This document summarizes a workshop on embracing digital learning spaces for workforce development and adult basic education. The workshop included several presentations and panels on topics such as industry partnerships for online education, interactive learning tools, continuous improvement in online teaching and learning, and implementing technology in ESL and ABE classrooms. It provides an agenda with times and descriptions of each presentation.

1. Workforce and ABE
Embracing Digital Learning Spaces
Jump-Start Seminar
February 23, 2010
South Seattle Community College
Brockey Center

3. Workforce and ABE Embracing Digital Learning Spaces
8:30 am – Coffee & Conversation
9:00 am – Introductions & Opening – Cable Green, Director of eLearning,
SBCTC
Welcome – Jill Wakefield, Chancellor, Seattle Community
College District
Jim Crabbe, Director Workforce, SBCTC
Israel D. Mendoza, Director Adult Basic Education,
SBCTC
Frank Mayadas, Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation
Josh Jarrett, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Senior
Program Officer, Postsecondary Success
9:45 am – Susan Kannel Things that Work – And Why?
CAEL, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, works on many levels – from policy at the
national, regional and state levels, to on-the-ground initiatives – to provide the tools for adults to
successfully enter and advance in the workforce.
This session will provide a brief snapshot of some of the tools and projects that have been
successful in linking learning to work for high school students and young adults.
• Industry-wide online education in the telecommunications and energy industries
• A high school pipeline into the energy industry
• Career mapping
• Stackable credentials linked to sequential education
• A nation-wide career readiness credential
While this may look like a scattered list, this session will focus on the critical success factors,
including the role of technology, common across these initiatives.
10:20 am – Break
10:30 am – Larry Skogen & Bruce Emmil Interactive Learning Tools
This presentation will explore the development process and demonstrate the use of Interactive
Learning Tools (ILT’s) including; animations, mini-sims, simulations and online laboratories beneficial
to online and blended learning. In addition, an Industry Resource Connection (IRC) designed to aid
and enhance industries training programs along with a competency based job shadow program will
be discussed.
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4. 11:05 am – Candace Thille Continuous Improvement in Teaching and Learning
– The Community College Open Learning Initiative
Using intelligent tutoring systems, virtual laboratories, simulations, and frequent opportunities
for assessment and feedback, The Open Learning Initiative (OLI) builds open learning environments
that support continuous improvement in teaching and learning.
One of the most powerful features of web-based learning environments is that we can embed
assessment into, virtually all, instructional activities. As students interact with OLI environments, we
collect real-time data of student work. We use this data to create four positive feedback loops:
• feedback to students
• feedback to instructors
• feedback to course designers
• feedback to learning science researchers
In this JumpStart Session, we demonstrate how OLI uses the web to deliver online instruction
that instantiates course designs based on research and how the learning environments, in turn,
support ongoing research. We will discuss the Community College Open Learning Initiative (CC-OLI)
and how faculty and colleges across the country can participate in CC-OLI and the connection
between CC-OLI and Washington State’s Open Course Library project.
11:40 am – David Sachs Partnerships
The NACTEL program presentation will focus on the unique partnership of companies (AT&T,
Verizon, Qwest, CenturyLink and Frontier) and unions (IBEW and CWA) and a university (Pace
University) and CAEL that has been in existence since 1999. The NACTEL program provides Associates
and Bachelors degrees 100% online, asynchronously to students located throughout the United
States. Many thousands of individuals have participated in the NACTEL program since its inception in
1999, and many hundreds graduate each year. This presentation provides an insight into the
opportunities and challenges of such a partnership, as well as some “lessons learned”.
