Professional Development
Professional Development
for Minnesota Adult Basic Education (ABE) professionals
- Building an EdTech Strategy Tooklit (the BEST) is designed to help you develop a strategic approach to designing and implementing edtech-based routines with your learners. Begins 12:30-3:00 p.m. Friday, January 12, 2024. Over the course of the following 10-12 weeks, you will engage with a series of readings and activities that will walk you through the process of designing sustainable edtech routines based on evidence-based strategies that are centered around your learners' needs and your instructional context. Facilitated by Adam Kieffer. For more information, click here. To apply, click here.
- Teaching a HyFlex Course Study Circle: Join Minnesota ABE colleagues for this series of informal meetings on Hyflex instruction this fall! Begins 3:00-4:30 p.m.Wednesday, October 11, 2023. We will discuss benefits and challenges of the HyFlex model; technology and tech support; preparing learners for HyFlex classes; teaching strategies; lesson planning; and implications for your teaching context. This online study circle includes weekly activities to complete at your convenience as well as three optional live webinars. Participants can choose whether to join the live webinars or complete the asynchronous activities instead. Time commitment: approximately 1.5-2 hours per week (12-16 hours total).Please complete the interest form and a study circle facilitator will follow up with more information.
- Get to Know Google Classroom is a self-paced, asynchronous course for adult education teachers who are new to using Google Classroom, a learning management system commonly used in Minnesota schools. This course introduces teachers to the platform and walks through the steps of setting up a class, inviting learners to join the class, creating assignments, and sharing and collaborating with other teachers. The Distance Learning Team extends our sincere thanks to adult education teacher Kris Klas of the Hubbs Center for Lifelong Learning for sharing their original class and materials with us so that we can make them available to all adult educators in Minnesota. To join the course, go to Google Classroom, login with your Google Account, and enter class code: td3vjxb, or use the link above.
- Distance and Blended Learning Basics for Minnesota Adult Education has replaced DL Basics. This course was designed for education providers and practitioners teaching adult basic academic skills, ESOL, and literacy at a distance and/or through blended learning; it provides strategies and resources that are essential for both setting up and implementing distance education or teaching with a blended approach. The course includes six modules: Getting Started With Distance And Blended Learning; Outreach, Screening, & Orientation: Supporting Distance Learners From The Start; Effective Distance & Blended Learning Instruction; Assessment; MN ABE Distance Education Policy and Procedures; and Teacher Verification Model (TVM) in Practice."
- Northstar Digital Literacy Foundations provides an introduction to the Northstar Digital Literacy standards and how they can be integrated into any adult education course. The Northstar standards are one of three required sets of content standards for adult education in Minnesota (along with the College and Career Readiness Standards and the ACES-TIF standards). This course is intended for Minnesota Adult Education teachers, managers, program coordinators, and anyone in a role supporting learners or staff with digital literacy instruction (e.g., curriculum specialists, distance learning coordinators, technology integration specialists, digital navigators, volunteer tutors, etc.). Participants will earn 5 CEUs upon completion
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Meet the New! Moby Max: Session 1: 4:00-5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 19, repeated 3:00-4:00 p.m. Monday, October 9 - Register here for session 1. and here for session 2 (after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting). Now that the Classic MobyMax interface has been retired, this session will help teachers and staff transition to the New Moby layout. Learn about the Home, Curriculum, Tools, and Help tabs; running proxy hour reports; managing your roster; customizing your Dashboard; and more tips to make things easier. It will be helpful if you know your login credentials prior to the training. If needed, you can complete the form here under Key Information to request an account on the statewide license. MobyMax is a state-supported platform, so there is no additional cost to you or your learners!
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Edmentum Courseware: New User & Refresher Training: 3:30-5:00 p.m. Thursday, September 21 - Register here (after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting). Attend this training for an introduction to using Edmentum Courseware as a distance learning platform. The course catalog contains a wide variety of content for teaching reading, language arts, math, science, social studies, GED/HiSET preparation, and career pathways classes. It will be helpful if you know your login credentials prior to the training. If needed, you can complete the form here under Key Information to request an account on the statewide license. Edmentum is a state-supported platform, so there is no additional cost to you or your learners!
