature in the written and video vignettes, which you'll see some of the video vignettes in just a little while, and suggestions for future editions or iterations of the guidance. Next slide.

So at this point, I'd like to introduce Carolyn Zachary, the state director of adult education at the California Department of Education. Carolyn is going to speak to us about the important role for guidance, which is to offer guidance to teachers and to support personnel who work closely with our students so that digital tools are fully incorporated as part of ongoing instruction. Let's take a moment to listen.

[video playback]

- I'm Dr. Carolyn Zachry. And I am the education administrator and state director for the California Department of Education, overseeing the Adult Education Office. Adult educators are looking for a roadmap that will help them to continue what they've put into place over the last two years. This guide will help reinforce areas of strength that they have seen and they've been able to adapt.

But the guide will also give them additional tools to ensure that they're meeting students' accessibility needs, that they are looking at other ways of instruction. Perhaps they're used to doing synchronous only and they're going to dive into that idea of doing something asynchronously. That's where I really think this guide will help those educators throughout the state of California to move beyond what they've been doing and to make it part of their normal practice of using technology and online instruction.

[end playback]

Renee Collins: Great. OK. So with that kickoff from Carolyn-- and I did want to point out just this last week Carolyn released a letter to the field about the importance of the Digital Learning Guidance. So if you have not seen that letter yet, maybe check your emails or we will have it available on the OTAN website as well. So we're excited for the support from our California Department of Education.

So the learning guidance has seven chapters. And I'm just briefly going to introduce them to you. The introduction provides the purpose of the guidance, the audience. It gives a brief history of distance learning in California. And it has the summary of the literature review that was conducted.

Chapter 2, Ensuring Equity and Access, talks about devices, connectivity, understanding learners' needs, accessibility, and the universal design for learning. Chapter 3, Foundations of Adult Education and Digital Learning, speak to the adult learning theories that are available to us, the standards in the field, digital learning, and professional development.

Chapter 4, Designing Flexible Learning Experiences, is all about blended learning, digital learning tools, open educational resources, evaluating tools, and content. Chapter 5, adapting-- I'm sorry-- Adopting Models That Work, includes digital learning models, planning, and reporting. Chapter 6, Data-Driven Instruction and Digital Assessments, talks about the purpose and the advantages of testing and the various testing modalities.

And chapter 7, Fostering Healthy, Equitable, and Inclusive Digital Communities, talks about community building, social emotional learning, educator wellbeing, and digital citizenship. Plus it will include, or it does include, a comprehensive literature review if you're one of those people who like to dive into the research, a glossary of terms, an epilogue, and an executive summary of the document. And we're going to take a deeper dive into each of these chapters through the rest of our time together. Next slide.

In addition to the comprehensive written guidance, four videos were created. The purpose of creating the videos was to bring the guidance to life, to hear from educators and administrators about how they use digital technology to facilitate and improve instruction at their sites. Interviews were conducted with 11 teachers and administrators in northern, central, and southern California. And you can see the locations right there. Next slide.

18 written vignettes have also been included in the guidance. The vignettes, or voices from the field, serve to illustrate and bring to life the content that is addressed in each of the chapters. The vignette format is Q&A. And they range in length from a couple of paragraphs to a full page. The teachers and administrators featured in the vignettes are from locations throughout California. And they represent educators from small and large agencies. Next one.

A formal literature review was conducted to curate and synthesize existing scholarly research on distance education and digital learning in adult education. The literature review informed the writing of the guidance. And information from the literature review is integrated throughout the guide where appropriate.

To be included in the literature review, sources were required to be peer-reviewed or from a reputable noncorporate source, be published within the last 20 years, focus on digital learning or distance education, focus on adult education or nontraditional learners in higher education, use an andragogical lens, and support the aims of the guidance. Next slide.

The guidance is a lengthy document, more than 100 pages. It's a lengthy document because there are many things that adult educators need to understand if they're going to effectively use technology with their learners. First is equitable access. Ensuring access is absolutely essential. Many adult learners can't afford internet access or they're on very slow connections. Also, they may not have an appropriate digital device. And by appropriate, we mean something larger than a four-inch screen.

Second is appropriate content. There is a growing body of instructional content, including commercial, open education, and free or freemium. But some of that content is not well designed. Digital content needs to be at the appropriate level for your learners. Content needs to be accurate and culturally appropriate. And it needs to meet the criteria for good instructional design.