12:15 pm – Lunch – Introduction of Sloan-C Blended Certificate Winners
Natalie Miles, Centralia College
Kathleen Hathaway, Clover Park Technical College
Tonya McCabe, Green River Community College
Shaunie Decker, S. Seattle Community College
Shirley Mohsenian, Yakima Valley Community College
1:00 pm – Margaret Anderson & Michael Shepard Physical Therapy Assistant
– Innovation and Collaboration
This session will explain how an increase in demand for Physical Therapy Assistants led
Whatcom Community College, located in northwestern Washington, to develop an online version of
its Physical Therapy Assistant program. Whatcom Community College then partnered with Yakima
Valley Community College and area clinics in eastern Washington to increase opportunities for
students and graduates. This award-winning program aimed at increasing the number of PTA
graduates in Washington state and now has expanded to include students from not only Eastern
Washington, but Oregon, Alaska, and California.
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5. 1:35 pm – Jan Tegtmeier eLearning for ESL and ABE Students
Walla Walla Community College has begun implementing technology into ESL and ABE
classrooms at all levels of adult basic education. Level 1-2 students enter a controlled, computer
enhanced, ESL classroom environment in which they begin a journey toward the ability to
communicate and use the computer as an effective tool to study English independently, find
information, take online classes and correspond with teachers and co-workers. We are finding that
the blending of technology with the ESL and ABE competencies at all levels can provide the
additional boost that learners need to enter college and the workforce.
2:10 pm – Break Turn in your question cards
2:20 pm – Panel Q & A Cable Green, Moderator
All Speakers & Presenters
3:30 pm – John Bourne & Maureen Bozell Online & Blended Education:
A Professional Development Opportunity
This presentation will explore how the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) helps to professionally
develop faculty in online and blended learning, the importance of using online and blended
educational delivery for workforce education and ABE/ESL, and the details of the jump-start program
that the SBCTC is initiating in collaboration with Sloan-C.
4:30 pm – Conversation, Connections and Learning
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7. Presenter Bios:
Dr. Frank Mayadas Prior to coming to the Sloan Foundation, Frank Mayadas
spent 27 years at the IBM Corporation. He was Vice President, Research
Division, Technical Plans and Controls from 1991 to 1992; Vice President,
Technology and Solutions Development, Application Solutions Line of Business,
from 1989 to 1991; General Manager, University and College Systems, IBM
Personal Systems Line of Business, from 1988 to 1989; Secretary of IBM's
Corporate Management Board and the IBM Management Committee, from
1987 to 1988; and the IBM Management Committee, from 1987 to 1988; IBM
Research Division Vice President and Director, Almaden Research Center, San
Jose, California from 1983 to 1987; and an IBM Research Division Director,
Technical Planning and Controls, from 1981 to 1983.
At Sloan, Dr. Mayadas is involved in a number of areas: online education, globalization of industries,
industry studies, and career choice in technical fields. He started the Sloan online learning program
in 1993. This program (known as Anytime, Anyplace Learning) has had a profound impact in moving
the academic field forward. He is the founding president of the Sloan Consortium, also known as
Sloan-C (see www.sloan-c.org), the premier society for professionals engaged in online education
programs. A large number of disciplines are covered by member academic institutions of the
consortium, ranging across humanities, engineering, business, and social-, life- and physical-
sciences. More than 1000 full programs (certificate and degree) are offered by consortium
members. The Sloan-sponsored annual International ALN Conference now attracts more than 1200
attendees annually. Dr. Mayadas has been a keynote speaker at several distance education
conferences and has testified before Congress on Web-based learning.
Dr. Mayadas received a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell in 1965, and a B.S. from the Colorado
School of Mines in 1961.
He has more than 35 published papers in Systems, Devices, and Solid State Physics, and holds
several patents and awards from IBM. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a member of the American Physical
Society, and a past Director of the Society of Engineering Science. He has served as a member of the
National Advisory Board for Georgia Tech, and the Advisory Board of the College of Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the
College of Engineering, University of Florida, and a board member of e-Cornell.
Josh Jarrett is a Senior Program Officer for Postsecondary Success in the U.S.
Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this capacity, Josh has been
helping to architect and launch the foundation’s new Postsecondary Success
strategy. Within Postsecondary Success, he leads the portfolio applying new
technologies and new delivery models to increase low-income student success.