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BASE for Distance Learning: 4-5 p.m. Tuesday, September 26. Register here. BASE is a state-supported distance learning platform with content supporting social and emotional learning (SEL) and the ACES/TIF standards. Attend this session to learn about using BASE modules with learners who are working asynchronously (outside of class time). We’ll cover creating learner accounts, organizing learners into “rooms,” assigning specific modules (courses), monitoring progress, and running reports for distance learning proxy hours. This session will be recorded. Another session on October 31 will focus on using BASE resources for in-class instruction (contact hours). If you need a staff account on the statewide license, please use the form here under Key Information:
- Exact Path: New User & Refresher Training: 3:00-4:30 p.m. Monday, October 23, 2023 - register here (after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting). Exact Path is a feature within Edmentum. This training will provide an overview of using Exact Path for individualized remediation. This tool, which is a feature within Edmentum Courseware, can help teachers “fill the gaps” that adult learners may have in reading, language arts, and math. It will be helpful if you know your login credentials prior to the training. If needed, you can complete the form here under Key Information to request an account on the statewide license. Edmentum is a state-supported platform, so there is no additional cost to you or your learners!
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BASE as an In-Class Resource for SEL: 2:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 31 - register here (after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting). BASE is a state-supported distance learning platform with content supporting social and emotional learning (SEL) and the ACES/TIF standards. Attend this session to learn about using BASE resources for in-class instruction (contact hours). We’ll learn how to use the “instructional” version of each module and where to find related teacher resources. We will also talk about best practices for facilitating discussions around SEL topics. This session will be recorded. If you need a staff account on the statewide license, please use the form here under Key Information.
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MobyMax Training: Deep Dive into Reports and Detail: 3:30-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 8 - register here (after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting). Besides how many minutes learners spend using MobyMax, what else can you learn from all those options under the Tools tab? The answer is…A LOT! We’ll also look at ways to monitor learner progress within specific subject modules under the Curriculum tab. It will be helpful if you know your login credentials prior to the training. If needed, you can complete the form here under Key Information to request an account on the statewide license. MobyMax is a state-supported platform, so there is no additional cost to you or your learners!
- You can assess your own digital literacy skills, to identify strengths and areas you would like to improve. To access a confidential Northstar assessment site, go here, and click Sign up as a learner. You can take up to 15 different assessments in the areas of Essential Computer Skills, Essential Software Skills, and using Technology in Daily Life. You can also access Northstar Online Learning to improve specific skill areas.
"Before the course I wasn't sure whether distance learning was something I could comfortably tackle. Now, though I have just been introduced to it, I feel that it is something I want to try. Why not, for crying out loud!"
- Satisfied participant
World-Ed offers a series of three free online self-paced courses related to distance learning: Introduction to Blended Learning; Introduction to Mobile Learning, and Open Educational Resources. Go here to get started, and here to learn how to self-enroll in any of these courses:
- MN Introduction to Blended Learning: This mini course introduces participants to essential and foundational information about blended learning. It includes key definitions, strategies, examples, and reflective activities primarily presented in multimedia format. The goal of the course is for teachers tunderstand the different forms of blended learning and how they might integrate them into their coursework.
- MN Introduction to Mobile Learning: Welcome to the Introduction to Mobile Learning course. This multi-media mini course introduces participants to the basics of integrating mobile devices into their classroom, distance, or blended instruction. It includes key definitions, suggested strategies, examples, and reflective activities to help teachers incorporate what they have learned into their practice. The goal of the course is for teachers to understand the different ways adult learners and their teachers can use flip-phones, smartphones and tablets to enhance learning both in and out of the classroom.
- MN Open Educational Resources: This mini course introduces participants to essential information about Open Educational Resources (OERs). It includes key definitions, examples and reflective activities presented primarily in multimedia format. The goal of the course is for teachers to understand the benefits of using OERs, know where to find them, and how to evaluate their effectiveness.
Download and read the handbook here.
You can assess your own digital literacy skills, to identify strengths and areas you would like to improve. To access a confidential Northstar assessment site, go here, and click Sign up as a learner. You can take up to 15 different assessments in the areas of Essential Computer Skills, Essential Software Skills, and using Technology in Daily Life. You can also access Northstar Online Learning to improve specific skill areas.