Greetings, Larry and Barry.  And greetings to NIFL Tech Listserv
subscribers.  John Fleischman here at the Sacramento County Office of
Education.  

I believe I can shed some light on the August 10th announcement by
President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.  See:
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070810.html>.

The announcement by the Administration focused on improving border
security and immigration.  The last item on the list, number 26,
indicates, "The Department of Education will launch a free, Web-based
portal to help immigrants learn English, and expand this model over time.

The development of this portal is an outgrowth of a currently funded
Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) project entitled
Strengthening Programs Through Technology (AKA AdultEd Online), a
partnership between my office and the University of Michigan.  The
contract was awarded to develop a number of technology resources for adult
education including exploring the feasibility of building a Web portal
where adult learners could find instructional materials on subjects
ranging from learning English to preparing for the G.E.D.  To better
understand the design features a portal should have, a prototype is being
built first.  The prototype will contain learning materials in three
areas: a beginning-level English course, a mid-level English course, and
activities for improving reading, writing and life skills.  

The prototype should be complete on January 31, 2008.  It will then
undergo several months of field testing with learners.  By September a
refined portal should be ready to launch for use by adults anywhere in the
United States.  The portal begins with a focus on learning English, but
the portal is expected to expand over time, with the addition of materials
in areas such as civics and basic skills. 

Over the next couple of months we'll be sharing more information about the
portal.  We also look forward to getting stakeholder input as we conduct
field testing during Winter-Spring of 2008.

John Fleischman
jfleischman at scoe.net

Jerome Johnston
jerej at umich.edu


The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov> on
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 1:35 AM -0800 wrote:

>On Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security announced 25 new measures

>to address “border security” and “immigration challenges.”  I would

>actually characterize many, if not most, of them as anti-immigrant.

>

>There is one, however, that teachers of English Language Learners, and

>their students, might find helpful.  It is, not surprisingly, the last

>one on the list.

>

>The announcement stated that the “Department of Education will launch a

>free, web-based portal to help immigrants learn English

”

>

>The announcement gives absolutely no other details about when it will

>begin, what might be included, or who in the Department of Education is

>actually doing it.

>

>Does anyone know more?

>

>Larry Ferlazzo

>[ http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ ]http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/


The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov> on
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 5:28 AM -0800 wrote:

>I will have to learn more about the site, but I think many students will

>view the help skeptically because of past experience.  After September

>11th, NYC asked all immigrants (legal and illegal) to register to help

>the city better understand its friends vs.. enemies.  Many immigrants did

>so, and those illegals (Mexican, Irish, Danish, Congolese, etc.) were

>shipped off over the next couple of years.

> 

>So, what am I getting at?  Some classes build progressively and want

>individual student identification so that a student can leave

>mid-class and pick-up where they left off. Could this individual ID hurt

>the student's status: I am thinking that even if the DHS site does not

>ask for personal information it can be gotten other ways, like using a "[

>mailto:jon.smith at yahoo.com ]jon.smith at yahoo.com " address to track to the

>user's more personal information of locale.

> 

>Barry Burkett,

>Frankfort, KY


The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov> on
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 4:48 PM -0800 wrote:

>Barry makes an excellent point.  I think the public statement said it

>would be run through the Education Department, but that doesn't mean they

>wouldn't share information.

> 

>I still haven't found anyone who knows anything more about it than what

>was said on the release.

> 

>Larry Ferlazzo

>



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