Additionally, he oversees the work connecting the labor market and private
employers to the postsecondary education sector. Finally, Josh coordinates the
foundation’s limited-term efforts in the Gulf Coast region’s recovery following
Hurricane Katrina.
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8. Prior to the foundation, Josh served as an Engagement Manger in McKinsey & Company’s Nonprofit
Practice, leading organizations on issues of strategy, operations and organization. In his five years
with the company he led teams of fellow consultants and clients in detailed business analysis,
developed recommendations and implementation plans, and advised senior executives on decision
making. In particular, his work focused on charter school expansion, adolescent health services, and
the effectiveness of foundation grantmaking. Prior to McKinsey & Company, Josh served as an
entrepreneur, helping to launch a customer service software company.
Josh is a graduate of Dartmouth College and he holds a graduate degree in business from the
Harvard Business School.
Susan Kannel is the Executive Director, The National Coalition for
Telecommunications Education and Learning (NACTEL) Senior Director for
Online Programs, The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
She has been instrumental in developing and managing industry-led online
education programs in the telecommunications industry, The National
Coalition for Telecommunications and Learning (NACTEL, www.nactel.org) and
a parallel initiative in the energy industry, The Energy Providers Coalition for
Education (EPCE, www.epceonline.org). NACTEL and EPCE are led by national
industry coalitions that include both employer and labor members, and each works closely with
academic partners that include Pace University in telecommunications and Bismarck State College in
the energy industry. Both NACTEL and EPCE received initial funding from the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation.
Ms. Kannel’s broader CAEL work includes the development of a career ladder for healthcare service
providers, another for radiological technologists, a national web-based online career map for the
telecommunications industry, and regional career mapping projects in biological sciences and
precision manufacturing. Finally, she has been involved in developing and implementing a “pipeline”
from high school into the energy industry, “Light Up Your Future,” which now has been
implemented in four regions with multiple employer and academic partners.
Prior to coming to CAEL, Ms. Kannel was the Director of Corporate Education at Regis University,
Denver, Colorado, where she developed both credit and non-credit education and certification
programs customized for corporations and professional associations. Two of these programs
received recognition with the Peter Drucker Award for Non-Profit Innovation and the Tom Peters’
Award for Innovative Partnerships.
Larry C. Skogen became president of Bismarck State College on March 1,
2007. He is the college’s sixth CEO during its 69-year history.
Retired from a career in the U.S. Air Force, he is a native of Hettinger, N.D. Dr.
Skogen holds degrees from Dickinson State University (B.S. in secondary
education), Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg (M.A. in history),
and Arizona State University, Tempe (Ph.D. in history).
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9. Throughout his career, he has been involved in education as a high school teacher and as a college
instructor and administrator in a variety of military and civilian institutions, including the United
States Air Force Academy.
Dr. Skogen is the author of a legal history of federal Indian policy that was published by the
University of Oklahoma Press in 1996, as well as articles and reviews in historical journals.
He is married to Alison, a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They have a family that includes two
sons, a daughter-in-law, and three granddaughters.
Bruce Emmil is Associate Vice President of the National Energy Center of Excellence (NECE) at
Bismarck State College (BSC) located in Bismarck, N.D. In this position, he is responsible for the
overall day-to-day operations of the NECE which consists of the following five (5) AAS degreed
energy programs; Power Plant Technology, Process Plant Technology, Electrical Transmission
Systems Technology, Electric Power Technology and Nuclear Power Technology. In addition, Bruce is
responsible for the Bachelors of Applied Science in Energy Management degreed program and
various non-credit energy training initiatives.
A native of New England, N.D., Bruce graduated from BSC with an Associate in Applied Science
degree in Power Plant Technology, and from Dickinson State University in Dickinson, N.D., with a
Bachelor of Applied Science in Technology degree. Currently Bruce is enrolled in graduate school at
After graduation, Bruce spent 13 years in New Hampshire working in the generation sector of the
energy industry for Northeast Utilities. In January 2001, Bruce was recruited back to North Dakota
by his former BSC professors to become an instructor in BSC’s energy division. His responsibilities
have included energy classroom instructor, online instructor, online course and program developer,
and program manager until being named to his current position in July 2007.
