Migration of the Moodle server (Putting English to Works Adult Course)

Dear OTAN California Adult Education Courses Teachers,

***THIS NOTICE ONLY APPLIES TO WIOA FUNDED AGENCIES. Courses are available to non-WIOA agencies until June 30, 2020. Beginning July 1, 2020, non-WIOA agencies will lose access to these courses. If we are still in a hardship at that time, we will reassess.***

We are in the process of migrating our Moodle server, located at https://adultedcourses.org, from one physical machine to another. In this process, we will also be upgrading from Moodle version 3.1 to version 3.8.

If you plan to use your online course(s), please follow the directions below to prepare your course(s) prior to us moving it to the new server. Once you have completed the tasks below, fill out and submit this form to request your course(s) be moved to the new server. LAST DAY TO SUBMIT THIS FORM IS MAY 8th, 2020.

Request to Move Moodle Course Form 

Here is a general overview of the timeline:

Now through May 8, 2020: Teachers submit requests to have courses moved to new server
June 30, 2020: https://adultedcourses.org Moodle version 3.1 will be shut down

July 2, 2020: https://adultedcourses.org relaunched with Moodle version 3.8

Tasks to be completed before we move your course: Directions for all of these tasks are found in the End of Semester Procedures course. (https://adultedcourses.org/course/view.php?id=472)

1. You have exported your gradebook.

2. You have made a backup of your course and moved it to your local computer, a flash drive, or external hard drive.

3. Delete all inactive students from your course.

4. Fill out this form to have your current OTAN Moodle course(s) moved to the new adultedcourses.org server.

Once the new site is live, you will receive notification via email that the migration has been completed and your course is ready for student enrollment. As a teacher, your existing account should have been migrated, and you can use the same login info. If not, you may create a new account and notify OTAN so that you can be enrolled as a teacher in your course. All students will need to create new accounts and enroll in your course.

Note: The URL of the new site will be the same as the current site. However, saved bookmarks and/or links to individual courses will need to be updated.

If you have any questions, contact me at molavides@otan.us.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we make the move to our new site.

Merry Moodling,

Marjorie Olavides, OTAN Moodle Administrator
molavides@otan.us

CATESOL Virtual Conference May 8-9 and more

We want to provide an update on some CATESOL updates - please make sure to share these with your colleagues as well:

• CATESOL will host its first Virtual Conference on Friday, May 8 (from 1:00 to 5:00, with networking from 5:00 to 6:00) and Saturday, May 9 (from 9:00 to 1:00). Featured speakers include Stephen Krashen, Keith Folse, Donna Brinton, Maggie Sokolik, and David and Yvonne Freeman, as well as presenters from our canceled Spring Regional Conferences. You can register for this conference by visiting the 2020 Spring Virtual Conference webpage. You can also apply for a Virtual Conference Stipend from the CATESOL Education Foundation.
• CATESOL is still planning its Annual Conference from October 8 to 11 in Pasadena. You can learn more by visiting the 2020 Annual Conference website.
• CATESOL has created a COVID-19 Educator Resources webpage with resources and information you can use in your instruction and with your students.
• Consider joining the CATESOL Board of Directors to further your leadership skills, advocate for your profession, colleagues, and learners, and meet great people from all over California! You must complete an Expression of Interest, which includes job descriptions for the open positions.

Thank you and please stay safe!

 -- 

Bethany Ely

Coordinator, Capital Adult Education Regional Consortium

Sacramento County Office of Education

10474 Mather Blvd.

P.O. Box 269003

Sacramento, CA 95826-9003

Phone: (916) 228-2589

Cell: (916) 790-4474

Email: bely@scoe.net

Website: www.caerc.org

Prevent COVID-19 Spread and Clean Safely

Here's a link to a short and easy pictorial lesson for cleaning safety during the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Feel free to copy the link and use it in your classes.

Prevent COVID-19 Spread and Clean Safely

COVID-19 Resource Center for California K12 Adult Educators - CCAE

https://www.ccaestate.org/covid19-resource-center#kit

COVID-19 Resource Center for California K12 Adult Educators — CCAE As the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray….” Adapted from a line from 18th century Scottish poet Robert Burns and often considered the overarching theme from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, it is a proverbial expression used to signify the futility of making detailed plans when the ability to fully or even partially execute them is uncertain. www.ccaestate.org

Great resource! Pass the information along.

Lynn Bartlett

Principal
Adult Education
San Juan Unified School District

Best Resource for finding Webinars

Hi All from Dominika,

Just in case. I'm forwarding this message from Lynn. I've seen some of you (chat box) at various OTAN webinars. 

To register for webinars, go to: otan.us       (https://www.otan.us)

Under "Top Story", you'll find a list of Upcoming OTAN Activities (including OTAN office hours). You'll see the links to sign up for the OTAN webinars.

