Volume 21 Issue 3 | September 2021
Adult Learning Network
The Adult Learning Network is a quarterly publication of the
Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center (AALRC)
‌
AACAE and ALA 2021 Conference Update
The Arkansas Association of Continuing and Adult Education (AACAE) and Adult Learning Alliance (ALA) are proud to announce Dr. Meghan McBride as keynote speaker for the upcoming 2021 virtual conference Thursday, September 30th to Friday, October 1st. A preconference will be held on Wednesday, September 29th. 
Dr. Meghan McBride is a former adult learner who has worked in education since 2007. She currently serves as the vice president for adult education at Georgia Piedmont Technical College in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, where she has worked since 2018. Meghan is originally from the small town of Moultrie, Georgia, where she earned her GED® in 2000 after dropping out of high school following a series of crisis pregnancies that started when she was just 14 years old. Having come full circle from teenage mother and high school dropout to completing a doctoral degree and managing an adult education program, Meghan regularly shares her story as evidence of the transformational power of adult education.

Another highlight will be the first annual afternoon general session on Thursday afternoon from 1:45 pm to 3:45 pm.

Andrea Echelberger from Literacy Minnesota will be the presenter of the following theme: “Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices for Adult Learners”. Further information about Mrs. Echelberger can be found HERE.
The AACAE and ALA Conference promises valuable and current professional development for adult education and literacy staff from all corners of the state. Strands will include Literacy, ELL, Workforce, Educational Technology and Instructional Strategies. 
The registration form can also be accessed by going to the AALRC website in the Conferences section under News and Events:



Professional Development
PD Calendar For Upcoming Months
Please click button below to access the AALRC Professional Development (PD) Calendar!

DISABILITIES



The Center for Disease Control Issues New COVID-19 Toolkit
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) released a toolkit for persons with disabilities. As the Delta variant of the virus continues to spread, uncertainty about guidance and directions grows as well. The CDC held valuable Q & A with caretakers, parents, educators and adults with intellectual disabilities in compiling the information. The five topics covered include getting a vaccine, mask-wearing, social distancing, hygiene and ways to receive a COVID-19 test.
Tech Talk
TABE Offline

DRC now offers TABE Offline for corrections or any location that has Internet bandwidth issues. The DRC Offline Digital Testing application is designed for digital test assessments, including TABE 11/12. The application can be installed on Windows and run as a server allowing other machines that are connected in the same local area network to connect to it via a Chrome browser. The application uses a local database to store the users and assessments, so testing is done without the need to connect to the internet, which makes testing much easier for those who have internet connectivity or availability issues. 
TABE Offline Basic Steps
 
The test computers do not need internet access, but they do need to be on a “Local Area Network (LAN)” that can see the “Test Administration Computer” (the laptop). The laptop only needs to be connected to the internet during installation and when transmitting responses. It does not need to be connected to the test computer LAN while it is connected to the internet. Technically, the test computers do not need to see each other either. They just need to see the Test Administration Computer, and the Test Administration Computer needs to be able to see the test machines during testing. This would be the minimal networking requirement – test administration machine to (multiple) test machines.


The basic steps are (Administrative permission is required to install the Offline Digital Testing application):
1. Test Administration Computer connected to internet for installing ODT and adding users (test administrators)
  • a. Install Offline Digital Testing on the Test Administration Computer
  • b. Set up Offline Digital Testing on the Test Administration Computer
  • c. Create shortcuts from Application Links (for Test Machines)
  • d. Create an Offline Administrator Account
2. Disconnect Test Administration Computer from internet
3. Add students and test tickets to Test Administration Computer
4. Connect Test Administration Computer to Test Machine LAN
5. Students take tests
6. Disconnect Test Administration Computer from Test Machine LAN
7. Connect Test Administration Computer to internet
8. Transmit student responses to DRC
 
The assumption is the proctor does the online part in their office or some internet-enabled area, then takes the computer into the non internet-enabled area and connects to the test machine LAN for testing.
 
There is a webinar that details how it all works, and other related documents, available at the bottom of this page: http://aalrc.org/adminteachers/technology/bestlearningsites.html
 
For direct access, please click here:
Adult Learning Alliance (ALA) working with Clinton School Practicum Team to build volunteer tutor network

Each year, the Clinton School of Public Service Practicum Project takes
first-year student teams into Arkansas communities to foster community development and social change in areas such as economic development, environmental awareness, public education, youth leadership development, and health improvement. This primary field service fosters teamwork and direct application of classroom skills.
ALA is proud to announce we will be working with our third practicum team. This year’s team is a very diverse, talented, and energetic group of individuals: Micah Beck, from Wisconsin, has a B.A. in Spanish and Latin Studies; Haoua Bellow Barkire, from Niger, earned her B.A. in International Studies; Robert Stodola is from Little Rock and has a B.A. in English Literacy and Creative Writing and is a Juris Doctorate Candidate at the UA Little Rock William Bowen School of Law; and Julia Tsisin has a B.A. in History and a M.S. in Bilingual Education and TESOL.

Over the next nine months, the team will research successful volunteer networks, develop survey questions, collect survey data, and interview volunteer tutors to determine the interest and viability of a volunteer tutor network to support the literacy councils across the state. Through the surveys and interviews, they also hope to gather best practices shared by volunteer tutors to compile into a document to share across the network. A second part of their practicum project will be to develop a list of the most commonly used curriculum by councils and translate the description into plain-speak for those tutors without an education background. This will assist the tutors in determining which curriculum may best meet the needs of their learners.