Bruce and his wife, Pam, have two daughters, Courtney 11, and Kaitlyn, 8.
Candace Thille is the Director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at
Carnegie Mellon University, a position she has held since the program’s
inception in 2002. She is also the co-director of OLnet. Jointly run by
Carnegie Mellon and the Open University in the UK, OLnet is an international
open educational research network. Candace’s focus of research and
development is in applying results from the learning sciences to the design,
implementation and evaluation of open web-based learning environments.
Candace also serves as a redesign scholar for the National Center for
Academic Transformation and was elected a Fellow of International Society for Design and
Development in Education in 2007. She currently serves on a working group at the U.S. Department
of Education to draft the National Education Technology Plan for the Obama administration.
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10. David Sachs is Associate Dean and Professor of Technology Systems in Pace
University's School of Computer Science and Information Systems at PACE
University. As Associate Dean, he has been actively involved in the
development and implementation of computer science and
telecommunications courses for the corporate community since 1984. As
supervisor of the Pace Computer Learning Center, Dr. Sachs is responsible for
the many hundreds of days of personal computer, computer science, and
telecommunications education that are provided each year to corporations
throughout the United States and around the world such as AT&T, IBM, MCI, PepsiCo, The Reader's
Digest, and others. Dr. Sachs has worked closely with teachers, administrators and others to think
about the most effective ways to introduce technology into public and private schools.
Most recently, he has been actively involved in the development of courses to be taught
asynchronously over the Internet and the World Wide Web. Dr. Sachs is Co-Director of the NACTEL
Program (http://csis.pace.edu/nactel) - a program that provides an AS in Telecommunications
Degree and a BS in Telecommunications Degree to many hundreds of individuals from Verizon,
Qwest, SBC and Citizens, many of whom are members of CWA and IBEW. In addition, Dr. Sachs has
been the Principle Investigator for a FIPSE Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnership Grant (1999 -
2002) as well as for a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2002).
Margaret Anderson, Whatcom Community College
I hold a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy and a Masters of Education. I have been a full-time,
practicing Physical Therapist for 25 years with experience in many aspects of the field. I became an
adjunct faculty member of the PTA Program at WCC in 2002 and the PTA Program Coordinator in
2007. Currently, I split my time between the Program Coordinator activities and instruction of core
courses in the on campus PTA program.
Michael Shepherd, Whatcom Community College
I have a MA in Anthropology and am currently working on a PhD in the same discipline at the
University of British Columbia. I have been working in the eLearning field for the last 10 years,
specializing in video technology, online course development and Web 2.0 technologies. I have been
part of successful grant writing teams that support our Nursing, Massage, Medical Assisting and
Physical Therapy Assistant programs.
Jan Tegtmeier, Walla Walla Community College
After graduating from the University of Washington, I taught special education
and English as a second language in the public school system for 5 years. Since
then, I have been teaching at Walla Walla Community College for 10 years in the
Transitional Studies Department. I teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and
ABE eLearning classes, and a Bilingual GED course.
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11. John R. Bourne is Executive Director of the Sloan Consortium. He is also Professor
of Technology Entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, MA and Professor
of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Franklin W. Olin College of
Engineering in Needham, MA. He has been engaged in working with online
education since 1994 and has a special interest in improving education through
the use of virtual worlds. In addition, he is Editor of the Journal of Asynchronous
Learning Networks.
Maureen R. Bozell is a senior associate with Workforce Strategy Center
(WSC), where she is currently supporting the Community College of Rhode
Island 21st Century Workforce Commission in its efforts to strengthen the
college’s position as a workforce provider. She is co-author of WSC’s
recently released report, Employers, Low-Income Young Adults, and
Postsecondary Credentials. Ms. Bozell has advised, provided technical
assistance to, and directed projects for the U.S. Departments of Education
and Labor on a variety of workforce development strategies connecting
education to labor market demand for the past 15 years.
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