KAEA 2025

Most Important Meal of the Day

KAEA Annual Board Meeting - business update, officer elections, and more

Please take a moment to visit with some of our vendors, who help make this conference possible.  All vendors are located in the main hallway, north of the front desk.  Pick up some vendor swag while you're at it!

I have been coteaching Technical Math with the math faculty for 7 years. Over this time we have developed a team teaching relationship and worked together to deliver the Technical Math curriculum in a way to help students better understand the material. Come hear an overview of what this looks like for us!

Learn about free tools and resources to Guide Adult Learners for Success on the GED exam. Locate a treasure chest of tools that help you provide targeted instruction aimed at accelerating student’s progress and likelihood of passing the GED. Items include using the GED Ready to create individualized study guides at the click of a button, discovering the blueprint of the test - skills students need to pass, and the High Impact Indicators. Find free professional development on hundreds of topics. Hear a high-level overview on accommodations and learn about the adaptations and tools imbedded in the test that any student can use – no formal accommodations required

This session will showcase funding opportunities and provide an update from Kansas Office of Broadband. Digital opportunities allow our community members access to devices, skills and training to support job expansion, resources and more. 

In this interactive and dynamic session, participants will delve into thirteen challenging topics relevant in adult education today. Whether exploring ways to bring rigor to the classroom, discussing ideas for incorporating digital literacy, or sharing tips for differentiating instruction, every participant will be engaged and excited to find meaningful ways to boost student engagement and promote student success. Using Burlington English as a springboard to spark conversation centered around creative in-class activities and innovative learning opportunities beyond the classroom, participants will leave the session equipped with a robust set of strategies to support and advance the journey of English language learner

Every year, Adult Education Directors are tasked with reviewing the KBOR Adult Education Policy Manual with their staff. As a first-time Director, I started exploring new and creative approaches to streamline this process. While I was reflecting on potential strategies, our newly hired Chief Information Officer stopped by my office and pitched me an intriguing idea - Why not gamify it? After a brief discussion, I handed him a copy of the manual, and trusted in his AI GENIUS to bring me back an idea or two. He delivered! This presentation will review the process by which we (largely he) used AI to generate an Adult Education Policy Manual Escape Room. A brief description of gamification and the benefits of game-based learning will be reviewed. Attendees will be given a copy of the Escape Room materials to take home. POLICY CHAMPIONS - GAME DESCRIPTION (as generated by AI): Teams are "Policy Champions" working to secure compliance and funding for their program by completing a series of challenges. The tasks reinforce the players understanding of the FY2025 Kansas Adult Education Policy Manual. Teams must solve four puzzles across different stations, each designed to reflect critical aspects of the manual. Success at all stations unlocks the "final funding code" and ensures their program's escape from noncompliance.

A device for electronic access to the Adult Education policy manual may be useful for quick searches.

Do you have those students in your program who just seem to disappear over time? Are you certain you are reaching all the students you can for your program? Creating systems in your programming can help you to engage ALL students for every step of the journey, so that you can stop losing students and gear up to attract even more! Learn about some creative strategies that you can start to implement TODAY to address these and other lingering questions you may have about your enrollment, engagement, and retention rates, regardless of your program size, budget, or staffing structure. .

Last chance to  visit with some of our vendors, who help make this conference possible.  All vendors are located in the main hallway, north of the front desk.  Last call for vendor swag!

In 2024, Seward County Community College was awarded the $500 Past Presidents' Special Projects Grant. The 'Stuff You Should Know' Workshops have provided unique opportunities for ELA students to invite their family and friends to attend informational workshops on topics that are not regularly taught during ELA instruction. This presentation will summarize SCCC's efforts this past year to implement 3 SYSK workshops. The topics included: Mental health, voting, and taxes. Information from follow-up interviews with participants will be presented as part of a full-circle review of how the workshops were implemented and lessons learned throughout the year.

This session will provide valuable data and statistics regarding staff retention, while also discussing meaningful and staff retention strategies that revolve around positive-intent language and motivational coaching techniques.

An infographic is a visual image, such as a chart or diagram, used to represent information or data. Understanding infographics and data visualization is an increasingly important skill in the 21st century. This workshop is designed to increase adult education practitioners’ comfort and skill with introducing data and statistics to learners. Participants will be introduced to infographics and how to evaluate infographics using a critical mindset based on a foundational knowledge of data and statistics. Activities conducted with workshop participants can be adapted for use with adult learners in the math classroom. These activities are designed to empower adult learners to analyze and interpret information they encounter in their daily lives in order to make better, informed decisions as citizens and consumers

Adult education teachers come from diverse educational backgrounds and many without any training to teach reading skills. To help the struggling reader, teachers need to know what are the most important skills that will help learners make better scores across the academic subjects. We will preview several strategies of teaching academic reading that will help teachers provide learners with a better understanding of how to approach science, social studies and other academic subjects and will give learners a more organized way to approach learning course content. Active learning strategies presented in this session will help participants understand the transition from "learning to read to reading to learn “.