Third is prepared teachers. This third element, which is equally important to the first two, is a well-prepared teacher. Instructors need to be thoroughly familiar with not only the technology devices they are using but also the software or the digital content. Being aware of and demonstrating an understanding of these three elements of digital learning will help guarantee success for our learners. Next slide.

So chapter 1, the introduction. The chapter includes information about the purpose and the audience, which first and foremost are instructors. But it's also very useful information for support staff who work very closely with our learners, for administrators, and we believe it will offer good guidance for policymakers.

In the late 1980s, the California Adult Education Office understood the potential for distance and digital based learning. A strategic planning process led to alternative models for funding nonseat time based instruction. And in 1989, the Adult Education Office wisely funded OTAN, which continues to support the effective implementation of technology with adult education programs across the state.

Chapter 1 also introduces the critical standards that are essential to moving forward with digital learning. Those standards include CASAS, the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education, the California Standards for the Teaching Profession, the International Society for Technology and Education Standards, the National Standards for Quality Online Learning, and the SkillRise program and ISTE initiative. We believe each of these standards offer an important structure for establishing clear expectations for learners, improving curriculum and instruction, measuring learning outcomes, and developing effective programs.

Chapter 2, Digital Equity. I'm sorry. Ensuring Equity and Access. As most of you know, almost all of our learners have some sort of digital device. Clearly, a mobile phone is an essential device for most everyone. But it's not the most ideal device for improving literacy or language skills. To address this concern from a state level, California's Closing the Digital Divide initiative includes funding and support to help learners obtain digital devices needed to access learning, including laptops and tablets, modems and routers, and Wi-Fi hotspots.

Perhaps one of the greatest issues today is the lack of adequate connectivity for our learners. Sadly, the USA ranks 27th in the world with connectivity. But over the next couple of years, we should see a significant improvement. This chapter includes information on how you can help your students with getting a cheaper, faster, and more reliable connection.

As an instructor, you need to be aware of the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Emergency Connectivity Fund, and, perhaps most importantly, you need to understand and take advantage of the new Digital Equity Act, which includes nearly $3 billion to address digital equity and inclusion. A major section of this chapter focuses on building digital infrastructure. This includes information about what you need to know about software licensing, device maintenance, technical support, and technology training. Next slide.

Not so long ago, we could survive in our world without strong digital literacy skills. Today, however, digital literacy skills are essential. They're necessary life skills. Without them, you can't apply for a job, get a meal at a restaurant, or learn about the world around you.

This section of the guide goes into detail about what a learner needs to navigate our digital world. Included is information about useful frameworks such as the SkillRise initiative and Digital Navigator model. And finally, this chapter focuses on the important issues surrounding accessibility, including the universal design for learning, a flexible learning-centered framework that helps educators design learning experiences that are accessible to all learners. Next slide.

At this time, I'm going to introduce Alisa Takeuchi. Alisa is an ESL instructor at Garden Grove Adult Education. She is also a remote ESL instructor for Tamalpais Adult School and a subject matter expert for OTAN. Alisa speaks about the importance of making digital instruction practical and relevant for the lives of students. Let's take a listen.

[video playback]

- My name is Alisa Takeuchi. I am an ESL instructor for Garden Grove Adult Education. I am also a remote ESL teacher for Tamalpais Adult School. And I'm a subject matter expert for OTAN.

Making it practical for the students is really important, too. We shouldn't be teaching them things that may not be relevant for them outside of the classroom, but navigating systems or using their phones more I think would really be helpful in that, back in the day, we used to say no phones in the classroom. But now we're at that point it's like, yeah, pull out your phone. Let's go ahead and start exploring some of the things that you can do with your phones and using that beyond the classroom so that you are successful with going to school, or getting a new job, or family life. And those are the things that are going to make students feel like they're OK with technology. And then they can move on to other things as well.

[end playback]

Renee Collins: Great. Before we move forward and I pass it off to Anthony, I just wanted to-- I looked in the chat and I didn't see any questions. But if there are any questions, this might be a good time to answer a couple if anybody wants to pop them in the chat and then we can direct them to the right individual. I'll give you a minute to do that.

