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This brief was prepared for the Community College Virtual Symposium, a project of the US Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, held at Montgomery College, Silver Spring, Maryland on April 27, 2011. It describes recent approaches to bridge programs and explores promising practices that contextualize and/or integrate instruction and strengthen student support and transition services to improve students' rates of postsecondary transition and completion. It focuses exclusively on programs bridging adult education and community college occupational programs. Although some students may not have a secondary credential when entering bridge programs, a major goal of these programs is to enable students who lack a secondary credential to earn one during the program.

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This issue includes the following articles: ‘The battle for hearts and minds starts here’ by Tom Schuller (p. 7), early responses to the main report of the inquiry into the future for lifelong learning have been encouraging but getting the report’s key messages across - to politicians and, most importantly, to the public - will be challenging; ‘Rebalancing the system’ by Tom Schuller and Jenny Williams (p. 8-11), the main report of the inquiry into the future for lifelong learning calls both for a basic rethink of the way we divide up our adult lives and a rebalancing of resources to enable people to take control at every stage; ‘Realising the vision’ by Leisha Fullick, John Field, Teresa Rees and Helen Gilchrist (p. 12-17), the inquiry into the future for lifelong learning proposes a strategy for lifelong learning for the next quarter-century. Here, four of the inquiry’s commissioners - Leisha Fullick, John Field, Teresa Rees and Helen Gilchrist - reflect on some of the report’s key themes; ‘All we are able to be’ by Bob Fryer (p. 18-20), effective citizenship in the 21st century requires that everyone be afforded opportunities, throughout the life-course, to develop their potential. Learning’s role lies in turning the potential into the actual; ‘The family way’ by Tricia Hartley and Julia Wright (p. 21), this month’s learning revolution festival celebrates, among other things, the transformational power of family learning. It’s time its value was recognised across Whitehall, especially in the schools sector; ‘An experiment in adult education’ by Tom Steele (p. 22-25), the Swarthmore educational settlement was founded in Leeds in 1909. A century on, with thousands of students having passed through its doors, it remains an inspiring centre for innovative adult education with a social purpose. Tom Steele reflects on an experiment that has endured against the odds; ‘Resources of hope’ by Joanna Cox (p. 26-28), the Christian church can boast a long - and exceptionally varied - tradition of engagement with adult education. Joanna Cox reflects on the roots of this commitment and describes some of the ways in which today’s church contributes to encouraging adult learning; ‘Perfect weather to fly’ by Ed Melia (p. 29-31), failure to finish university left Hannah Ostermeyer depressed and suicidal. It was only through adult learning that she began to put the broken pieces of her life back together again. Ed Melia meets a remarkable learner as she prepares for university for a second time. Show less

This course is designed to provide adult, full fee paying, international students with a course specifically designed to enable them to qualify for entry to the Australian National University or the University of Canberra and to access other universities where arrangements exist. It should also enable students to use the knowledge, skills, and attributes they have developed in further studies and to adapt to studying and living in Australia.

This course replaces previous certificate courses in foundation studies. See TD/ACT 32.13, TD/ACT 37.08, and TD/ACT 41.09. Show less

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) report (OECD 2001) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 64.241] highlighted two separate but related issues for adult literacy policy in an era of rapid global and technological change: the needs of people who are at risk of becoming increasingly marginalised as the result of low literacy skills, and the need to create 'literacy-rich environments' that will facilitate the development of literacy skills at work and in the community in an integrated way. 2001 marked the tenth anniversary of the Australian Language and Literacy Policy (ALLP) (Dawkins 1991) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/ERD 87.64], a policy developed at the behest of the Labor Government of the day. The main thrust of the ALLP was about literacy as a tool in micro-economic re-structuring and macro-economic policy, and the policy had a pivotal role in placing language and literacy policy at the centre of Australia's education, employment and training profile (Brock, 2001:73).

There is now a clear and overdue need for a new socio-economically responsive national policy framework for adult literacy and numeracy in Australia. In this paper, the authors argue that Australia needs to take up anew the challenge of planning for the ongoing education of the adult population in the longer term and to form new policy around contemporary literacy needs. Further, it is argued that Australian governments need to adopt an inclusive, collaborative, evidence-based approach to literacy policies that takes account of the impacts of global, and especially, technological change. Other OECD nations are taking up that challenge and it is time that Australia, until recently at the forefront in progressive adult literacy policy, should be doing the same.

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This paper will discuss the experience of teaching a Learning Strategies module to students in two communities in areas of deprivation in Edinburgh, Scotland. Through partnership and a joint teaching program with the community education centres, this initiative aimed to enhance the study skills necessary for the students to progress to further and higher education courses. In addition, it aimed to provide a sympathetic approach and environment in which to support and build confidence in students through interactive learning methods which made use of the students' own experience and developed group-working skills. Universities have been encouraged to widen participation to groups who may be non-traditional entrants. The paper discusses a number of issues relating to widening access and gives examples from the case studies of the teaching and student experience.

