Nurturing and Nudging Adult Learners through Text Messaging: Final Report from the Technology-Based Coaching in Adult Education (TBCAE) Project

The Nurturing and Nudging Adult Learners through Text Messaging: Final Report for the Technology-Based Coaching in Adult Education (TBCAE) Project describes the results from the TBCAE project, which explored the use of individual and personalized text messaging to support more than 400 learners’ participation in 10 adult education programs. The final report provides information about approaches to using individual text messaging with adult education learners, the types of assistance that staff provided in their text messages to learners, the immediate and near-term outcomes learners achieved during their participation in text messaging, and the perceptions of program leadership and staff about the utility of text messaging in adult education programs. Benefits and Uses   The Technology-Based Coaching in Adult Education (TBCAE) Final Report provides the context for the increased interest in the use of text messaging with adult basic education learners and describes the results from the TBCAE project. The project explored how text messaging can be used to support adult basic education learners’ program participation and success and involved 420 adult learners from 10 adult basic education programs in four states. The final report discusses how the use of individual and personalized text messaging with adult basic education learners supported them in working toward their education goals, including earning a high-school equivalency credential, completing an Integrating Education and Training Program, and enrolling in postsecondary education. The report provides data about the types of text messages that adult education program staff sent to adult learners, the range of content addressed in those text messages, staff’s approach to using text messages to support learners, and the types of progress toward their goals that learners achieved. A key finding was that individual and personalized text messages can support and prompt learners to engage in the myriad activities that they must complete to achieve their longer-term education goals. Adult basic education program leadership and staff can use the report to stimulate discussion about the ways in which individual and personalized text messaging could assist their program participants in remaining engaged and in making progress toward their goals. This report can also be used in conjunction with the TBCAE Toolkit, which provides detailed guidance for planning and implementing individual and customized text messaging as an integral part of an adult basic education program. Adult educators can use this resource to learn about the ways in which individual and personalized text messaging has been use with adult basic education learners, including the types of text messages that were exchanged between learners and staff and the types of  progress that learners made in working to earn a high-school equivalency credential, participate in an Integrated Education and Training Program, and enroll in postsecondary education. Program leadership and staff can use this document to guide a discussion about the potential use of individual and personalized text messaging as a formal part of the operation of an adult basic education program. Adult education program leadership and  would benefit from reading this resource along with the TBCAE Toolkit that is also in the LINCS Resource Collection. The document is succinct so that adult educators can read the whole document. The section of the document that provides the results from the use of text-messaging is the most significant. Required Training Prior training is not required for this resource. Resource Notice This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites. Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.