ERIC Number: EJ1304822
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2642-3669
EISSN: N/A
The COVID-19 Pandemic from an Adult Literacy Practitioner-Scholar Perspective: "Where We Were," "Where We Are," "and Where We Should Be Going." Forum: COVID-19 and the Future of Adult Education
Lotas, Sasha V.
Adult Literacy Education, v3 n2 p50-54 Sum 2021
Founded in 1985, the Academy of Hope (AoH) Adult Public Charter School, an adult education and workforce development program in Washington, D.C., had to abruptly shift to a full distance learning model due to the pandemic. This suddenness necessitated a huge teaching and learning cultural shift: In only one week, AoH transitioned from an in-classroom learning environment augmented by digital learning tools to a remote learning environment reliant on digital learning tools. Understanding that adult learners could not afford to put their education or career training on hold for the duration of the pandemic, the transition to distance learning was swift and expansive. AoH converted 44 in-person classes into both analog and digital remote classes. The transition was also extremely challenging. Like many other adult literacy programs in the nation, one of the greatest challenges was learners' lack of access to devices and broadband (Belzer et al., 2020). The forum's second article is a reflection of Sasha V. Lotas, an adult literacy practitioner-scholar at AoH. She was deeply involved in the sudden orchestration of "lockdown" virtual schooling for adults, as well as struggled with negotiating the tension of conflicting paradigms in adult literacy education, such as the tension between a Freirian-based model and a workforce-readiness model (Demetrion, 2013). [For the first article in the series, "Adult Education: A State Director's Perspective. "Where Are We Now?" "Where Are We Headed?" see EJ1304813.]
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, Adult Literacy, Adult Education, Distance Education, Educational Change, Blended Learning, Access to Computers, Internet, Integrated Learning Systems, Student Personnel Services
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: District of Columbia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A