Midwest LINCS Showcase Archives

The 1998 Midwest LINCS local program projects were supported through the National Institute for Literacy and the Ohio Literacy Resource Center. Local programs in many of the Midwest states worked during the past year to create or investigate new ways to use the Internet within their programs. Specific emphasis was placed on increasing the amount of online quality locally produced materials. 

Illinois

• Technology for Adult Literacy Students
  "Instructional lessons for adult learners by Peg Coker of LVA Fox Valley."

• Bare Bones
  "Internet instruction for adult learners compiled by Elinor Logan and Mabel Hayes of John A. Logan College."

Michigan

• Special Projects/Narratives
  "The project's featured on this page (Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome and Surf's Up! (?) A Beginner's Guide to the Internet) are downloadable or printable and available to use in your classroom. Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome is a story of how one person has overcome Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome and list of the common characteristics. Surf's Up! (?) A Beginner's Guide to the Internet is designed to help teachers show students how to "surf the Net" without consuming all the time in the classroom. This is a basic guide with a downloadable teaching instructions and student guidebook."

Minnesota

• Alexandria Adult Basic Education Internet Curriculum Development Project
  "The Alexandria Adult Basic Education (ABE) program... developed 6 lesson plans which involve utilization of the Internet, specifically the World Wide Web to access information during cooperative group learning activities in a classroom setting. The curriculum revolves around topics that were identified by the learners as having importance and relevance to them. This project was especially appropriate since inquiry is one of the high standards in Minnesota's current graduation standards. Also, computer and information literacy skills are a current focus of many adult literacy programs."

North Dakota

• Career Planning Competencies
  "The goal of Career Planning is to provide the student with the essential job search techniques which will give them a competitive edge in getting a job. The Career Planning Competencies are designed to alleviate the frustrations of career management and provide the student with a job search portfolio to assist in achieving employment goals."

• Introductory Computer Literacy for Adults
  Curriculum Outline and Classroom Supplements Special 353 Demonstration Project By Valerie Collins, Adult Learning Center, Bismarck, ND, 1998.

• English is Soup!
  "Does your language have one letter for every sound? Then maybe you are discouraged with English. Soup! will try to help you with a clear outline of the sounds, the usual letters that represent the sound, and some of the exceptions. If you print off Soup! you can use it to look up confusing words, and to jot down new words as you learn them. Illustrations and directions will help show you how the mouth is shaped to make these sounds. A "v" on the throat in the illustration shows the sound is voiced, and the throat should vibrate."

• Spelling: A Key to Good Communication
  "As an adult educator, I have found it difficult to find useful materials to teach the basics of spelling. My co-workers shared my frustration so I decided to develop lessons and exercises that addressed some of the basic rules of spelling.

  After gathering input from my co-workers about which spelling basics to include, I researched the current formats in which these three lessons were available. My goal was to create a concise group of lessons and exercises that could be used by adult educators for the entire gamut of students we serve. "

Ohio

• 1998 Local Program Technology Projects

• 1999 GTE Minigrants
  "These are the 1999 GTE minigrants. They were made possible by the generosity of GTE and the collaborative effort of the National Institute for Literacy, the Ohio Literacy Resource Center, the State Resource Centers for each of the states represented here, and of course the teachers and students from each of the programs who dedicated their time and energy to completing each project. The primary goals for these projects were to integrate technology into the classroom experience and to expand resources for the adult literacy community."

Wisconsin

• The Key-OnLine
  "The objectives of The Key New Readers Newspaper Project are two fold: to provide people with limited reading skills access to the main flow of information in the community, and to provide teachers in adult basic education programs with quality materials which are relevant to the adult learner. The project publishes an eight-page monthly newspaper with a statewide circulation of 14,000 copies. In early 1998 services were expanded to national distribution through the World Wide Web. "