It’s a busy time at AlphaPlus, with a full roster of events to help you integrate technology into your adult literacy program. From presentations to training to peer groups, our spring lineup is full of opportunities to connect, learn and exchange ideas.

There’s no shortage of digital tools and tech integration strategies for adult literacy practitioners and coordinators. This spring, our focus is on making the most of them. Together, let’s explore the answers to questions such as:

Check out the following overview to pick the right opportunity for you. And remember that everything we do at AlphaPlus is free for adult literacy education programs in Ontario.

AlphaPlus spring events to support you

Lunch & Learns

At each Lunch & Learn, we’ll explore a specific digital tool through hands-on demonstrations and Q&A, led by AlphaPlus team member Monika. The focus is on picking up tips and getting familiar with tool-specific features and special settings useful for adult literacy educators.

Format: 30-minute live online interactive presentation

Commitment: Light. Select an individual session based on the topics/tools that interest you.

Upcoming topic: 

Can you spare 30 minutes to pick up tips about a tool you use – or would like to use? Get the Lunch & Learn details and register.

Virtual Showcases

Each Virtual Showcase features guests from community-based, school board and college programs, demonstrating how they use digital technology. The focus is on learning approaches, strategies and tips from your peers.

Format: 90-minute live online presentation

Commitment: Light. Show up when you can, for the topic that interests you.

Upcoming topics:

Do you have 90 minutes to learn from your peers? Get the Virtual Showcase details and register.

Training

Our training series take place over multiple sessions with in-depth instruction, demonstration, real-life examples and opportunities to engage with the instructor and fellow participants. The focus is on enhancing your teaching strategies and digital skills so you can create engaging and interactive learning experiences.

Format: Three live, sequential 90-minute online sessions

Commitment: Medium. We encourage you to participate in all three sessions of a training series.

Upcoming topic: Enhancing Literacy Skills With Visible Thinking Strategies (May 15, 22 and 29 from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m)

Can you set aside time once a week for three weeks to build your digital skills? Get the training details and register.

Communities of Practice

At our communities of practice, you’ll gather as a group of peers to explore specific teaching resources (e.g. curriculum) and how they would apply in an Ontario adult literacy context and in your classroom. The focus is on in-depth discovery and exploration of resources.

Format: Four live, sequential 90-minute online sessions

Commitment: Extended. Please plan to attend and actively participate in every meeting (all four).

Upcoming topic: Information Literacy (June 5, 12, 19 and 26 11:30 a.m to 1 p.m)

What you will experience in the four sessions: 

Would you like to spend four weeks working with your peers to explore adult literacy approaches? Get the community of practice details and register.

Select the event that meets your needs and secure your spot.

Which event in our spring lineup meets your current needs and availability? Would you prefer to join quick drop-in-style events to help you pick up new ideas and tips? Can you commit to a series of training sessions to build your digital skills? Are you ready for ongoing work with your peers to deeply explore relevant topics and approaches?

Follow the links to each offering for full details, and let us know if you have any questions about finding the best fit for you. We’re here to help you learn and explore.

The start of the year is a good time to consider how emerging technology can enhance our work and complement our expertise. What technology changes did you embrace in 2024? Which tools will support your teaching in 2025?

Reacting to emerging technology

It’s been more than two years since generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT exploded into the mainstream. As with any new technology, we’re each reacting to AI in different ways. Some adult literacy educators still haven’t familiarized themselves with AI, while others are aware but not using it. Some are trying to support learners who inquire about AI, and some are upset or apprehensive because their learners are asking!

The rapid rise of AI makes me recall the days when integrating computers was new. I remember some educators resisting the use of computers entirely — an idea that seems unimaginable today! AI will soon be just as unavoidable as it becomes more prevalent in your learners’ homes, work and other contexts. To support and engage with today’s learners, you’ll need to have experienced and tried AI.

AI for educators: Where to start

So, where can you begin? You don’t have to completely overhaul your current approach. Rather than changing your teaching methods, I suggest exploring ways AI can support you. Spend five minutes getting acquainted with AI tools and their potential to simplify your daily tasks, freeing time for creative, innovative and inspiring work. At a recent Virtual Showcase event, I shared a few examples from my experimentation with AI:

Be cautious, but be curious

Yes, we must be mindful of AI’s potential pitfalls, such as overreliance on technology, plagiarism, ethical considerations and environmental impacts. Approach AI with a critical eye along with curiosity about how it can serve you. Trust yourself; you’re in the driver’s seat. As one of our Showcase participants stated, “I think that this is a good place to be at the beginning of this technology. It can do some great stuff, but there are big implications to sort through and lots to consider.”

