1. Bob Wessel Eastern Shore Literacy Council www.shoreliteracy.org
Using Technology in Instruction in a Small, Rural, Community-Based Nonprofit
Bob Wessel
Eastern Shore Literacy Council

2. The Mandate (de facto)
a small community-based literacy organization in an impoverished rural area
must prepare learners to participate in a 21st century reality

3. The Challenges virtually no Internet access at teaching sites
severely limited funds for instructional hardware and software
severely limited expertise in 21st century skills
copyright encumbrances

4. Must Make Do with What Is Available
laptops purchased with grants (ad hoc)
inexpensive gadgets (MP3 players, blank CDs/DVDs)
free software
tutors’ own hardware, software, Internet
learners’ own devices

5. One Solution: Develop In-House Materials
use familiar or easily-learned software
target to specific learner and community needs
teach learners about the places they live, in conjunction with traditional content
make adaptable to multiple teaching situations
organization owns the materials

6. An Example

8. The Example a talking picture storybook content driven
technology a means to publish and share module more cheaply and easily than with paper

9. Workflow for Creating this Module
take photos with point-and-shoot camera
supplement photos with Creative Commons photos and screenshots (free)
crop images to standard dimensions with PhotoScape (free)
use free presentation software to create storyboard and add text
export storyboard slides to .jpeg images
record and edit story narration with Audacity (free)
use Windows Movie Maker to first merge .jpg images and audio, and then create video (free)

10. Getting the Module to the Learner
ESLC website: for use wherever learner has access to Internet-connected device (home, library, school)
learner’s smartphone (convert with FreeMake Video Converter or Any Video Converter)
MP3 player or car stereo (strip audio and convert with FreeMake or AVC)
TV DVD player (FreeMake Video Converter)

11. Sample TV DVD Menu

12. After Tutors Are Trained
have learners take pictures of their towns
work with learners to develop instructional modules about their towns
if learners accents are understandable, have them record audio; otherwise, record it for them

13. After Tutors Are Trained
have learners post videos to ESLC website, as part of ESLC library (and their portfolio) (
if they wish, have learners upload videos to YouTube, to show their families in their home countries where they live and what they’ve learned to do

14. Links for Free Software
Audacity: audacityteam.org
(also download and install Lame MP3 Encoder
and LADSPA plug-ins)
PhotoScape:
Any Video Converter*:

15. Links for Free Software
Freemake*: (*Come with junkware. When installing, choose “expert” options and uncheck everything. Do not agree to any third-party software.) Gadwin PrintScreen:

16. Links for Free Presentation Software
SoftMaker Office (Academic License): Apache OpenOffice: LibreOffice:

17. Other Links
Eastern Shore Literacy Council Tutor Blog (contains tutorials on how to use many of these software tools): Creative Commons (About the Licenses): creativecommons.org/licenses