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.
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.
Universal Design for Learning: Developing Programs for Adults with Learning Disabilities
Virtual Community of Practice (CoP)
This fully online CoP incorporates the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and introduces accommodations and modifications that support learning, self-determination, and success.
The CoP offers an opportunity to discuss the challenges adult education professionals face while supporting adults with learning disabilities and share strategies and tools that work.
Participants will be able to apply UDL principles to design curriculum, instructional methods, and assessments that accommodate and engage all learners including students with learning disabilities.
With more than 8 participants, CALPRO can set up a regional CoP for your agency/consortium.
Effective Teaching for Adult Educators
To enhance student learning gains and to help adult learners meet their goals as productive workers, family and community members, and lifelong learners, and to foster continuous program improvement, this training will provide a framework for teachers to reflect on their own teaching and to identify areas on which they would like to focus and where they would like to improve their practice.
Civic Engagement through Democratic Literacy
Civic Education and Democratic Literacy play a pivotal role in empowering students to become engaged and informed citizens. Individuals equipped with this knowledge understand political and civic systems, allowing them to navigate these systems effectively and contribute meaningfully to the improvement of their communities. The goal of this CoP is to enhance the capacity of adult educators and programs to provide instruction that amplifies student perspective and voice, builds civic engagement, and dives deep into participatory approaches to democratic processes for adults including those who are developing literacy and language skills.
Supporting Immigrant Integration through Civics Education
California is a state of immigrants, and benefits from the cultural, social, and economic contributions they confer to systems, communities, and our state as a whole. Adult education plays a significant role in the lives of immigrants. This CoP/Training will support educators in best serving immigrants through civics instruction understood within the lens of the California Immigrant Integration Initiative and aligned to approved English language learner (ELL) Civics metrics.
Collaborative Curriculum Alignment
This training outlines the process of curriculum alignment to help adult learners successfully transition within adult education programs and from adult education to post-secondary environments.
Motivation and Persistence for Adult Learners
Increasing reading, writing, and oral communication skills enough to succeed in job training, job promotions, and postsecondary education requires persistence. Research reveals numerous strategies that can make a difference. This training examines nine of these strategies and offers adult educators the opportunity to practice and internalize them.
Using Questioning Strategies to Improve Instruction
This training supports teachers to develop questioning strategies that foster higher-level thinking skills in their students.
College and Career Readiness Standards: English Language Arts (ELA) Implementation and Application
This training provides an in-depth exploration of the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) and how to align what occurs in the classroom with these standards. to support teachers, administrators, and programs as they work to implement and align with the CCRS.
Evidence-Based Writing Instruction in the ABE Classroom
This COP is focused on writing instruction for intermediate and advanced level adult basic education (ABE) students. The information provided in this training is intended to guide teachers of these adult learning communities to prepare and deliver instruction, including appropriate instructional supports that promote student achievement.