Memo No. 054-23: Request for Information on Implementation of Virtual VA for Adult Education
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is requesting information from fiscal agents of federally-funded adult education regional programs related to implementation of Virtual Virginia courses for adult learners. One response from each region is requested. Community-based learning organizations (CBLOs) that are also delivering federally-funded adult education programs are asked to coordinate their response with the regional program with which they are affiliated.
The VDOE, in coordination with the Virtual Virginia development team, is proposing to create a premium-level instance (an account) for adult education providers through the Department’s current Learning Management System (LMS), Canvas, and an associated Student Information System (SIS). This instance would offer adult education regional providers at no cost a single, customizable Canvas sub-account that can be administered by the provider. It would not be affiliated with a school division but instead, with an adult education region.
An adult education regional account would allow providers to customize the branding and curate a unique catalog of selected courses from the adult education suite of Virtual Virginia courses and from Canvas Commons. These courses can be adapted and modified within the region’s account and easily shared with other Virginia adult education providers. The student information system will allow providers to enroll adult learners without the need for a single email service. Instructors and students at affiliated CBLOs will be able to access these resources through the instance assigned to the regional provider. Technical assistance and professional development are scheduled to be delivered in March-June 2023 to adult educators to implement this offering (minimum 10 hours).
This Request for Information is to collect information on whether each regional fiscal agent would like to take advantage of this opportunity and, if so, to name an individual who would be the administrator of the Canvas instance and participate in the technical assistance. Questions about implementation of the courses are also welcome. Please send one response per region, identified as such, to OAEL@doe.virginia.gov by 4 p.m. on January 13, 2023.
For more information on the suite of courses developed for adult education providers by Virtual Virginia, please see Director’s Memo #40-21.
If you have any questions, please contact Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, Ph.D., Adult Education Coordinator, by email at oael@doe.virginia.gov or by telephone at (804) 786-3347.