Midwest Regional Hub (Region: III) Quarterly Report: October-December, 1998

Midwest LINCS Quarterly Report

Name of Organization:

Region:

Reporting Period:

Name of project director/coordinator:

Name of person preparing this report:

1. State your goals and objectives for the past quarter.

Support LINCS' Vision
Enhance the Family Literacy and Adult Numeracy Special Collection
Provide low literacy skill level resources
Integrate usage of LINCS and other technology in teaching and learning
Expand LINCS usage in the literacy field in the Midwest
Develop management procedures for grant year
Expand collaboration.

2. Describe activities initially planned for the quarter.

Provide leadership on LINCS redesign committee
Participate on content committee
Gather all available resources related to family literacy and adult numeracy currently on the LINCS system and add them to the existing special collections
Solicit proposals for mini-grants with GTE funding with low level literacy focus
Training on LINCS in various states
Presentation on LINCS at AAACE
Publicity about LINCS in state newsletters
Set up requirements for each state to receive $5000 grant from Midwest
Plan and hold meeting for representatives of each state.

3. Briefly describe major outcomes during the last quarter especially in the following areas:

a. Collecting and organizing locally-produced materials and program data and Web publishing:

OLRC OASIS Site

December 22, 1998: The Current Events page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/currentevents.html) has been updated with some new links to recent current events.
December 18, 1998: Scioto-Northwest ABLE has a new page online! You can find it linked on our ABLE Programs page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/otherable.html).
December 8, 1998: Here is a new Call for Papers Proposals: 1999 Ohio Department of Education Division of Early Childhood Education Annual Conference (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Events/ece99call.html) which can be found on our Coming Events page and also the Announcements page.
December 1, 1998: There has been a new addition to our Job Opportunities page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Jobs/jobop.html). Please check out the two new job opportunities with Cuyahoga Community College. We have added a new link on the Adult Literacy and Education Resources page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/Educ/edu.html). Check out the National Center for Family Literacy. Check out the PBS Literacy Link project that can be found on our Announcements (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/announcements.html) page. Also on our Announcements page, the information about the National Book Scholarship Fund from Laubach has been updated.
November 19, 1998: The Northeast ABLE Resource Center has added the Nor'easter Online - September 1998 (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/ABLE/7-98.html) newsletter to their site. Please check it out!
November 17, 1998: There is a new job opening listed for a Part-time ESL Instructor for the Columbus Literacy Council on our Job Opportunities page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Jobs/jobop.html). New information has been added to our Announcements page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/announcements.html). Please check out the Empowerment Health Education in Adult Literacy report, which can be found in full on the National Institute for Literacy website.
November 12, 1998: There are two new Job Opportunities (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Jobs/jobop.html) online. The Southwest ABLE Resource Center is looking for a Program Liaison for their Project READ Department. Also, the Akron Learning Center is looking for part-time teacher.
November 3, 1998: Please check out the 1998 Local Program Technology Projects (http://literacy.kent.edu/Minigrants/index.html) and see what some of Ohio's programs have been up to. Ravenna City Schools EVEN START (http://literacy.kent.edu/Minigrants/Ravenna/ravenna.htm) section has added some new interactive lessons. Try the Largest to Smallest Quiz or the Make a Story.
October 28, 1998: The Current Events page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/currentevents.html) has been updated with links to information on the upcoming launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery and one of its astronauts, U.S. Senator John Glenn from Ohio. The ABLE Link Help Site (http://literacy.kent.edu/ablelink/) has been updated with the Mandatory Fields that must be filled out in order to send your data to the Ohio Department of Education. A new Job Opportunity (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Jobs/jobop.html) has been added to our site. Check out the information for the Adult Education and Literacy - Professional Development Coordinator position in Virginia. Many new links have been added also. Check out The National Coalition for Literacy site and the America's Learning eXchange linked on our Adult Literacy and Education Resources (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/Educ/edu.html). Also try these two sites for job information, America's Job Bank and America's Career InfoNet, both linked to our Job Opportunities page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Jobs/jobop.html).
