Reaching adult learners in literacy or ELL programs is always a challenge so this link confirms what I have often thought…adult education learners have smart phones and they will learn on their own. What they need are more apps that focus on the skills they need.
David Rosen, suggested this link through LINCS, Literacy Information and Communication System, a community of practice for adult education professional development.
“A community of practice”…how far away from a MOOC is that? Various good stuff in this article… noting that innovation may have less friction in the adult learner arena than the “established infrastructure” of k-12, and that matches PSA’s perception that our niche is somewhere outside of conventional education for various reasons.
Trends of adoption of smart phones for lower income individuals seem likely to continue…the lowest price point for “computers” these days. As does the challenge of offering access to affordable bandwidth for those users.
Beyond the article, it’s notable that smart phones are creeping up in size of screen real estate, getting closer to tablets. Nobody really knows at this point if there actually is a “best or perfect size” for mobile devices…small enough to be affordable and really conveniently mobile, while big enough to support robust graphic real estate.
And there was this that caught my eye about something ongoing in Seattle:
Skylab is developing courses with SEIU [Service Employees International Union] in Seattle that are slated to roll out in early 2015.