OTAN Digest

Digest #2
February 2021

Message From The Director

This has been a year of change and growth for adult learners and educators alike. In early March 2020, OTAN hosted its Technology and Distance Learning Symposium, the last adult education in-person conference in California before we all went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of us admittedly thought the shutdown would be short-lived, a couple weeks at most. While hope is prevalent with vaccines becoming more available, adult education schools and services are still feeling the impact of the pandemic. Many agencies and colleges may experience a full academic year of distance learning and remote testing. Despite these hardships, our educators are rising to the challenge, innovating, and sharing with colleagues more than ever before.

TDLS typically hosts 50 presentations; this year there are more than 80! Attendance is usually 225 and this year we've already topped 800! We have participants and presentations from around the United States due to the ease of access to the virtual conference platform. I invite you to engage with me and our OTAN team in this year's TDLS 2021 March 3-5. From teaching on Canvas to digital education with CK-12 to accessing free online collaborative tools for your next meeting, everyone is guaranteed to walk away with new ideas and tools that are relevant and implementable. Until we meet, stay safe and well!

-Renee Collins

Spotlight On...

OTAN Video Presentations

OTAN has long utilized video to provide information and training and highlight important events in adult education. Please consider subscribing to our OTAN YouTube channel External Link Icon opens in new window or tab to stay connected to the latest OTAN developments. You can connect to our channel (and all our social media sites) from the OTAN website. Click on the Stay Connected Menu on the top of the OTAN.us website and select Social Media, or look for the social media icons on the bottom footer of the homepage.

We also have fully accessible versions of our YouTube videos on the Video Presentations webpage on the OTAN website. We have the videos divided into three playlists:

• Teaching and Working Online - Watch these videos that help teachers learn about teaching and working online. Videos include best practices, tips and tricks, and a variety of tech tools to help you manage online instruction.

• Digital Resources - Watch these videos to learn about a variety of tech tools for the adult education classroom, both for program areas (ESL, ABE, ASE, HSE) and for any learning environment with adult learners.

• Learning Management System - Watch these videos to learn the basics of how to organize an online course using an LMS or learning management system, such as Moodle, Google Classroom, or Canvas.

Stay connected to OTAN! We're here to help with video ideas and more!

OTAN MARCH AND APRIL EVENTS

OTAN training events are OPEN to Adult Education staff.
★ = CLOSED, In-Service Training

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - PLAN AHEAD!

Did you know OTAN provides FREE professional development workshops to help Adult Educators integrate technology?

Think about scheduling OTAN Professional Development in the 2020-2021 school year. With a wide variety of technology topics from which to choose, OTAN training staff will present for any WIOA-funded adult education program in California either online or face-to-face with a computer lab or devices connected to the Internet. (Note that face-to-face trainings will be scheduled when it is safe and OTAN staff are free to travel.)

All OTAN's workshops are provided at no cost!

Each session is hands-on - everyone will learn new skills related to technology or using technology that they can use in their adult education class or program. And all OTAN online or face-to-face workshops can be tailored to fit the needs of the requesting program. Select the links to see a list of the current online or face-to-face workshops and descriptions. If you don't see a workshop that is exactly what you need, contact OTAN - we'll work together to create a training that's best for you and your staff!

• OTAN Online Workshops
• OTAN Face-to-Face Workshops

Need more information? Contact OTAN training staff anytime by phone at 916-228-2580 or by email at support@otan.us

To view workshops already scheduled, visit the California Adult Education Professional Development Calendar External Link Icon opens in new window or tab and search for workshops sponsored by OTAN. Don't miss out!