October 26, 1998: The newest Southwest Exposure: Fall '98 (Volume 5, Issue 1) (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/swablefall98.html) is now online on the Southwest ABLE Resource Center website! There is a new page online which links to many informative sites about Current Events (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/currentevents.html).
October 8, 1998: The Northwest ABLE Resource Center has updated their Calendar of Events (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/nwcalendar.html)! And their Northwest Notes: Fall 1998 (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/nwsum98.html) is also now online! The Calendar of Events (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Resc/ABLE/calendar.html) for the Northeast ABLE Resource Center has been updated!
October 5, 1998: The Legislative and Governmental Information page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Leg/leg.html) has been updated with some new links to such sites as 1998 Workforce Investment Act and Legislation and Policy Updates from the National Institute for Literacy and NAEPDC Policy Updates from The National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium.
October 1, 1998: Have you seen the 1998 Local Program Technology Projects (http://literacy.kent.edu/Minigrants/) from Ohio yet? This is just one of a number of Midwest LINCS Minigrants projects. You can also see Wisconsin's The Key which is a new reader's online newspaper and Minnesota's Internet Curriculum Development Project. You can also check the Midwest LINCS Technology Local Program Projects page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/minigrants.html) for updates on more states' local program projects.
Midwest LINCS Site
December 15, 1998: Illinois NETWORK of Literacy/Adult Education Resources has redesigned their web site and added many new features. Check out their new look. And don't forget about their locally produced materials which can be found on their site or linked to our Locally Produced Materials in the Midwest LINCS States.
December 8, 1998: Michigan Adult Learning & Technology Center (Formerly The State Literacy Resource Center) has redesigned their website and also changed their web address. Please visit their site and bookmark the new address http://www.malt.cmich.edu/.
December 4, 1998: Have you seen the Locally Produced Materials from North Dakota yet? Check out Career Planning Competencies (http://literacy.kent.edu/Minigrants/ndakota/career/index.html) and Spelling: A Key to Good Communication (http://literacy.kent.edu/Minigrants/ndakota/spelling/index.html)!
October 28, 1998: There is a new page online linking to Locally Produced Materials from the LINCS Hubs (Eastern LINCS, Southern LINCS, and Western/Pacific LINCS) (http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/otherlocalmat.html).
October 1, 1998: Have you seen the 1998 Local Program Technology Projects (http://literacy.kent.edu/Minigrants/index.html) from Ohio yet? This is just one of a number of Midwest LINCS Minigrants projects. You can also see Wisconsin's The Key which is a new reader's online newspaper and Minnesota's Internet Curriculum Development Project. Keep checking back here for more postings of other state minigrant projects. You can also check the Midwest LINCS Technology Local Program Projects page (http://literacy.kent.edu/Midwest/minigrants.html) for updates.
ILLINOIS: The Illinois web site has been redesigned and two locally produced materials have been added.
IOWA: Four new online items were added to the LINCS catalog in addition to the continuing expansion of the ILRC holdings whose catalog of materials is on the web site and searchable via LINCS. Four web-based documents plus the quarterly ABE Newsletter were published online.
MICHIGAN: Two of the products from the local project mini-grants were added online. Close to 200 items were posted to the newly revised site.
NEBRASKA: The web site was redesigned and added health LINCS and information from survey on impact of welfare reform on state ABE programs. Over 200 new materials for the SLRC were electronically catalogued. "What would you like to learn about the Internet? A staff development needs assessment" was added online.

b. Specialized collection: The OLRC has two staff members who are responsible for the content areas of the Family Literacy and Adult Numeracy Special Collections. Judy Franks is overseeing the Family Literacy Collection and has just joined the OLRC after over 13 years in Even Start and Adult Education programs. Nancy Markus, the Adult Numeracy coordinator, has been a math ABE teacher and has most recently served as President of the Adult Numeracy Network (1997-98). Both the coordinators have worked this quarter on identifying LINCS related material and possible members of the advisory groups.

c. Training:

