1. Adult Learning Documentation
and Information Network
2. Director's Forum: ERIC Turns 35
3. Got a Question?
4. Adult, Career, and Vocational Education Trends
5. Spotlight on Searching Our Website
6. ERIC/ACVE Paper on Developing Standards
7. ERIC/ACVE Paper on Experiential Learning
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ALADIN, the Adult Learning Documentation and Information Network, grew out of CONFINTEA V, the Unesco Conference on Adult Learning held in Hamburg, Germany in 1997. Coordinated by the Documentation Centre of the Unesco Institute for Education (UIE), ALADIN is a network of 90 adult learning documentation and information centers in all regions of the world. Members of the network are committed to sharing information with each other and with those adult educators who do not have ready access to resources.
During the Sixth World Assembly of the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, August 9-13, 2001, a workshop was devoted to ALADIN. The workshop was coordinated by ALADIN Task Force members Susan Imel, Director of ERIC/ACVE, Eva Kupidura, ICAE, and Lisa Krolak, UIE and ALADIN coordinator. Participants included over 30 individuals, many of whom represented community-based organizations.
The following perspectives emerged from the workshop:
. Broader access to information
on adult learning should be provided to everyone.
. The existing ALADIN network should be strengthened by connecting the members
electronically.
. The development of dynamic information centers where people can work together
for popular action should be promoted.
. Grassroots documentation center efforts should be fostered and supported by
raising awareness and building local capacity.
. The value of grassroots material and activities should be recognized.
. New ways and methods of documentation should be expanded to include popular
forms such as oral histories, arts, case studies, folklore, and so forth.
. Material that is easy to use and simple to understand should be provided.
. Grassroots people should be involved in participatory processes related to
documentation and information center activities.
The workshop participants recommended the formation of a comprehensive training approach for further development of adult learning documentation centers and the creation of a listserv of ALADIN members to provide a forum to exchange ideas. They also recommended that the ICAE cooperate with UIE to strengthen ALADIN to identify new members and to link National Adult Learners' weeks to raise awareness about ALADIN and the need to increase grassroots documentation efforts.
For more information about ALADIN, see http://www.unesco.org/education/aladin/. Additional information about the ICAE conference and the Ocho Rios Declaration can be found on ICAE's website at http://www.web.net/icae/.
Back to TopDirector's Forum:
ERIC Turns 35
by Susan Imel
On March 1, 1966, contracts were signed to begin operating the first two ERIC Clearinghouses. The initial contracts were followed by 10 additional contracts signed on June 1, 1966. In 2001, 8 of the 12 original ERIC Clearinghouses are housed at the same institutions where they originated in 1966. Despite this appearance of stability in the ERIC system, much has changed. The total number of clearinghouses is now 16, for example. The greatest changes, however, have come in how the ERIC system conducts business.
The initial mission of ERIC was to make the results of federally funded research and development efforts more widely available, so great emphasis was placed on developing a database. Over the years, ERIC's acquisitions emphasis broadened to include all types of educational materials, including those produced internationally. The ERIC system has also moved beyond serving as an archive to becoming an information center. Although the development of the database has been the backbone of the ERIC system, in more recent years an emphasis has also been placed on helping interpret the information in the database through synthesis products such as ERIC Digests and through question answering. By capitalizing on the Internet, the ERIC system has been able to offer services such as AskERIC and clearinghouse websites. In the past decade, ERIC has expanded the types of information it provides and broadened its audiences.
The next decade will present tremendous challenges for the ERIC system. Just as the Internet enabled the ERIC system to expand its services, it also meant that ERIC was no longer the primary source of education information. In addition, lack of new funding has caused ERIC to lag behind in technological developments. The results of the current evaluation of the ERIC system being conducted by American Institutes for Research will help ERIC make strategic decisions about its future directions. (See http://ericacve.org/docs/ericfile-spr01.htm#M4 for an article on this effort.)
I am confident that, in 15 years, ERIC will celebrate 50 years of service as a provider of education information. I expect, however, that in 2016 the ERIC system will be much different. If you have suggestions for how the ERIC system or ERIC/ACVE can better serve you and your information needs, please contact me at imel.1@osu.edu or by calling or writing 800/848-4815, ext. 2-8606 or 614/292-8606; Susan Imel, ERIC/ACVE, 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1090.
