Staff Publish New Journal Article: Expanding Opportunities for English Language Learning
August 25th, 2021 | News
Victoria Neff, assistant director of the EdTech Center at World Education and Jen Vanek, director of digital learning and research at World Education, in partnership with Ana Negoescu from the National Immigration Forum, have recently published an article in the Coalition of Basic Adult Education Journal, titled Workplace ESOL Goes Digital: Expanding Opportunities for English Language Learning.
The article discusses Skills and Opportunity for the New American Workforce (SONAW), a workplace initiative to improve access to English language instruction for immigrant workers. The EdTech Center at World Ed teamed with the National Immigration Forum to develop and test new delivery models to support anywhere, anytime mobile learning, making it possible to reach more working immigrant adults. The blended training program consists of 40% face-to-face instruction and 60% online learning, in addition to a fully remote version with live synchronous instruction in an online classroom. SONAW’s remote learning feature became invaluable as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented in-person instruction.
“The timing of the article and the learnings that it presents align closely with the needs of adult education practitioners as the pandemic forces programs to rapidly innovate and deliver anytime, anywhere learning,” said Victoria.
Our country thrives when new Americans have skills and opportunities to reach their full potential. As of now, one of every 10 working-age adults in the U.S. has limited English skills, which hold them back from more skilled and better paying jobs. It is predicted that virtually all of the growth in the U.S. workforce over the next 40 years will come from immigrants and their children. In providing opportunities to immigrant workers, we ensure a brighter future for all.
Watch Victoria and Ana’s interview with COABE here:
