OTAN News

Back-to-School Series: OTAN Special Programs and Events

This is the sixth and final in a series of news items that will provide information about essential features of OTAN for you to know as you and your colleagues begin the new school year.

OTAN organizes a number of special programs and events throughout the school year of interest to the adult education field.

The Technology and Distance Learning Symposium is a two-day, all-things-technology conference that is ideal for adult ed teachers, coordinators, and administrators. This event, which will take place March 6 and 7 at the Charles A. Jones Career and Education Center in Sacramento, will offer relevant and new information, dynamic presentations, and hands-on skill development to start or grow your blended/distance learning programs and enhance technology integration in the classroom. If you are interested in the types of sessions that are typically held at TDLS, take a look at the TDLS 2019 program for reference.

We have moved up some of the important deadlines for TDLS 2020, which now are:

• September 16 to October 31 – Call for proposals

• November 10 – Notification of accepted sessions

• November 15 to the second half of February – Registration 

We will post news items and to social media about the deadlines throughout the fall and winter, so stay tuned!

OTAN invites nominations of adult education learners who are successful as a result of the education received at California WIOA funded adult education agencies for the California Adult Education Students Succeed program. This is a great way to recognize the hard work that an outstanding student has completed in the pursuit of their personal, academic, and professional goals and aspirations. Visit the Adult Education Students Succeed Website for more information. On the home page, you can read stories and watch videos from previous years by clicking on the Students tab on the website. You can also explore stories from specific adult education agencies and programs by clicking on the Schools and Programs tabs. The nomination period will open at the start of January and remain open until April 15.

Finally, the fall of 2019 marks the beginning of year two for the seven adult ed agencies that are participating in the Digital Leadership Academy. DLAC assists agencies in meeting their technology integration, distance learning, or blended teaching goals. The program is designed to be flexible in how agencies can best use the resources offered by OTAN to support their agency goals. DLAC projects are aligned to the annual Technology and Distance Learning Plan filed by all WIOA Title II funded adult education agencies.

If you would like to learn more about what the seven participating agencies have been working on, visit the DLAC 2019 page on our OTAN YouTube channel. Our teams will continue to work on their plans during the 2019-2020 school year and make their final presentations in May, which will be livestreamed. Then, the application period will open for the third DLAC cohort in the fall. If you are inspired by the work of the current teams, consider submitting an application next fall to be a part of the 2020-2022 cohort.

All of us at OTAN wish you a great school year! Please contact OTAN for your technology training needs at any time this year!