Hub Training: Joint New Orleans Hub meeting with Southern LINCS, December 14-15: Jaleh Behroozi, Tim Ponder, Limin Mu, and Andy Hartman provided an overview of LINCS and redesign issues. The LINCS vision is a cohesive national state-of-the-art system that would provide an easy single point of access to literacy and adult education resources. Since 1994, LINCS has been in the process of being developed collaboratively to enhance the technology capability and make resources universally available. In the first generation of Web site design, the goal was to provide information. The second generation dramatically increased the content of the site. The third generation of design seeks to organize that content to make it more accessible for users. Toward that end, the LINCS sites are being redesigned so that the look and feel is standard or seamless across sites. The organization and the categories will be standardized so that the states' exceptional resources are highlighted and users can gain seamless access.
Each of the states then had an opportunity to share best practices and technology highpoints. We all got some good ideas from these presentations. Further topics jointly addressed during the two days of meetings were state plan and technology issues, special collections, low level materials, and selection criteria. In addition, both regions had an opportunity to meet separately. During the Midwest meeting, discussions were held on state support and requirements of subcontracts, plans for training, online projects, and the GTE grant projects.
Each region appreciated the opportunity to get together with other states and compare notes and brainstorm on problems. Both within and across regions, there is much we can learn from each other. The informal opportunities to "talk shop" were at least as important as the formal ones, and many conversations were still taking place in shared cab rides to the airport! (Notes on meeting from Southern LINCS quarterly report.)
Training by Hub: 1) Presentation at AAACE by Jean Stephens: Literacy on the Internet: Using the NIFL LINCS System;
2) Presentation at College Reading Association by Marty Ropog and Tim Ponder: Distance Communication; and
3) Presentations at LVA Conference : Marty Ropog and Tim Ponder on Adult Literacy Students Explore the World Wide Web, Marty Ropog and Carol Morris and Jackie Hamlett from Illinois: Technology…Basics for Adult Literacy (8-hour pre-conference), and Tim Ponder: GTE-LVA Family Literacy and Technology Institute.
Training in States:
Illinois delivered a training using videoconferencing to both their tech pilots and other funded programs on using CD-ROMS in family literacy. A large training was done for 40 programs on LINCS and instructional software.
Iowa continues to offer training sessions for tutors and students. One formal session was held in the office and another at a public library.
Nebraska scheduled and did initial development of statewide Curriculum Development Using the Internet workshops.
Minnesota has been active in planning the 1999 ALT conference.
South Dakota provided training to ABE programs and literacy programs on Searching LINCS and home page development.
North Dakota presented a two-day workshop to a local project staff about using the Internet and technology in an ABE/ESL classroom.
Ohio presented two sessions at the Ohio Early Childhood Education Conference: Using the Internet in Family Literacy Programs and Finding and Using On-Line Lesson Plans in Your Family Literacy Programs. A 3-part workshop on Basic HTML and Web Page Creation was also given.
Michigan integrates technology training into all Center professional development activities.
D. Technical assistance: The OLRC offers technical assistance to states as requested. In addition, the following state activity was reported:
Illinois provides assistance through the phone and email. To encourage use of email, people who call are asked to put their request for assistance on email and unless there is a good reason, an answer is not given on the phone.
A listserv has been set up in Iowa for literacy and ABE personnel but use has been delayed due to the slow integration of computer utilization in the daily schedule of individuals.
Michigan has created listservs for recent statewide projects in LD and ESL.
Nebraska responded to email requests for information regarding adult literacy, use of web site, and access to materials.
The Minnesota Resource Center provided technical assistance to program staff on an as needed basis.
E. Leveraging resources: The GTE funds which are being used to fund local projects to develop materials for low-level learners came in the summer as a result of the Midwest LINCS project. Illinois is getting a new color printer and CD Writer for their network to provide better technology for the Resource Center.
In Michigan, the Hub funds has leveraged several thousand dollars from other sources, namely Section 353 funds from the Michigan Department of Education.
Ohio combines state funds with its LINCS funds to provide the training and web development.
F. Publicity: The OLRC published the Fall 1998 Tech Talk as part of its newsletter. This was distributed to over 2500 individuals. The states in the Midwest would all like more LINCS brochures to distribute throughout the states. South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan, and Minnesota all reported publicizing LINCS with articles in statewide newsletters. Iowa continues contact with the Iowa Literacy Council working on promoting LINCS.
G. Extending LINCS to local programs: The GTE RFP's were distributed in October to all states. Proposals were reviewed in November and ten local programs, representing six of the Midwest states, were awarded grants. The programs are: Adult Learning Center, Bismarck, ND; Family Learning & Resource Center, Webster Groves, MO; The Key New Readers Newspaper, Milwaukee, WI; Roseville Adult High School, Roseville, MN; Strongsville ABLE, Strongsville, OH; Waukegan Public Library, Waukegan, IL; Waubonsee College, Aurora, IL; ABOL Learning Center, Akron, OH: Carol Sandburg College, Galesburg, IL; and Cuyahoga Community College, Highland Hills, OH. Training was planned for the end of January, 1999. Individual states have worked with local programs, in most cases completing work begun last grant year.
H. Partnerships with other state agencies and public and private entities, including business and industry: The Hub has continued partnership with GTE by providing information for a company newsletter and inviting the regional public relations representative to the January training. The Hub also continued its partnership with State Directors of Adult Education by inviting all the Midwest directors to the December meeting in New Orleans. The Minnesota director attended and Nebraska sent a representative from the ABE advisory group. I. Any other LINCS Activities: The Midwest LINCS has been actively involved in the Design Committee with Tim Ponder as chair. They have also participated in the Content Committee.4
Michigan is using their mini-grant recipients as trainers for other teachers and providers. The Center gives them a small stipend plus travel to deliver technology training.
Illinois is distributing copies of its New Chapters CD-ROM to literacy programs, domestic violence facilities and public libraries throughout the state. The CD is designed to provide clear straightforward information for basic skills students on job skills, resume and application writing, job interviewing, and web sites to further one's goals for getting employed. Judith Rake provided project direction and Tim Ponder developed the CD.

