CREATE Adult Skills Network Lead
Over a million adults participate in programs each year that are designed to improve their literacy, English proficiency, and other foundational skills that will prepare them for further education and rewarding jobs. Millions more are in need of those programs, but either do not have access to them or cannot always participate in person or on a fixed schedule. Using technology is considered a promising way to serve more adults both in and out of the classroom, provide access to additional learning opportunities, and accommodate adults’ need for flexibility as family caregivers and employees. There is little research, however, to guide practitioners and consumers in identifying effective approaches to technology-supported adult skills programming.
The Collaborative Research for Educating Adults with Technology Enhancements (CREATE Adult Skills Network) is funded through the Institute of Education Sciences, the non-partisan research and statistics arm of the U.S. Department of Education. The Network is designed to facilitate the development, adoption and evaluation of technology-supported interventions for adult foundational skills and academic attainment.
AIR leads the Network in collaboration with its partners, Abt Associates, Jobs for the Future, and the EdTech Center @ World Education, Inc. As the Network Lead, AIR and its partners will:
- Engage a diverse community of stakeholders representing adult foundational education, workforce development, and postsecondary education in interactive activities that result in research and resources readily applied to practice across settings that serve adult learners;
- Expand the adult skills research base and knowledge of resources for using technology beyond that generated from the Network to better address the knowledge gap and maximize the Network’s value for stakeholders;
- Develop a learning agenda to increase support for conducting and using rigorous research in adult skills beyond the Network and engender longer-term growth of the research base; and
- Carry out communications and dissemination to attract stakeholders to the Network and facilitate use of the knowledge generated.
