AI Summit 2026-A Complete Look and a Full Toolkit for Teaching AI Literacy to Adult Learners
    Author: Rachel Riggs
    Subject Area: AI, Digital, Computer Literacy & Technology
    Program Level: Adult Basic Education
    Material Type: Presentations/Slideshows, Webinar Materials
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    To prepare adult learners for a future in which technology continuously evolves, as do workplace demands, we need a robust working knowledge of AI literacy, along with the practical resources we can bring straight to learners. A complete look at the concept, and a full toolkit to teach it, will help us take learners beyond navigating specific products and toward a more comprehensive sense of agency and adaptability. In this session, I'll pull together insights from various AI literacy frameworks, a repository of free curricular resources, and practical instructional strategies to equip you with the toolkit needed to help learners question, evaluate, and adapt AI tools for their own goals. You'll leave the session with free resources that you adapt and tailor for any adult ed classroom and, critically, new strategies to move ahead with confidence!

    Summit date: October 6, 2026

    AI Summit 2026-Just Because You Can: Teaching Adult Learners When to Use AI and When Not To
    Author: Vi Hawes
    Subject Area: AI
    Program Level: Adult Basic Education
    Material Type: Presentations/Slideshows, Webinar Materials
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    Adult Learners are already encountering AI in job applications, assessments, workplace workflows, and online learning platforms, but nobody's teaching them to ask the right question: not "What can AI do?" but "Should I use it here, and why?" Educators face the same gap.

    This session moves beyond AI tool tours and to build judgment skills both you and your learners can apply in real time. We'll work through four essential questions every user should ask before prompting, practice identifying tasks where AI genuinely helps learning versus where it introduces risk or undermines skill-building, and explore how these conversations translate to workplace and postsecondary contexts. You'll leave with a simple decision framework your learners can use, two classroom-ready activities and language for talking about responsible AI with students, colleagues, and administration.

    Summit date: October 6, 2026 Recording link: https://youtu.be/X_JX3fFWUVM
    Free U.S. Citizenship Test Practice – Test4CitizenUSA.com
    Author: Test4CitizenUSA.com
    Subject Area: Citizenship/Immigration, Distance Learning, ESL/ELL, Literacy, Speaking/Listening
    Program Level: Adult Basic Education, Adult ESOL/ESL, ESL/ESOL
    Material Type: Assessment, Computer-Based Learning, Reference
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    https://test4citizenusa.com/

    Test4CitizenUSA is a free online resource for adults preparing for U.S. naturalization. It includes practice with all 128 official civics questions in English and Spanish, citizenship interview preparation, and N-400 guidance. The resource is free to use, requires no registration, and is designed for independent study as well as use by adult education, ESL/ELL, literacy, and citizenship programs.

    Access the resource: https://test4citizenusa.com/
    Citizenship Test Practice: https://test4citizenusa.com/us-citizenship-test-2026