And people are busy writing or maybe have no questions. But I'll slowly pass it off to Anthony and then maybe, Anthony, you can determine when to move forward. There we go.

Kathleen commented, I'm following your presentation and the PDF guide itself on OTAN's home page. Perfect. Good. You found it. Thank you, Anthony.

Anthony Burik: Yeah. I know I wanted to make sure that we put that link to the Digital Learning Guidance web page on the OTAN website where you can get a copy of the guidance document itself. You can see the videos. I think Renee introduced that in the very beginning of our presentation. But just in case you need the link to get to our page, that's now in the chat.

It could be that you're already overwhelmed by what Renee has already presented to us. I know that that is definitely-- the topics about equity and access that Renee referenced in chapter 2, those were a lot of big concerns that we face back at our agencies. Of course, how do we get our students connected? How do we get our teachers connected?

Are the devices available? Are they working? Are we sharing them with everyone in our family? What does our data plan look like, so on, and so on, and so on. Do I live out in the rural parts of California where connectivity is an issue already without a pandemic on top of it? So that said, that chapter 2 is a pretty weighty chapter in and of itself. And yet here comes some more chapters for you all to think about.

So I'm going to take a few minutes here to talk about chapters 3 and four. The title of chapter 3 is Foundations of Adult Education and Digital Learning. So there are a number of topics that are covered in this chapter. We start off by talking about adult learning theories.

And for those of us in adult education, we know all about andragogy, different from pedagogy, different from K-12 and what's going on with children. The learning needs of adults are unique. And so a starting point for all of us is andragogy. But we also talk about some other adult learning theories, for example experiential, self-directed, transformative.

So you know, we're in the 21st century. There's been a lot of discussion over the last 20 plus years about 21st century skills. And a lot of them have to do with learner autonomy, learner self-direction, learners being able to get what they need and use it for a variety of purposes in their lives.

And so in addition to a recap of andragogy for many of us, we also want folks to explore some other adult learning theories that are out there and especially to think about how we might be able to use technology to move learners more towards autonomous self-directed learning. Right.

We want to empower our learners with information and with skills. And so by being able to look deeper into some other adult learning theories, hopefully, some of the ideas that are contained in those theories we can start to use them in our programs as we kind of relook at our curriculum, as we relook at our learning materials, and really putting the power of education into the student's hands. So that's really the main purpose I think for including those adult learning theories so that we have an opportunity to look at some of the details of those theories and think about how we might be using them in our classrooms, and our programs, and our schools, and our communities as well.

The next section has to do with research-based practices. So I know a lot of us have run into this issue of finding a lot of good, reliable research on adult education and adult learning, certainly not to the extent of what's being researched on the K-12 side of the house. But our authors, and subject matter experts, and researchers who are putting the guidance document together really kind of sought out the best research that we could find on digital learning and adult education.

And again, there's not a lot of it but what is out there is very useful and reliable. And so we've made reference to a number of those research pieces. They're also included in the-- now I can't think of it-- the literature review at the very end of the guidance document.

This is important information for all of us to understand about our learners, the situations they find themselves in, barriers to digital learning, and a whole host of topics, and to take that research and to be able to use that research in a practical way as we think about how do we deliver learning to our adult learners so that the learning that the students are doing is based on research.

It's based on sound instructional practice. And so we wanted to make sure that folks had a chance to take a look at some of that research that we are referencing not only in this chapter but throughout the guidance document as well.

So the next part of this chapter has to do with standards in adult education. So we referenced a few in particular here. So the CSTP, so California standards for the teaching profession. Again, maybe not so widely well known on the adult ed side of the house as opposed to the K-12 but these are really good teaching standards that all of us can look at for guidance.

They do have things to say about the use of technology in the classroom. The standards themselves are a little old. They're certainly pre-pandemic. They didn't really anticipate what we've been going through for the last couple of years.

And yet especially when it comes to the use of technology in the classroom and digital learning, there are standards that we can look to in the CSTP that will give us some guidance, especially when we craft our lessons and we think about our curriculum in the classroom, how we might be integrating good teaching practices and standards into our instruction, into the materials that we use in our class, and ultimately how we interact with the students in our class as well.

