The Digital Upside to the Pandemic Lockdown: Creating Digital Equity through Native Language Support at Tyson Foods

Autor/inn/en	Adams, Della; Bergson-Shilcock, Amanda; Davis, Donna; Green, Anson; Hinton, Charlee
Titel	The Digital Upside to the Pandemic Lockdown: Creating Digital Equity through Native Language Support at Tyson Foods
Quelle	In: COABE Journal: The Resource for Adult Education, 10 (2021) 2, S.137-148, Artikel 12 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Schlagwörter	Federal Legislation; Labor Force Development; Adult Literacy; Labor Legislation; Adult Education; COVID-19; Pandemics; Equal Education; Native Language; Workplace Literacy; Technology Uses in Education; Digital Literacy; Handheld Devices; Distance Education; Arkansas + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Bundesrecht; Arbeitskräftebestand; Labor law; Arbeitsrecht; Adult; Adults; Education; Adult basic education; Adult training; Erwachsenenbildung; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Distance study; Distance learning; Fernunterricht
Abstract	When the pandemic began, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) providers worried about equity gaps in digital access for low-level and English language learners. Working with AEFLA programs, Tyson Foods implemented low-cost solutions to facilitate digital and remote access in its workplace literacy classes hosted in plants across the country. In spring 2020, the Tyson adult education support team and a teacher for three Northwest Arkansas Tyson plants collaborated to develop a prototype. This prototype provided a model with several low-cost practices that are highly transferable to programs after the pandemic. A simple system combining a cell phone camera, YouTube and Google voice accounts, and company interpreters staff allowed Tyson to onboard its largely immigrant and refugee team members in English as a second language (ESL) classes across the country to remote learning. The success of this work has led Tyson to scale an enterprise-wide response consisting of short company videos developed in 10 languages on the intricacies of developing and using usernames and passwords at Tyson Foods. For employers seeking partnerships to upskill frontline workers to new technologies and ensure increased digital equity, regardless of level of English ability, Tyson has provided a demonstrated, successful model of a long-standing public/private partnership that has allowed the company to upskill its workforce with local experts adept at working with adult learner populations. The article concludes with performance accountability recommendations to policymakers based on the critical advances AEFLA providers and companies like Tyson Foods made in digital literacy during the pandemic. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Coalition on Adult Basic Education. PO Box 1820 Cicero, NY 13039. Tel: 888-442-6223; e-mail: journal@coabe.org; Web site: https://coabe.org/coabe-journal/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01