Back to Top. Information about the ERIC
system and ERIC/ACVE. Publications such as All About ERIC and the Pocket Guide to ERIC offer information on the ERIC
system. ERIC/ACVE has brochures and publications that address the scope and
function of the Clearinghouse.
. Search services. Staff at ERIC/ACVE offer free searches that identify
a few citations from the ERIC database on a specific subject.
. Strategy consultation. For those wanting to do their own searches,
staff will advise on which terms should be used for the most effective search.
. Referrals. If the request is outside of ERIC/ACVE's scope or there are
other sources of information, staff will make appropriate recommendations.
. Assistance with accessing ERIC. The ERIC database can be accessed in a
number of ways. Staff will assist users with finding the best access points for
their needs.
. Publications. Paper copies of all ERIC/ACVE user products are
available from the Clearinghouse as well as the electronic copies that can be
found on the website or received via e-mail.
So, if you have a request related to adult, career, or vocational/technical education and are unable to find what you need or if you don't have the time to do the searching yourself, take advantage of our personalized reference service! Send a message to ericacve@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu, call 800/848-4815 ext. 28625 or 614/292-8625, or visit our website (http://ericacve.org/request.asp) to make your request.
Back to Top. Helping adults build metacognitive knowledge
. Adult learning in and through the arts
. Building and maintaining cohorts in adult education
. Distance learning: Has it changed in 75 years?
. Citizen participation, critical thinking, and adult education
. Role of adult education in controversial community issues
. Issues of bias in assessment (e.g., gender, linguistic, cultural)
. Oral history/storytelling/narrative
. Implications of the Americans with Disabilities Act for adult education
. Corrections and adult education
. Somatic/embodied learning
. Retention of adult learners in ABE/GED
. Web-based career development tools
. Impact of work-based experience on students
. Standardized assessments vs. "important things that don't standardize well"
. System-building
. Recruiting women into science and technology
. Gold-collar workers
. Career development/guidance program accountability through assessment of skills
. "Everyone goes to college"
. Teaching of soft skills to adults-content standards-what skills need to be taught?
. Career development and spirituality (search for meaningful work/quality of life)
Back to Top. How do schools transform old programs into true career pathways?
. How to help practitioners develop an accountability system that is relevant and drives improvement
. Impact of the new vocationalism on CTE programming
. Effects of academic/CTE curriculum integration on achievement
. Transition of traditional vocational education to career clusters
. Implications of models for development of career clusters
. Link between curriculum/assessment
. Unification of CTE-reintegration after reform
. Teacher education and preparation
. Accountability systems
. CTE professional development related to school improvement
The ERIC/ACVE website has searching capabilities on several areas of our website:
A Framework for Defining and Assessing Occupational and Training Standards in Developing Countries by David H. Fretwell, Morgan V. Lewis, and Arjen Deij. Order No. IN 386, Price $10.50.
Developing countries face a number of challenges in designing national occupational and training standards and related assessment systems. Developing countries need to select alternatives that are appropriate for local conditions and that reflect the availability of resources to sustain the systems. This paper provides a rationale for developing occupational training standards. It discusses involving stakeholders, using multiple sources of labor market information, and ways to develop, assess and link occupational standards with training standards. Examples of selected standards systems in a number of countries are provided, along with recommendations for governance, financing, and administration of standards systems. This paper was published cooperatively by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, the World Bank, and the European Training Foundation.
Experiential Learning: A Theoretical Critique Explored from Five Perspectives by Tara J. Fenwick. Order No. IN 385, Price $9.75.
What does it mean to learn from experience? And, what, if any, is an appropriate role for educators in this process? This paper explores the dominant approach to understanding experiential learning in adult education, an orientation commonly known as constructivism. It examines how educators have developed a variety of ways to enhance adults' critical reflection on experience, as well as critiques of these educational practices. Four alternate orientations are presented to give educators different responses to the question about the most appropriate role for educators in working with adults' experience: psychoanalytic, situative, critical cultural, and enactivist perspectives. The paper reviews the strengths and weaknesses of these orientations as well as critiques of each from the perspective of the others.
Both of these papers may be ordered from Publications, Center on Education and Training for Employment, 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1090. Available online in PDF format: http://ericacve.org/majorpubs.asp.
This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under Contract No. ED-99-CO-0013. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.