We also take a look at some other external standards, so including the ISTE standards. Certainly, Caroline can speak to the ISTE standards as a member of ISTE. But the ISTE standards are very good. They're very much focused on the use of technology in the classroom, but also developing digital learners, digital citizens, and also they have standards not only for the teachers but also for coaches, for administrators, and also just kind of program standards as well. So ISTE is a good reference in this regard, especially as we think about how to really bring technology standards to bear into our classroom, our programs, our curriculum, things like that. Caroline, the next slide, please.

But wait, there's more. So also in this chapter, we talk about-- I'm going to skip down a couple of bullets to the digital learning and professional development, so certainly events like the Cape Summit are chock full of professional development. We're really thinking about how to take that professional development on a wide variety of topics but also specifically on digital learning, the use of technology in the classroom, the use of technology in schools and programs, building up our learners' digital skills, and really thinking about maybe perhaps being a little bit more targeted and focused in our professional development.

So we're really kind of honing in on the skills that we need as educators to be able to impart to our students. So what does that digital learning-- what do those digital learning PD opportunities look like? How should we be structuring our PD so that we can effectively transmit those skills and abilities to our teachers, then to our students in the classroom?

So we spent some time in this chapter talking about digital learning and PD. And again, sometimes we tend to think about PD for the classroom educators for sure. But certainly, we also want to think about PD for our support staff and administrators as well as counselors, transition specialists, other folks, other stakeholders in adult education.

So it takes a village. I think we've learned that the last couple of years. So not only did teachers have to figure out how to teach online but our support staff had to figure out how to work online. We had to figure out how to keep the school doors open virtually and how to keep folks in our programs and our schools.

And so when we think about PD, we have to think about the whole child but the whole school, so teachers, support staff, administrators. But again, we want to think about what is the technology angle that we want to bring to bear on the PD and digital learning that's going on at the school.

Finally, in this chapter, we talk a bit about communities of practice and also PD communities as well. I know a lot of adult ed agencies and schools are using communities of practice, again on a wide variety of topics. A lot of them, for example, are focusing on data which is a great use of a COP. So it's sort of an intensive look at what data should we look at, what is the data telling us, all those sorts of good things.

But we can also have communities of practice in PD communities that also focus on technology usage at the school, too, and how do we develop a digital literacy program that will benefit our students so that we really use the power of our communities to figure out collectively how we create those opportunities for our students, what is it that we should be focusing on, again, especially related to the use of technology in the classroom, in the program, in the school, and the community, and the students' lives in a variety of ways. So we spent some time talking about what those communities of practice might look like, how to organize them, what are some of the topics that those communities might bring to bear for study. So that's basically chapter 3.

Why don't we move on to the next chapter, chapter 4, Caroline? Oh, sorry. Oh. We have a video. Sorry. Out of order here. So we have a video now from another OTAN subject matter expert, Yesenia Delgado. Yesenia works at the Hacienda La Puente Adult Education Program in Southern California. And we're going to hear from her about digital learning and with our adult learners.

[video playback]

- My name is Yesenia Delgado Lorenzo. And I am a counselor and instructor at Hacienda La Puente Adult School. The most impactful professional development is going to be working with OTAN through the Digital Learning Academy.

I had the opportunity to collaborate with two other teachers. And we were able to take a whole course on how to bring technology into our classrooms. And I think the support of the administrators through that process and allowing us to try the new ideas in the classroom was definitely impactful because we saw the growth.

We saw the growth from using no Chromebooks in the classroom, teachers being scared of using the Chromebooks themselves, to fully engaged classrooms where the teacher was at the front of the class teaching and the students were following along with their Chromebooks. So that has been one of the most rewarding and most impactful experiences because we saw the growth as we kind of went through the Leadership Academy.

So it was a two year program. So we saw it from zero and then it kind of went into the pandemic. So by the time pandemic started, we were ready. We saw the difference in how quickly our classes moved to Zoom, how quickly we moved everything online. And I think a lot of it had to do with us being really well prepared and having that action plan ready to move forward with digital technology in the classrooms.

[end playback]

Anthony Burik: OK. So before we move on to chapter 4, just I really liked Yesenia's message about digital learning and professional development. I like her referencing the community aspect of it, so not only the folks who went through the opportunities but administrators who supported the efforts, that it was sort of a long term effort, also intentional.

And as the teaching core at Hacienda La Puente was going through their training and PD, they really were able to support each other so that no one really felt alone experimenting with technology or trying to figure it out on their own. So these are the kinds of things that we talked about in chapter 3.

OK. So the next chapter, another big topic. Designing Flexible Learning Experiences is the title of this chapter. So we really start off by talking about the emphasis on flexibility that maybe that there's not one way to create a learning experience. Certainly, in the last couple of years in the pandemic, having to be online fully for many of us-- actually, some folks were already doing sort of a hybrid setup during the pandemic, maybe limited in person but also reliance on online as well.

So sort of post-COVID, we're thinking about, well, OK, we've just been through this experience over the last couple of years. What is it that we can bring from that experience back with us into the classroom, into our programs, into our schools, and really create flexible opportunities for students? Right.

So we know that some students can come to the building. They can come in person. No problem. Right. We also know some folks can't come to the building. They have no way to get there, no transportation. Their work schedule doesn't allow for it, the childcare issues. We know the whole litany of issues.

So what about those students, creating something online that's available for them based on what we've been doing the last couple of years? And then are there other opportunities to put those two things together into blended hybrid online learning situations, learning experiences?

So really this is the focus of the chapter is really for all of us to start kind of, as much as we had to shift our mindset two and 1/2 years ago, we're kind of asking the field to shift its mindset again to think about not just the in-person by itself, not just the online by itself, but some combination of these things. But more importantly, being able to offer a number of options to students. Right.

We can have the in-person. We can have the online. We can also have a blend of the two. And so we're really thinking about how to create design for that flexibility in our programs, in our classes, in our programs, in our schools, and really being able to offer students options, especially our adult students, again harkening back to the adult learning theory where we know that our adults, they're busy people.

They have a lot of things going on in their lives. They're doing their best to include education as one of the things going on in their lives. So we want to meet them and be flexible in meeting them so that we offer them options that they can take advantage of.

So the next part of this chapter has to do with technology. Oh, sorry Carolyn. The next-- if we can just go back one. Thank you so much.

I did want to make reference to the technology integration frameworks and models. So there are a number of them out there. Some of you have heard about SAMR. Some of you have heard about TPAC. The graphic that we have here on the slide is actually a reference to the Triple E framework, which includes engagement, extension, and enhancement.

Actually, Triple E is something that OTAN has been exploring over the last couple of years. And we've been really thinking about how we can educate the field on Triple E, using it as a possible framework for organizing your lessons, thinking about how to intentionally and well design use technology in the classroom.

And then what does that look like when it comes down to the lesson level? Are we really using technology to truly engage students or are we just using it to entertain? Are we able to enhance what's going on in the classroom with the use of technology or is it just sort of like an add-on that we think would be a good idea to have around? Are we able to extend the lesson using technology when we talk about flipped classrooms, things of that sort?

So we really are trying to have people put a frame around their lessons and curriculum activities in the classroom. And the one that we've been talking about lately has to do with the Triple E framework. But there are others that are also referenced in chapter 4 as well. OK, Caroline. Now next slide.

OK. So also in the chapter, we spend a lot of time talking about the digital tools that we would be using in these flexible learning environments. So the first bullet that we see here has to do with digital learning tools but for a couple of different purposes. Right. One is for communication but another is for collaboration. They're very different reasons for using digital tools, digital learning tools.

And so what that means is that we have to be very intentional in the tools that we choose to use in the classroom. I know again two years ago, that spring of 2020, all of a sudden all the tools came out of the woodwork. And so it was very difficult to figure out, when am I going to use this tool? What's the best use of this tool right versus this other tool that can do something else? And what's the best use of that tool?

So really, again, we want to take what we've been learning over the last couple of years and really think about and be very intentional in how we select these tools and what we ultimately use these tools for or in what context. Right. So we have some discussion about the distinction between these two kind of big topics, communication versus collaboration.

We talked about OER earlier, Open Educational Resources, so really thinking about what sorts of free resources are out there that we can bring to the classroom but also thinking about with kind of a critical eye, we want to make sure that these OER, that they're sound, research based, they've been tested in classrooms. We understand what is going to be the impact of the resources that we bring to our classroom.

We want to think about how they match up with learning objectives and learning goals that are part of our lessons. So it's not just that we pick a free tool because it's free, but we pick a free tool because it's going to have a high impact in the classroom. So this is part of our discussion about the OER. And then again continuing that discussion just in terms of evaluating digital content, digital resources, digital tools.