4. Briefly describe services that were provided to consortium members? During the December meeting, consortium members were given information on responsibilities of states in participating in LINCS and receiving the $5,000 grant. States were asked to submit their plan for the grant year. For the second year, the Midwest LINCS will also provide help in putting material online for all states. There is also ongoing technical assistance upon request.

5. Include a brief report from each of the consortium member regarding their LINCS activities and the degree of their involvement in your regional LINCS activities. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North North Dakota, Michigan, and Nebraska provided reports for the first quarter. Pertinent information from these reports is included throughout this report and copies of the reports are attached. Indiana did not participate last year, but has expressed interest in becoming involved this year.

6. Have you encountered any problems in the use of project funds? Do you anticipate any carry over from this year? No problems.

7. Briefly describe barriers and concerns in meeting your goals, activities, and timeline.

Getting locally produced materials is very difficult.
Role of resource centers in being a resource supplier removes the centers from direct involvement with the students. This limits the depth of services that the centers have control over.
Not enough time to go around the state training program people.

8. How do you assess your collaboration with NIFL during the past quarter? Do you have suggestions for improvement? Collaboration continues to improve with more involvement in national committees. The monthly conference call by directors has been very beneficial.

9. What are your goals, objectives, expected outcomes, activities, and suggestions for next quarter? The Midwest LINCS will concentrate on enhancing the special collections and creating advisory groups and completing the planning with each state on use of the $5,000. The training will be held for the GTE grant projects and the work will begin on these projects. The individual states will be advancing their training, web publishing, and other goals. Some specific state activities include:

Iowa will work to conduct informational/training sessions on LINCS and the ILRC and its services for the new governor and legislature.
Ohio will promote a Best Practices in Technology search with awardees receiving funding for the ALT conference. A statewide technology institute will be held and applications will also be accepted for teachers and administrators to receive funding to take one of the PBS LiteracyLink online courses.

10. Provide statistics: (Includes Hub activities and individual states activities)

Number of materials cataloged:

Number of full-text materials uploaded:

Training:

Number of broad-based presentations and training (regional and state level): 8
Number of targeted training: 4
Total number of people trained: 215

Technical Assistance
Number of phone calls and email: Approximately 50 from the Hub and hundreds from the states to the programs in their states.

Jean J. Stephens, Director
Ohio Literacy Resource Center
Research 1 - 1100 Summit Street
Kent State University
PO Box 5190
Kent, Ohio 44242-0001

Phone: 330-672-2007
In Ohio Only: 800-765-2897
Fax: 330-672-4841 jstephen@literacy.kent.edu