As you explore, remember that the AlphaPlus team is exploring and learning alongside you. We’re sharing as we go, helping you understand learners’ tools, challenges and needs. You can turn to us for AI support through our existing services, including professional development, coaching and onsite workshops.

2025: New people, questions and challenges

Adopting and integrating AI is just one way that the adult literacy education field is evolving. How else will 2025 be different?

We’re excited to see more of you in person. Conferences and other gatherings are returning, and we’re receiving more requests for in-person coaching and professional development. Also, new people are entering our field in Ontario, bringing fresh questions, perspectives and comfort levels with technology. Our role is shifting from promoting technology use to addressing more detailed questions and supporting innovative technology applications.

As always, please reach out any time with questions, concerns or ideas about emerging technology and how we can help. Thank you for being part of our learning journey and your dedication to learners throughout 2024 and into 2025.

Don’t forget to secure your spot in our upcoming training Creating AI Policy with Learners, which kicks off on January 24.

At AlphaPlus, we’re here to support adult literacy educators in your daily work. But we’re also committed to bringing the adult literacy sector’s voice into necessary spaces, taking your issues — and potential — into national conversations.

An adult education perspective on digital inclusion

Recently, our team member Christine collaborated with Matthias Sturm, adult education researcher and evaluator (and my former AlphaPlus co-worker), to publish a paper for the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). Christine, our policy and research specialist in education and technology, has been working with Matthias to find ways to advance the conversation about digital inclusion.

The IRPP is a national organization that informs debates on policy issues facing Canadians and their governments, with strong connections to federal and provincial policymakers. Christine and Matthias noticed their publication featuring adult basic skills and pitched a topic examining digital access, equity and literacy. The result is the paper Adult Education: The Missing Piece to Bridging the Digital Divide (a French version will be available in December).

Bridging the digital divide requires skills development

This new paper sheds light on issues you know well but that haven’t been addressed at the policy-making and funding decision levels. For example, those of us working in adult literacy education know that bridging the digital divide is about more than access to devices or the internet. A lack of digital skills prevents people from taking full advantage of essential services and deprives them of potentially life-changing education and employment. Overcoming inequities requires equitable opportunities to benefit from technology — which requires the development of specific skills.

The adult literacy sector is already doing this work — but we need support

Adult literacy educators often work with the very adults on the other side of the digital divide. As a field, we are well-positioned to help bridge that divide within our upgrading, vocational, language and literacy programs. However, as Christine and Matthias highlight in the paper, we face barriers:

Complex system: The system in which we work is complex and siloed, with a mixture of federal and provincial funding sources and providers, including community non-profits, school boards/districts and colleges.

Unstable funding models: We lack sustainable core funding and instead rely on short-term, project-based funding. Organizations delivering adult literacy education programs rely on part-time staff working on contracts.

A lack of formalized, supported professional development: The sector offers limited professional development and does not mandate professional qualifications.

Recommendations

In the paper, Christine and Matthias recommend two measures directed at Employment and Social Development Canada to help adult education programs add digital learning to their offerings:

  1. Provide sustained core funding to provincial and territorial adult education programs. This funding is needed to stabilize operations, facilitate long-term planning, reduce administrative redundancies, and ensure predictable support for equipment acquisition, IT infrastructure and software licensing. It would also enable the creation of a national platform to share learning materials and best practices among educators.
  2. Connect community-level adult education with broader digital literacy efforts. We need a cross-sectoral network to co-ordinate digital skills programs and increase access for underserved communities. Building on existing partnerships and establishing new collaborations would help integrate informal and formal learning, ensuring equitable access to digital resources across diverse Canadian communities.

New priorities for AlphaPlus

This paper’s publication coincides with AlphaPlus unveiling our refreshed strategic outlook. Following the pandemic-era rapid adoption of technology within literacy programs and two years of funding that allowed us to experiment with how we support you, our new direction better reflects the state of your work.

We’re broadening our role from promoting the use of technology to sustaining the momentum that has already been created, and we’ve identified five priorities for the future (plus a new mission and vision). For the next several years, AlphaPlus will:

  1. Focus on teachers who strive to place learners and their experiences at the centre of the learning process.
  2. Support building literacy and learners’ digital confidence to participate in society.
  3. Provide teachers with actionable content that integrates well-researched sector shifts.
  4. Facilitate teacher collaboration and leadership networks across language and cultural communities.
  5. Understand the adult literacy sector across Canada and pursue collaborations.

