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EmailIt can sometimes be tricky to find research, literature, and professional development materials that are focused specifically on adult immigrants. One invaluable resource, as many of you may know, is the LINCS website. As the About page explains, LINCS (a somewhat forced acronym for Literacy Information and Communication System) was designed “to organize and promote resources within the field of adult education and serve as a central repository for information.” As such, it is a fantastic resource for adult ed teachers and administrators. One of the most useful parts of the site is their Publications page. To give you a bit of the flavor of what they publish, I’m going to give a quick description of a few of their most recent documents.
Integrating Digital Literacy Into English Language Instruction
This issue brief discusses the ever-shifting meaning of literacy and the need to include digital skills in that expanding construct. It goes on to describe some challenges faced by language learners in particular, considerations for integrating digital lit into language instruction, and the intersection of digital lit with information lit and media lit (both of which I discussed a bit in a recent post). There’s also a handy little Considerations for Administrators section, and some further reading.
Integrating Digital Literacy and Problem Solving Into Instruction
A great accompaniment to the issue brief above, this packet contains two full lesson plans to get your digital literacy integration off the ground, along with a glossary and hyperlinked resource page.
This is a teacher’s text that, paired with the student book (also available online) serves as a complete health literacy curriculum for English learners, correlated with CASAS standards. The text is loaded with resources and the Activities for Taking Action sections are designed to get your students applying what they learn immediately.
This series of briefs by Prof. Stephen Reder summarizes research findings the long-term impact of adult basic skills (ABS) on such issues as voting, economic outcomes, and literacy growth. Each is well laid out and full of handsomely designed (a rarity in research publications!) charts and tables. These are great resources for those seeking grant funding.
There’s loads more on the LINCS site, so take a few minutes to explore!
Thank you so much for this post, Robert. I facilitate an English conversation workshop for francophone Québécois and immigrants in Montreal. Even after just a brief look at the contents, I can see that LINCS site is going to be very helpful.