Quests

Fall 2009

I'm looking at moving content from the Learning Design Community Hub to the Blogs at PSU. This experiment is proof-of-concept that we can move content easily.

Here's the moved Syllabus content.

December 2008

I'm putting together a mini Augmented-reality Game for the 2009 TLT Symposium. The idea is to introduce faculty and staff to ARGs without killing them (time wise) in the process. Interested in helping? Let me know.

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Past Projects

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• easily access new math lessons and strategies that correlate with the Pennsylvania Math Standards.
• identify the Pennsylvania Standards that meet your current teaching and curriculum objectives.
• demonstrate/model activities and strategies for teaching concepts in a classroom setting.
• access tips and theories about planning, presenting and evaluating success.

This database portion of this site was programmed using JavaScript.

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AT&T's S.C.O.R.E. (Sales and Customer Service Occupational Readiness Education) Courseware.

A comprehensive, industry-centered, model program designed to teach entry-level workers and trainees the basic skills necessary for customer service and telephone sales. The courseware, which was designed especially for mid-literacy level (grades 6-10) readers, consists of simulated job tasks the student must complete, such as reading, filling out forms, or finding information on a chart; students build their basic skills by doing actual job assignments. A vocabulary development package (disk and manual) included customer service terms, definitions, sentences, and practice activities. The classroom portion of the program involves instruction in metacognitive and self-system strategies in the work context. This project was a collaboration among AT&T, The Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at Penn State, and the Florida Community College at Jacksonville, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, National Workplace Literacy Program. The software came with an Instructor's Manual, Software Reference Guide, and a manual on teaching metacognitive/self-system strategies in the work context.

Read the original T.H.E. Journal article on the S.C.O.R.E. courseware. (Note: This version is a bare-bones, stripped down version of the original.)

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PENNSYLVANIA BLUE SHIELD'S JOB LINKED SKILLS PROGRAM.

Pennsylvania Blue Shield's Job Linked Skills Program was a basic skills instructional program for health insurance employees functioning at a mid-literacy level (grades 5-8). The program included instruction on medical terminology, reading medical claims forms, writing and grammar for medical insurance employees, and reading and using insurance manuals. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, National Workplace Literacy Program, the project was a result of a partnership among Pennsylvania Blue Shield, Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, and Pennsylvania Tri-County Opportunities Industrialization Centers. The program came with an Instructor's Manual.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE . . . ASSESSMENT AND INSTRUCTION. (IBM or Macintosh.)

ADIL Assessment and Instruction was appropriate for:

• Adult Education Programs
• High School "At Risk"
• Secondary Special Education
• School-to-Work Transition Programs
• Correctional Education
• Tech Prep Programs
• Vocational Education

ADIL Assessment

ADIL Assessment assessed basic skills and employability skills through job-related activities. Students were assessed on open-ended, completion, and multiple-choice questions spanning a series of reading, writing, math, and problem-solving skills. With minimal teacher supervision, students could be tested, scored, and evaluated for skill mastery.

ADIL Assessment courseware assessed basic skills in the context of five job clusters:

• Food Service
• Health
• Maintenance
• Retail
• Clerical

Teachers used ADIL Assessment to measure workplace basic skills, as a learning tool, or as a pre and/or post test to A Day in the Life. . . Instruction. Complete records of students' responses were tracked.

ADIL Instruction

Learners read, wrote, computed, and solved multistep problems to complete simulated job tasks. Working at their own pace, learners gained hands-on experience while exploring the six occupational areas: Food Services, Health, Maintenance, Retail, Clerical, and Customer Service.

A management system pinpointed skill areas where the student was encountering difficulty. The program recorded the student's errors and prescribed a series of computerized review lessons at the end of each task for reinforcement.

A Day in the Life . . . was distributed by Curriculum Associates, Inc, 1-800-225-0248. It is no longer available