Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech Power in Numbers Advancing Math for Adult Learners Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgments 3 From Theory to Practice: 4 Improving Adult Education Outcomes Report Highlights: The Math Gap 6 Case Study: How Affordable Learning 8 Georgia Meets the Needs of Adult Learners Report Highlights: Multiplying Impact 11 Case Study: How Employment Technology 13 Fund is Investing in Adult Learning Report Highlights: From Creation 16 to Adoption Case Study: How Project COMPASS is 19 Customizing Online Courses for Adults Looking Ahead: 22 Mobilizing Stakeholders in Adult Education Endnotes 23 Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech 2 Acknowledgments This report was written and produced by Luminary Labs, a strategy and innovation consultancy. Contributors to the case studies in this report include: Jeff Gallant, Joy Woodson, and Lucy Harrison from Affordable Learning Georgia; Yigal Kerszenbaum from JFFLabs; and Bryan Ryan and Chris Roddenberry from Wake Tech Community College. Luminary Labs authors and reviewers include: Betty Chang; Christina Ward, M.Phil, MBA; and Jessica Hibbard. Power in Numbers is managed by Luminary Labs under contract with the U.S. Department of Education (Contract Number: ED-VAE-14-D-0006/0004). The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education, and no official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education should be inferred. Learn More Read more about Power in Numbers and sign up for the project newsletter here. Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech 3 From Theory to Practice: Improving Adult Education Outcomes The 21st-century workplace is technology-rich and constantly evolving. Employers need highly skilled employees to meet the needs of the modern economy, yet America’s publicly funded adult education system serves only 5 percent of the 40 million U.S. adults who have low literacy skills.1 To stay competitive, adults need better access to education and training experiences that are high quality, afford­ able, and adaptable. This includes math skills, which significantly affect employ­ ability and career options. Power in Numbers has led a three-year initiative to enhance the quality of advanced mathematics teaching and learning through next-generation technologies and open educational resources (OER). We have collaborated with nine subject matter experts (SMEs) and hosted four summits; convened 37 educators from 21 states as part of educator user groups; and reviewed more than 100 edtech and adult learning resources. To inform and equip administrators, educators, and funders with key insights and learnings from this work, Power in Numbers published a series of reports. The Math Gap: Read the first report Implications for Investing in America’s Workforce Power in Numbers Advancing Math for Adult Learners The Math Gap: Implications for Investing in America’s Workforce Multiplying Impact: Read the second report Five Frameworks for Investment in EdTech for Adult Learners Power in Numbers Advancing Math for Adult Learners Multiplying Impact: Five Frameworks for Investment in Edtech for Adult Learners Read the third report From Creation to Adoption: How to Develop and Deploy Successful Edtech Power in Numbers From Creation to Adoption: How to Advancing Math for Adult Learners Develop and Deploy Successful Edtech Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech 4 In this series, we investigated how OER are making math more accessible, adaptable, and applicable; detailed five frameworks for identifying impactful edtech; and explored pathways to create scalable edtech that meets the needs of multiple stakeholders. In this fourth and final report, we present insights from each report, accompanied by case studies that illustrate how organizations have implemented these best practices in the real world. Through these case studies you will learn: • How a state-wide OER initiative has saved an estimated $55 million in textbook costs for its university students. • How an investment fund has supported the scaling of seven adult workforce technology companies. • How professors at a community college piloted an innovative distance learning model that has improved minority students’ course performance. These case studies — featuring diverse stakeholders, actions and approaches, and lessons learned — prove there is not a single prescriptive path to supporting successful adult learning. Administrators, educators, and funders can apply the insights that work best in their unique contexts to advance adult education in their own communities. Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech 5 Report Highlights: The Math Gap The global market for educational technology is expected to grow at a rate of 15.4 percent in the next three years, to reach $110.9 billion by 2022.2 While most research, experimentation, and funding are focused on K-12 education, interest in the adult education space is increasing. Technology could offer solutions to many of the challenges within adult education, including systemic issues around access, resourcing, and contextualization. Edtech tool creators and resource developers can better serve educators and learners by designing with the “Three As” in mind: accessibility, adaptability, and applicability. The “Three As” encapsulate and represent many ongoing cross-disciplinary calls to tailor new tools and approaches to the needs of adult learners and educators. They are explained in the first Power in Numbers report, “The Math Gap: Implications for Investing in America’s Workforce.” Adult edtech should be accessible To address barriers of digital equity and literacy, adult edtech should be designed to be accessible from the outset. Accessibility encapsulates the ease with which all learners and educators, including those with disabilities, can access tools; it also addresses the discoverability and usability of resources, and the degree to which resources promote frictionless learning experiences. Adult edtech should be adaptable There is no one-size-fits-all solution for adult education. Educators should be able to easily adapt new tools and technologies to fit the needs of their classrooms. Adaptability encompasses flexibility to meet particular curricular needs and contexts, reusability and affordability through educator-friendly licensing pathways, and alignment to relevant pedagogical or andragogical approaches. Adult edtech should be applicable Applicable edtech must be designed with the users in mind. Resources should align with career pathways and credentials, and aim to impact learner mindset, not just learner knowledge. Contextualized resources are grounded in real-life scenarios, and their use is a best practice in the development of new resources that are culturally sensitive and relevant to users. The use of these resources improves curiosity and learners’ drive to “puzzle it out.” Different types of contextualization include resources around particular skills, curricula around career pathways, learning delivery aligned with learner mindset and experience, and programs that meet learner goals. Contextualization is a well-known approach in the development of OER. MERLOT, the “teaching commons” for OER, exemplifies specific resource contextualization. Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech 6 The “Three As” and Open Educational Resources OER are free and often low-tech teaching and learning materials. They reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits free use and repurposing by others. OER encapsulate accessibility, adaptability, and applicability, as they enable redistribution, revision, and remixing. Employers, learners, and educators can all benefit from OER. In 2016, the U.S. Education Department announced 13 state commitments to advance OER.7 Read the full report, “The Math Gap: Implications for Investing in America’s Workforce.” Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech 7 Case Study: How Affordable Learning Georgia Meets the Needs of Adult Learners Project and goals Between 2002 and 2013, textbook costs rose at nearly three times the rate of inflation.8 The University System of Georgia (USG) identified a link between affordability and student success, and created Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) to address the need for more affordable materials. ALG is a USG initiative that supports the adoption of OER like OpenStax textbooks to increase rates of student retention, progression, and graduation. Actions and approach To guide its work and champion OER across the state, ALG defined six long-term goals and the actions it and USG are taking to support them: 1. Implementing open and affordable resources in courses. USG funds Textbook Transformation Grants to help educators create and implement OER effectively. Additionally, ALG partners with eCore, the state’s collaborative online program, to ensure all eCore courses are OER-based. 2. Creating, maintaining, and improving OER. ALG provides training for all Textbook Transformation grantees. It also partners with the University of North Georgia Press in the creation of new open textbooks to publish OER and offer services to creators. 3. Improving open pedagogy through faculty and staff training. As OER adoption increases, USG is implementing pedagogical strategies, methods, and technologies that focus on what instructors