We've all learned there are lots, and lots, and lots, and lots of tools out there. So we want to be very intentional in our choices about what we're going to use in the classroom, what's going to make the most sense for our adult learners, what are the skills that can be imparted by using digital tools. So we want to be very thoughtful about the tools that we select.

And we don't want to face the situation where we bring a tool into the classroom and then it just sort of sits on the digital shelf because no one's willing to invest their time and learning how to use the tool. They don't really know why it's there in the first place. They're not really sure what the impact is. And they just don't have time to figure that all out on their own. So we want to be very clear about the tools that we choose, why we choose them, and so forth.

Finally, just in terms of the flexibility again, we're thinking about how do we make our learning-- how do we make learning for our adult learners more individualized, more differentiated, more personalized? Technology is a tool that we can bring to bear in this regard. So we spend some time talking about what that might look.

What are some of the elements that we have to consider in the design of these pathways? And how can we really bring education down to a more individual, personalized level for students, again depending on their level of technology, their digital ability, what it is that they hope to get-- what are their goals, what is it they hope to get out of the classroom and their learning? So we think about how do we use technology to do some of that design work. So next slide.

And with that, unless there are other questions, I'm going to pass it off to Neda for the next part.

Neda Anasseri: All right. Hello, everybody. So let's take that deep breath. Lots of information is being shared with us. Take a good, nice stretch as you're thinking about what we've already talked about. Right. So did we listen to you or what? Our state really is paying attention to the outcomes of your continuous improvement plan and some of the goals that you've been setting, some of those conversations that we've had pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, post-pandemic, if that's what we're in. But when it comes to ensuring equity and access designing, learning more about all the theories out there and designing these digital learning opportunities.

So know that our state leaders are listening to us. And here it is, this fantastic guidance document that's here to support all of your work at your agencies, even bringing in all those advisors not only from our agencies within California but then statewide or rather nationwide that contributed to the conversations about what adult learners need to be successful in our classrooms. So keep those questions coming. We are monitoring the chat. Feel free to add comments and/or questions and contribute to the conversation via chat please.

So I'm going to dive a little deep into chapter 5. And chapter 5 is discussing adapting models that work. So these are models we've heard before. Right. So let's talk a little bit about digital learning models. Distance education. We've heard that before. Blended learning, HyFlex learning big buzzword nowadays.

So distance learning is a broad term that it brings in so much information about the physical learning that happens outside the classroom. So you're not in the physical classroom. You're learning outside the classroom. This has been happening way before the pandemic, way before online learning when you used to pick up packets and learn from home. Right.

So this is really just helping us define-- so this information, these models, we're helping you define them in the guidance document. And then we are also discussing models that work, especially along the lines of blended learning where we've included ideas and models of flipped classrooms, station rotation, lab rotation, individual rotation, and flex. We've all heard those terms before. So we're bringing that back into how do you adapt them with the models of distance, blended, and HyFlex.

So then we want to go into a little bit about the planning and implementation. And with everything that we're adapting, we're including at our agency with digital learning and these models, we know that there are challenges. Of course, there are successes.

Of course, we have those students that we are doing a great job when we understand their needs. And we are meeting them all the way at 100%. But then, of course, there are challenges when it comes to devices, when it comes to resources, when it comes to access, when it comes to all these different implementation models along professional development and how to get teachers to fully execute these models in their classrooms.

So in this chapter, we're addressing and we're planning for challenges to implement and then, of course-- of course I'm not going to say that word correctly-- interoperability. It's been a long day and I've been talking a lot so I apologize for that. So when we talk about this, we're also putting into the chapter the reporting considerations.

So it is really important for us to address what we need to do to get those, dare I say, gains. Right. And are we addressing everything that the NRS is telling us to address in our reporting? So everything in this chapter when we're adapting models that work really address those reporting considerations. And those reporting considerations are signed to this chapter to address each item when it comes to NRS, the National Reporting System, and especially when it comes to the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act requirements as well.

So I want to transition over to our next video where you're going to hear from Ryan de La Vega. He's a ESL resource teacher at Torrance Adult School. Ryan specifically speaks to us on the variety of needs or the variety of models when conducting in a blended and a distance learning environment.

[video playback]

- My name is Ryan de La Vega. My title is ESL resource teacher. So I'm the leader of the department. And I work at Torrance Adult School in Torrance, California. We're kind of experimenting with all different kinds of models, a HyFlex, hybrid, and 100% online, 100% face to face.

One class, we're doing we're just calling it a modified HyFlex where we have two days face to face in the classroom with the teacher and two days online where the teacher is teaching just like they did at the beginning of the pandemic 100% internet, online video conferencing where the teacher can put students in breakout rooms and they can work together as a group or a team towards a common goal.

[end playback]

Neda Anasseri: All right. So does that sound familiar? I'm going to go backwards for just a second. Does that sound familiar what you've been doing? Maybe you did it pre-pandemic. Maybe you did it post-pandemic or during the pandemic. So these are educators in the field sharing their stories with you and how to continue to do this work, how to continue to use these models continuously in your classrooms moving forward. Even if we do go back to a majority of in-person, this guide is really designed and this chapter specifically to help you continue to adopt that model.

[video playback]

- My name is Ryan de la--

[end playback]

- I didn't mean do that. Let me pause for a second. Let's check in because I am actually presenting. I'm the one that's flipping the slides. So let's see if there are any questions or comments. I'm going to ask Anthony to come on mic and let me know are there any questions.

Anthony Burik: Yeah. And I've been actually responding in the chat. So Audrey asked a very simple question but her question is what models work. So she also asked what was the number one recommendation. And so what I've been responding to in the chat is it really, in my estimation, it really depends on the issues you're trying to address at your school, or in your community, or in your classroom.

It's not that you should-- it's not that we recommend one over the other. We really want folks to consider a model that's going to make the most sense for the context in which you find yourself. Right. So for example, for many rural communities, folks just can just cannot drive the distance to get to a building. Right. And they can't do that in a sustained way. Right. So really some sort of a distance learning, model some sort of an online model is going to work.

However, there may also be the possibility that we do a blend where those students maybe actually do come to the in-person maybe one time a month for example. And even coming that one time a month is a blend. Right. It's not pure distance. It's not pure online. So that's one situation. But another situation-- I can't remember now what session it was mentioned, maybe, I don't know, this one or another one before.

But maybe, for example-- oh, it was in our jam session an hour ago where they said the students up front at registration say, you know what, I can really only come like two days a week or three days a week. I can't come every single day. So that's a different context for a blend. Right. So that's why it really depends on what are the issues you're trying to address within your community and what model is going to make the most sense in that context. That's my opinion. So if anyone else wants to chime in on that.

Neda Anasseri: Yeah. Thank you, Anthony. One thing I always like to say is we're adult learners. Right. So how do I learn online or in the classroom? How do how do you learn, Audrey, that way, or Anthony? Everybody's learning experiences are different. Right.

And it depends on the learner need, depends on what their reading score is. It depends on their math score. These are all things that we're going to start evaluating. And that's what the guide is really discussing. It's not one specific model that works. It's all the models that could potentially work to meet the needs of your individual students. Right.

Yes, of course, we're not saying design specific-- in a perfect world, yes, we're supposed to design experiences, learning experiences, for individual students. But as we start learning about ourselves as adult learners and we're learning about our students who are US, right, then we're looking at the different models that are out there and/or a combination of models that are out there to meet each individual student's needs.

OK. We are headed towards the end here. The guide is about seven chapters so we're headed into the end here. So chapter 6 is all about data-driven instruction and digital assessments. And so in chapter 6, it really is there to explore the purposes of assessments and how digital assessments inform instruction and enhance teaching and learning. The various assessments that are considered are standardized assessments, remote testing, digital skills assessments, and other informal assessments. This chapter explores a variety of digital assessment tools as well.

So it kind of starts with answering some important questions about the test and why it's important for both the learner and the teacher. In the next section, it addresses the value and the usefulness of analyzing data and digital assessments. Included in this chapter are also useful descriptions on standardized assessments, including Casas tests. Yes. Remember, Renee told us a little while ago who our partners with we were partnering with to build this. This was our CASAS friends. And then when it comes to assessments that are leaning towards or for our high school diploma students and our high school equivalency students. So that's why you see there also the HSE/HSD performance-based testing.