    Workforce Success Through IET: Advancing Adult Education for Career Growth
    Author: Lorri Benjamin and Eric Kohler
    Subject Area: IET, Workforce
    Program Level: Adult Basic Education
    Material Type: Presentations/Slideshows, Webinar Materials
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    Florida is driving workforce success by expanding Integrated Education and Training (IET) opportunities that support career advancement. This webinar will highlight how Brevard Adult and Community Education integrates IET into its pre-apprenticeship programs, career certificate pathways, and professional learning initiatives to equip adult learners with the skills they need for long-term success. Original webinar date: September 23, 2026 Webinar recording link: https://youtu.be/15I9EAnUgxY
    From Practice to Readiness: Using AI to Support Measurable Skill Gains and Credential Attainment
    Author: Bryant Alvarado and Andre Adao
    Subject Area: AI, Digital, Computer Literacy & Technology
    Program Level: Adult Basic Education
    Material Type: Presentations/Slideshows, Webinar Materials
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    Adult education programs need practical ways to turn learner practice into measurable progress. This webinar introduces a three-stage readiness cycle—diagnose, practice, verify—and shows how AI-powered practice, step-by-step feedback, predictive scoring, and educator data can support existing instruction. Using GED/HSE, TABE, CASAS, and workforce examples, participants will learn how to identify skill gaps, target remediation, monitor progress toward Measurable Skill Gains, and make better-informed readiness decisions. Original webinar date: September 11, 2026 Webinar recording link: https://youtu.be/66UMuNY-Pxw
    Profile of Adult Learning Professionals in Correctional Criminal Justice System
    Author: European Induction Support for Adult learning Professionals to the Correctional Criminal Justice System (EISALP)
    Subject Area: Advocacy, Correctional Education, LINCS Resources
    Program Level: Professional Development
    Material Type: Collection
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    This research is aimed towards the development of a European key competency profile for the adult learning professionals working in correctional criminal justice system, based on key competences for adult learning professionals, national researches in partner countries conducted on relevant stakeholders and European analysis of available materials on topic developed in other LLP initiatives.
    Resource URL
    http://eisalp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Research-report-EisAlp_EN.pdf
    Publication Year
    2015
    This report profiles adult learning professionals (e.g. teachers, educators, social workers, psychologists) who work with adults in correctional settings. This report describes competency identification, competency modeling, and competency assessment needed for these success in these roles. Competency identification included compiling Romanian national available information about the duties, tasks, responsibilities, roles and work environments related to the job and identifying the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes required by adult learning professionals in correctional criminal justice system. In the stage of competency modelling, the gathered data are used in the development of a consistent competence profile of adult learning professionals in correctional criminal justice system, while competency assessment refers to checking with stakeholders that the identified set of competences making up the profile is complete, consistent and real. The outcomes of the study was to identify the competencies needed. On pages 9-18, the report lists the competencies identified. Following that, the report provides recommendations around the potential uses for these competencies.
    What the experts say
    This is a tremendously helpful resource for educators and administrators across the globe. Even though the study originates from the European Union, the competencies identified in the profile and recommendations made are universally applicable and help, finally, to quantify the specific traits that enable an educator to succeed in classrooms behind bars. The profile presents an interesting take on how prison education professionals (including educators and others working in prison settings) can articulate the component pieces of their work, consider strengths and challenges and see how prison education both intersects with and is different to general adult education learning principles and practice around the world.
    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.
    Preparing English Learners for Work and Career Pathways: Issue Brief
    Author: Heide Wrigley
    Subject Area: ESL/ELL, LINCS Resources
    Program Level: Professional Development
    Material Type: Collection
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    This issue brief, one of the resources in the suite of materials “Preparing English Learners for Work and Career,” provides teachers and administrators with an overview of current research and practice related to connecting English language acquisition to career pathways.
    Resource URL
    http://lincs.ed.gov/programs/eslpro/preparing-english-learners-for-work-and-car…
    Publication Year
    2015
    In the United States, as elsewhere, there is an increasing demand for job-driven adult education that teaches adults the skills needed for work. In many cases, education that prepares adults for employment opportunities calls for collaborative relationships between training providers, such as community colleges that offer career pathways, and adult education programs that focus on English language acquisition (ELA). This Brief provides an overview of current research and practice in career focused contextualization.  Although the Brief can be used as a stand-alone resource, it also provides the foundation to the other resources in the suite of materials “Preparing English Learners for Work and Career.”
    Benefits and Uses
    The benefits and uses section will include the:
    • Reasons the resource has implications for the adult education field;
    • Resource’s potential use; and,
    • Most significant or useful features to the target audience(s).
    Despite the increasing numbers of immigrants in the workforce and the success of recent models designed to transition basic skills students to better jobs and training in postsecondary institutions, little guidance has been available on how to adapt these ideas for programs serving English learners preparing for work and careers. The Issue Brief provides teachers and administrators with practical ideas and presents a broad overview of considerations for connecting ELA to career pathways. It serves as an introduction to the topic of career-focused contextualized instruction that teachers and administrators can use as a springboard to additional in-depth resources on this topic. Program models designed to strengthen the alignment of adult education, employment, and skills training, such as bridge programs, programs offering concurrent enrollment, and models for integrating technical skills and related language and literacy skills through team teaching, are described. It offers ideas for engaging employers. The section on instructional strategies outlines the skills that ELLs need to succeed at work and in postsecondary education and offers ideas for adapting language teaching strategies to foster the skills needed for success in career pathways. The Issue Brief can serve as an introduction to its Companion Learning Resource or as a stand-alone overview of the topic.
    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.
    New Models for Distance Classes in Adult Education
    Author: Jerome Johnston, Sheryl Hart, Destiny Long, and Jen Vanek
    Subject Area: Distance Learning, LINCS Resources
    Program Level: Professional Development
    Material Type: Collection
    Language: English
    License: (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) For license summary click here

    Abstract:

    This guide describes the classes of a number of distance education teachers who have adjusted their courses to incorporate college and career ready skills, enriching the online experience for students.
    Resource URL
    https://edtech.worlded.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/NewModelsForAdultDistance…
    Publication Year
    2015
    This guide describes the classes of a number of career readiness-focused teachers with the hope that they can inspire others to examine their distance teaching practices and offer a richer experience for their students. This resource is divided into two parts. The first consists of a collection of short vignettes describing the "classes" of a number of these teachers. In most of the vignettes, teachers have used one or more electronic tools to enable them to offer a richer classroom experience. The second part of the guide describes the tools in a bit more detail, providing an easy way for teachers to learn about the tools that they might use in their own classes. The guide organizes and explores tools in four categories: academic skill-building tools, communication tools, productivity tools, and LMS & website builders.
    What the experts say
    This is a valuable resource for educators looking to implement promising practices and to deploy innovative tools of technology in their adult classrooms. This resource also adds to the stack of tools growing the research base for technology as a way of expanding access to educational programming, and to legitimizing distance education as a meaningful platform for adult learning. It may help adult education instructors teaching distance classes to rethink and revise their methods in the classroom. Adult basic skills (including English language) teachers and program managers who offer, or are interested in offering, their students distance education or blended learning will find this practical guide of great help. In it they can read about what other adult basic skills teachers and programs are doing with distance education and blended learning, and they can find useful tools for doing it.
    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.