PD in Ponty: Design-by-Doing in Adult Basic Education

Abstract

This work-in-progress report gives a short account of the participatory design of ICT supported Adult Basic Education (ABE) courses in the South Wales Valleys region of the UK, a post-industrial area with low levels of educational attainment, widespread illiteracy and innumeracy in the adult population, lIld a growing digital divide. In the 1990s ABE provision in the region was expanded through the establishment of community-based Open Learning Centres (OLCs) dedicated to teaching adults basic literacy, conimunication and numeracy skills. The introduction of a network of personal computers with broadband Internet connectivity to one such center in 1997 led to the design and development of a number of innovative courses built around the use of new media technologies. Established practices in ABE supported the increasing participation of learners, tutors, and volunteers in this design process resulting in changes to the structure and content of ABE provision at the centre.