The volume of conference proceedings is indexed at TD/TNC 62.808. Show less

This study describes global consciousness as an awareness of the connections between seemingly unrelated problems and issues such as poverty for many and wealth for few, environmental degradation, immigration problems and increasing fundamentalism in the world. Hill notes that there is now evidence that businesses are becoming more committed to social responsibility and she sees human resource development (HRD) as being at the forefront of this changed consciousness. Participants in this study were HRD practitioners from diverse backgrounds who clearly subscribed to some of the identified criteria such as support for participative forms of management, spirituality in the workplace and social justice. Hill concludes that these concerns need to be an essential part of HRD literature and curriculum to support more holistic thinking in workplace development.

Selected papers, roundtables and symposia are indexed from TD/TNC 70.310 to TD/TNC 70.347. Volumes of papers are indexed from TD/TNC 70.306 to TD/TNC 70.309. Show less

Over the past decade digital literacy has emerged as an essential skill for personal, civic, educational, and career success. Yet few adult education professionals - including, but not limited to, those teaching in [Adult Education and Family Literacy Act] AEFLA-funded programs - have been trained to help learners develop the confidence, self-efficacy, and digital resilience they need to adapt to today's digital demands. The Digital Resilience in the American Workforce (DRAW) initiative, funded by the US Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), conducted a national landscape scan to identify existing resources and effective approaches for digital skills development, skill definitions and frameworks, assessment, and practitioner professional development. The findings will inform the design of forthcoming professional development for adult educators by answering this primary research question: What training resources and approaches are most relevant for educators seeking to increase digital literacy and digital resilience for an adult learner population?

The scan identified a strong base of resources and approaches that can support the goal of increasing digital literacy for an adult learner population. It also identified areas where new resources, activities, and investments are needed, in particular, assessment and employer engagement. The scan also confirmed the need for more robust and comprehensive professional development for adult education professionals, including instructors, coaches, and leaders. The scan's main findings are organized in six major thematic sections: (1) defining digital skills and resilience; (2) advancing digital inclusion and equity; (3) instructional approaches and practices; (4) digital skill content and curriculum; (5) assessing and validating digital skills; and (6) practitioner professional development.

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[The] foundation of any modern society is education. This paper aims to assert that adopting e-learning (electronic learning) and integrating it into mainstream education can significantly improve educational standards. E-learning represents the concept of using computers and information technology to teach and to learn. The goal of technology, and especially information technology, must be to create an environment where every learner can have access to a number of resources in different disciplines from convenient locations, with a teacher/mentor/educator to help organize the information, and help them to pursue some areas of depth. This paper discusses demand drivers, potential and benefits of e-learning along with initiatives taken by Indian government and non-governmental organizations to augment growth of e-learning in India and some success stories. This paper also examines types of e-learning content and what a good e-learning content means. Successful e-learning implementation involves effective content design, presentation and delivery mechanisms. E-learning is being represented as the next phase in digital revolution. Challenges and obstacles to success of e-learning are critically reviewed in this paper.

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The premise of this book of collected readings is that adult education in Canada has changed as the country has changed and developed as a result of, among other factors, technological changes, changes to the world of work and globalisation. It is intended to be a contemporary guide to the condition of adult education which should be of value to practitioners, policy makers and students. It is organised into three major sections: (1) Context and aims; (2) Purposes; (3) Challenges and future visions.

The readings contained in the first section are: The imaginative training for citizenship / Gordon Selman; The struggle of memory against forgetting / Michael R. Welton; Critical returns: from andragogy to lifelong education / Michael Collins; Paradigm shifts / Marie-Therese Morin; Trends in adult education in the 1990s / Claudie Solar; Confronting issues affecting adult educators / Susan May; Philosophies in action / Sue M. Scott; Lifelong education as emancipatory pedagogy / Michael Collins; Parameters, pedagogy and possibilities in changing times / Andre P. Grace.

The readings contained in the second section are: Training and work: myths about human capital / Paul Bouchard; Questioning the concept of the learning organization / Tara Fenwick; A decade on the training rollercoaster: a unionist's view / D'Arcy Martin; Workers' education for the twenty-first century / Bruce Spencer; An overview of transformation theory in adult education / Sue M. Scott; Transformative learning: individual growth and development through critical reflection / Patricia Cranton; From passion to passivity: the decline of university extension for social change / Denis Haughey; Adult education within an ecological context / Darlene E. Clover; Adult education in transition: the influence of social context on teaching prisoners / Howard S. Davidson; Women in the history of adult education: misogynist responses to our participation / Joyce Stalker; Learning from the women's movement in the neo-liberal period / Angela Miles; Senior learners: optimizing the learning community / Dorothy MacKeracher; Spiritual lessons from the Antigonish movement / Marie A. Gillen; English as a second language for adult immigrants / Barbara Burnaby.

The readings contained in the third section are: Self-directed learning: highlighting the contradictions / Donna M. Chovanec; Dimensions of competence-based learning / Geoff Peruniak; The tolerable contradictions of prior learning assessment / Alan M. Thomas; Distance education and the virtual classroom / Bruce Spencer; Learning our way out / Alan M. Thomas; Educating for a deliberative democracy / Michael R. Welton.

Selected readings from this book are indexed from TD/TNC 65.22 to TD/TNC 65.34. Show less

The report documents a research project which investigated and analysed the educational needs of migrant women in the Central Metropolitan Region of TAFE (Vic). It looks at issues of access and equity in TAFE, and the factors of gender, ethnicity and class. The survey highlighted barriers to participation, and the report includes recommendations to improve access for migrant women. Show less