PHILADELPHIA ducational researchers at the National Center on Adult Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania have been awarded a three-year, $2.4 million grant from the U. S. Department of Education to foster the use of technology, including distance learning, the Internet and CDs, in adult education and literacy programs nationwide.

The goal of the project, TECH.21, is to make it possible for program directors and practitioners to know what is available and make the best choices for their students. Adult education and literacy teachers and learners from nine sites across the country will experiment with educational technologies designed to improve learning. The principal site of the National Technology Laboratory will be at the University of Pennsylvania.

"TECH.21 has come at just the right time, as adult educators and literacy specialists are beginning to take seriously the opportunities associated with new technologies but have questions about what works best in relation to costs and benefits. We hope that TECH.21 will be able to provide both near-term and long-range answers," says Penn Professor Dan Wagner, director of NCAL.

NCAL's partners in this technology initiative include the Sacramento County, Calif., Office of Education/Outreach and Technical Assistance Network, the Public Broadcasting Service and the National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium.