Self-Directed Online Courses
These online courses are available at all times. There is no facilitator and users work at their own pace. Estimated completion times are listed for each course, ranging from 2 to 14 hours. Register yourself for any of these courses and complete them on a timeline that works for you.
Teaching Adult English Learners: Principles and Practices (Self-Directed Online)
Course Description:
This self-directed course supports independent professional development; there is no facilitator nor other participants. Sign up now and access the class for 3 months. There is no official start or end date to worry about.
This course is designed to support teachers new to working with adult English learners, or ELs. After completing the course, participants will be able to identify and apply appropriate instructional strategies for teaching adult ELs. They will also have strengthened their skills as an instructor and be able to implement classroom management practices to optimize learning in both in-person and virtual learning environments. The estimated course completion time is 3.5 hours.
Enrollment verification with Moodle login information will be sent to registrants within one business day of registration.
Registration Information:
This course is free of charge to all California adult education programs.
Contact Information:
Please contact CALPRO at calprohelp@air.org or at 916-286-8803 for more information.
Orientation for New ESL Teachers (Self-Directed Online)
Course Description:
This self-paced course supports independent professional development; there is no facilitator nor other participants. Sign up now and access the class for 3 months. There is no official start or end date to worry about.
To a new English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in an adult education program, the task of teaching English can seem overwhelming. This course orients new teachers to the most immediate and important aspects of teaching adult ESL in California. A teacher new to ESL often asks such questions as, "Who will my new students be?" "What is their English proficiency?" "What materials should I use?" and "How do I assess my students and document their progress?" Many local agencies have procedures and practices that address these issues and will provide guidance to new teachers. The California Department of Education (CDE) has specific requirements and also provides certain documents to guide you. The estimated course completion time is 7 hours.
Enrollment verification with Moodle login information will be sent to registrants within one business day of registration.
Registration Information:
This course is free of charge to all California adult education programs.
Contact Information:
Please contact CALPRO at calprohelp@air.org or at 916-286-8803 for more information.
Teaching Critical Thinking Skills (Self-Directed Online)
Course Description:
This self-paced course supports independent professional development; there is no facilitator nor other participants. Sign up now and access the class for 3 months. There is no official start or end date to worry about.
This course explores the nature of critical thinking and metacognition as well as the relationships among critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. It considers the process, results, and various levels of critical thinking. It presents the concept of metacognition as a key attribute of critical thinking. It also distinguishes between simple and complex problems. Participants are encouraged to think about how these concepts can be taught in their classrooms. This course features excerpts of recordings from CALPRO’s online workshops on Teaching Critical Thinking Skills. The estimated course completion time is 12 hours.
Enrollment verification with Moodle login information will be sent to registrants within one business day of registration.
Goals:
Upon successful completion of the course, the participant will be able to: define critical thinking and metacognition; identify levels of critical thinking; distinguish between didactic teaching and teaching for critical thinking; plan classroom activities that require critical thinking; plan activities to assist students in developing metacognitive skills; distinguish between simple and complex problems; explain the relationship between critical thinking and problem solving; and plan classroom instruction that reflects the most adequate decision making processes, based on research.
Registration Information:
This course is free of charge to all California adult education programs.
Contact Information:
Please contact CALPRO at calprohelp@air.org or at 916-286-8803 for more information.
Differentiated Instruction and Lesson Planning (Self-Directed Online)
Description:
This self-directed course supports independent professional development; there is no facilitator nor other participants. Sign up now and access the class for 3 months. There is no official start or end date to worry about.
Many adult education classrooms contain students whose ages, native languages, educational backgrounds, and academic skills vary widely, which poses many teaching challenges for instructors. Research shows that differentiated instruction is one of the most effective approaches for helping students learn. This course walks participants through the steps of planning a differentiated lesson, including how to write effective learning objectives, choose among approaches to differentiation (content, process, product), and design assessments. In completing the course, participants produce their own differentiated lesson plans that are suited to their instructional content and environment. The estimated course completion time is 5 hours.
Enrollment verification with Moodle login information will be sent to registrants within one business day of registration.
Registration Information:
This course is free of charge to all California adult education programs.
Contact Information:
Please contact CALPRO at calprohelp@air.org or at 916-286-8803 for more information.
Middle-Skills Job Preparation for Adult Education (Self-Directed Online)
Course Description:
This self-paced course supports independent professional development; there is no facilitator nor other participants. Sign up now and access the class for 3 months. There is no official start or end date to worry about.
Do you wonder how to integrate employability skills into your adult education setting to support workforce preparation for middle-skills jobs? Employability skills, also referred to as 21st-century workplace skills, soft skills, or non-cognitive skills, are needed by our adult education students for readiness and success regardless of the industry or job position. This course will provide an overview of the middle-skills job landscape, an employability skills framework, and strategies and hands-on resources to connect the needed employability skills for these jobs within the adult education setting. The estimated course completion time is 2 hours.
Enrollment verification with Moodle login information will be sent to registrants within one business day of registration.
Goals:
By the end of the course, participants will be able to: define “middle-skills jobs” and provide several examples; define “employability skills” and explain why they are important; categorize employability skills using the Employability Skills Framework; describe the connections between the Employability Skills Framework and the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for Adult Education; and apply the Employability Skills Framework to their lesson plans to identify ways to improve their instruction.
Registration Information:
This course is free of charge to all California adult education programs.
Contact Information:
Please contact CALPRO at calprohelp@air.org or at 916-286-8803 for more information.
Designing Programs for Adults with Learning Disabilities (Self-Directed Online)
Course Description:
This self-paced course supports independent professional development; there is no facilitator nor other participants. Sign up now and access the class for 3 months. There is no official start or end date to worry about.
This is the first of two online courses from the California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project (CALPRO) on designing literacy programs to be responsive to the needs of adults with learning disabilities. This first session is an awareness session that will help adult educators understand what learning disabilities are and recognize the characteristics and consequences of those disabilities in the learning environment, whether classroom-based, tutor-led, or technology-based distance learning. This CALPRO online course provides an overview of the assessment process (diagnostic testing versus screening) and outlines the legal rights and responsibilities of the learner and the literacy program. The estimated course completion time is 14 hours.
The second CALPRO course in this series addresses instructional strategies appropriate for teaching adults with learning disabilities. Completion of Session 1 is a prerequisite for Session 2.
Enrollment verification with Moodle login information will be sent to registrants within one business day of registration.
Goals:
Identify a working definition of learning disabilities (LD); recognize common characteristics of adults with LD and their effect on learning; distinguish between screening and diagnostic testing and the uses of each; identify the importance of self-determination, self-advocacy, and disclosure to successful learners and workers; recognize the rights and responsibilities of learners with LD as well as of literacy providers; and begin the process of identifying and bringing about necessary changes to make programs more responsive to adults with LD.
Registration Information:
This course is free of charge to all California adult education programs.
Contact Information:
Please contact CALPRO at calprohelp@air.org or at 916-286-8803 for more information.