To listen to the recordings of previous webinars or download the webinars' PowerPoint slides or handouts, please:

- go to otan.us     (https://www.otan.us)

- click on "COVID-19 Field Support" button on the right 

Or:

- go to this link

https://otan.us/resources/covid-19-field-support/

Upcoming OTAN Activities to Support Adult Educators – Week of 4/20

OTAN has scheduled a number of online webinars and Office Hours for our adult education colleagues who are continuing to teach and support their learners. (All times below are PDT.)

• Visit OTAN’s COVID-19 Field Support webpage that we are continually updating with relevant information for teachers, students, and administrators: COVID-19 Field Support
• OTAN Office Hours provide an opportunity to ask more detailed questions and get support on specific tools to use with students. You can sign up for these OTAN Office Hours at the California Adult Education Training Calendar:
  
  • Monday, April 20 from 3:30 to 4:30 (rescheduled from 1:00)
  • Wednesday, April 22 from 4:00 to 5:00
  • Friday, April 24 from 10:00 to 11:00
• On Monday at 10:00am, CASAS and OTAN will present Strategies for Delivering DL Virtually. Team members from OTAN and CASAS will present strategies and considerations for how teachers can deliver instruction at a distance (and reporting Distance Learners through TOPSpro Enterprise). You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Monday at 1:00pm, Theresa Sladek will present Northstar: Assess, Curricula, and Online Learning. This webinar will introduce you to Northstar Digital Literacy’s classroom curricula and interactive online learning lessons to teach ABE and ELL adults and adult ed instructors valuable digital literacy skills, as well as assessments to ensure they have learned them. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Tuesday at 10:00, CASAS will present Considerations When Implementing Distance Learning. This session looks at some of the key issues - such as pre- and post-test assessment, determining how to count instructional hours, and recording this activity in TOPSPro Enterprise - that have presented challenges for agencies implementing distance learning. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Tuesday at 1:00pm, Melinda Holt will present I Don’t Know How to ___ (Google). This webinar will show and explain tips and tricks to use within the Google apps: Docs, Slides, Sheets, Draw, and Keep. Discover hidden features in all of the apps you may already use but never knew it could do that (fill in the blank)! Time will also be allowed at the end where participants questions will be answered. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Tuesday at 4:00pm, Barry Bakin will present Easy Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Projects for Language Practice, Part 2. Learn how to use Microsoft programs to provide meaningful hands-on projects for language practice while also introducing basic skills. These projects are adaptable to all levels of ESL! This workshop is the 2nd in a series. It is not necessary to have participated in Part 1. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Wednesday at 1:00pm, Alisa Takeuchi will present Screencastify for Beginners, Part 1. Screencastify allows the user to capture, edit, and share videos. In the first part of the webinar participants will learn how to install the app extension, where the basic tools are located and what they do, and how to create a video. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Thursday at 9:00am, Sean Mournighan will present ReadTheory – Getting Started. ReadTheory.org is a free adaptive reading comprehension tool for all ages. This brief webinar will include details on how to get started using ReadTheory. It will include the various ways to set up student accounts, provide a demo of the student experience, and provide additional time for Q&A from new teacher users. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Thursday at 1:00pm, Alisa Takeuchi will present Screencastify for Beginners, Part 2. Part 2 will focus on the video project assignment assigned at the end of Part 1 on Wednesday and learn more of the tools available as well as how to share videos with students or colleagues. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.
• On Friday at 1:00pm, Katrina Tamura will present Buncee for the Remote Classroom. participants will learn how to deliver content to students using Buncee multimedia boards. We will go over how to build a board, what kind of media can be attached, and how the board can be delivered. You can sign up for this webinar at the California Adult Education Training Calendar.

Please contact us at support@otan.us or call our office at 916-228-2580 for more information! We are here to support you!

The OTAN Staff

Updated Information for Workers Affected by COVID-19

Updated Information for Workers Affected by COVID-19 Dear Friends, As we move into week five of the Coronavirus pandemic, the state's Employment Development Department (EDD) has processed over 2 million unemployment insurance claims. If you recently filed a claim and have not received any notice, or you need to speak to someone about your claim, please call my office - we are here to help.  If you haven't filed a claim or know a family member who is unable to work due to the Coronavirus outbreak, follow the links below to learn more on eligibility requirements for benefits including: Disability Insurance Unemployment Insurance Paid Sick Leave Paid Family Leave Workers' Compensation If you are a business owner, self-employed, independent contractor, or have a limited work history, the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program with the federal CARES Act assists unemployed Californians who traditionally would not be eligible for state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. For more information about benefits and additional resources for workers visit: Labor & Workforce Development Agency's website. In addition, the Governor's Office has responded to the sudden loss of unprecedented amount of jobs with a broad coalition of employers and community people who want to help California rebound from the pandemic through an online platform called Onward CA. Stay up-to-date on the COVID-19 Pandemic: CA Department of Public Health Sacramento County Department of Public Health For more information, please call my district office at (916) 464-1910. We are here to help. Sincerely, Ken Cooley Assemblyman, 8th District