Adult Education

EDC projects address learners of all ages. In addition to a wide range of professional development and training programs for workers in various fields, EDC develops community-based adult education programs designed to build specific skills, enhance employment opportunities, or support family literacy. For example, the Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA) helps build basic reading, writing, and math skills through television-based teaching materials and cultivates community support for the learners.

Center for the Scholarship of School Mathematics

CSSM is a two-part initiative—a one-week summer institute and an academic year online follow-up—to serve education faculty who are developing content courses for graduate students in mathematics education. During the week, institute participants will experience aspects of being a “student” in such a course and will gain tools and materials to create a course at their home universities. During the subsequent academic year, online materials and interaction will support them as they develop and teach courses.

Information Technology Across Careers (ITAC) Phase III

With community colleges across the country, EDC is developing a common curricular framework for teaching basic information technology (core) applications in career and academic programs at community and technical colleges. Project resources include innovative approaches to instruction and assessment, including “Rubrics to Assess Basic IT User Skills,” lesson templates that interconnect the use of the “IT Core Applications” with program content for eight of the most commonly used IT applications, and a library of problem-based scenarios for each of the clusters/program areas.

Gender, Diversities, and Technology Institute

EDC’s Gender, Diversities, and Technology Institute works at the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, culture, and sexual orientation seeking to understand how technology can support the development of democracy and human rights. Projects focus on increasing participation in and distributing ownership of the “new knowledge society” brought about by emerging technologies.

dot-EDU (Digital Opportunity through Technology and Communication Partnerships-Learning Systems)

dot-EDU was an information and communication technology (ICT) intervention mechanism for USAID Missions seeking to improve education systems in their respective countries. dot-EDU sought to assist developing countries in strengthening learning systems that improve quality, expand access, and enhance equity through carefully planned applications of digital and broadcast technologies. The dot-EDU mission had two foci. First, dot-EDU provided training and technical assistance to support USAID Missions in developing and implementing technology-assisted applications.

Bosnia and Herzegovina–Excellence in Innovation: Using Information and Communications Technologies to Promote Economic Growth

EDC contributes to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s economic growth by identifying “high impact” information and communication technologies (ICT) applications that will quickly and significantly improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in entire industries. This project is designed to be Phase 1 of an ICT for Economic Growth Project that would partner with entrepreneurs and SMEs in Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop sustainable e-BIZ Enterprises, which offer fee-based high impact ICT services that create enduring, concrete, and widespread improvements in SME competitiveness.

Sudan Radio Service

As part of an effort to increase the participation of southern Sudanese in the peace process, the Sudan Radio Service provides access to balanced and useful information through radio-based education, news, and entertainment programs presented by local presenters in ten local languages.

EQUIP3/Garissa Youth Project

Designed to respond to Garissan youths’ needs and assets, the Garissa Youth Project (G-Youth Project) aims to empower youth to make sound career and life decisions as they transition from high school to the next phase of their lives. The project is also building the capacity of local institutions and networks to sustain the much-needed services that G-Youth will provide.

Evaluation of NASA Projects

This five-year project is designed to provide NASA with rigorous evaluation findings of its education portfolio contributions to furthering key strategic goals: develop the STEM workforce in relevant disciplines, attract and retain students at all stages of the educational pipeline, build strategic partnerships between STEM formal and informal education providers, and promote STEM literacy and awareness of NASA’s mission.

Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA)

ALMA’s mission is to help adults gain basic reading, writing, and math skills. ALMA creates innovative, educationally sound, and entertaining television-based teaching materials and cultivates community networks to support ALMA learners. TV411, ALMA’s magazine-format television series (with ancillary print materials and an instructional Web site) is aired on more than 100 stations nationwide.

Youth Produce a Lasting Impact

Community organizer Meera Devi (standing) leads a class in the village of Kuchhp

A Year after it ended, an EDC project in India that used tourism to engage youth in income-generating, health promoting, and community development activities, is continuing to have an impact.