You’ll notice an alignment between our new priorities and our recommendations to the federal government. We recognized that our approach must go beyond “what has always been done” and short-term challenges. We can’t afford to operate in silos and within an Ontario-only context. To keep up with the relentless pace of technological change, we need a comprehensive, co-ordinated and sustainable approach — for AlphaPlus and our whole sector.

Learn more about our refreshed strategic directionarrow

Download the IRPP paper on their websitearrow

  1. What are literacy educators’ classroom goals?
  2. What professional development and resources are your peers seeking?
  3. How are reporting and compliance requirements impacting your capacity?

We asked these and other questions in a recent survey, and I’m writing today to share what we learned with you.

What adult literacy instructors are saying about their experiences

Earlier this year, AlphaPlus conducted research to inform our strategic planning and product design work. We wanted to better understand the priorities and needs of literacy educators as we continue to shape our programs, services and training opportunities. Through our online survey, we heard from 328 teachers and practitioners from community-based, school board and college settings. We also conducted phone interviews with nine teachers and six sector leaders. Thank you to all who took the time to provide input.

The research has helped us to understand your needs, challenges and desire for support in areas including:

Here’s a sampling of what we heard:

See the survey summary for more details about what your peers had to say about their experiences.

Survey summary

AlphaPlus: Strengths, challenges and future effectiveness

We also asked you questions to understand what you most value about AlphaPlus. You mentioned our:

We learned that to support you effectively in the future, we need to leverage our strengths to address the day-to-day needs of your students and classrooms. We need to listen continuously to the changing challenges you face. And because practitioners are experiencing pressure due to restricted funding, heavy administrative loads and measurements that aren’t shifting with changing student needs, we must advocate for changes that impact the practitioner level.

Shaping our future approaches to supporting educators

Your survey responses are already informing our strategic planning and service design, ensuring the decisions we’re making now align with educators’ needs. This sometimes means documenting frameworks for what’s already in place. For example, we’ve already offered advisory groups, training and communities of practice, which we’re now organizing more formally. Your feedback is also influencing decisions about changing the types of support we will offer or increasing the amount of support available.

Digital environments are changing much of what adult literacy educators do, including lesson planning, creating learning environments and managing online spaces. Technology is not a separate element; it’s impacting everyone’s work. The good news is that our collective understanding of the impact of technology on our work is much richer and more varied now than it was five or 10 years ago. As a field — and at AlphaPlus, an organization supporting the field — we’re ready and open to continuous adaptation and improvement.

Would you like to learn what your peers had to say about teaching adult literacy in Ontario? See the survey summary here.

With the fresh energy of spring upon us, AlphaPlus is embracing change and renewal. Here’s a quick glimpse of what we’re planning and thinking about this season.

Reach expanded by funding: The Skills for Success initiative has been a catalyst for change over the last two years, doubling our resources and allowing us to broaden our reach significantly. For example, the funding enabled our partnership with EdTechTeacher, through which we delivered a record-high volume of training opportunities. It also enabled thought-provoking initiatives such as the Planning a Lesson working group, a unique chance for adult literacy educators to leverage their knowledge and experience, engage in meaningful conversations with peers about their craft and develop resources for the field.

To learn more about teachers’ perspectives on these experiences, see our recent stories about training and working group participants.

Sustaining programs after the funding period: The Skills for Success funding period was dynamic and expansive, and we hope it was as enlightening for you as it was for us. We’ll build on the momentum of this period by continuing to offer essential training (don’t miss the upcoming repeat of trainings on artificial intelligence, accessibility and Google Workspace). We’ll also roll out sustainable resources, like the Planning a Lesson suite of tools, to continue enriching your teaching toolkit. As the funding period concludes and we return to relying on our own resources, we’ll work more closely with you to consolidate and contextualize the information and skills we’ve all acquired.

Shifting to responsive, seamless support: Our plans for the coming months involve a more integrated approach. AlphaPlus team members will be available to work as coaches and project managers to identify and provide the training and support you need. Skills-based training will be your entry point into a comprehensive suite of support, including customized professional development, communities of practice and opportunities to collaborate with peers.

Facilitating dialogue among teachers: In the last two years, it’s been apparent that teachers want to talk with fellow teachers… about teaching — but the opportunities are scarce. Moving forward, we’ve renewed our commitment to creating spaces for these critical conversations, with a mindset shift focused on current practices, exploring your teaching goals and the skills that support them.

Expanding the definition of adult literacy education: We applaud the ministry’s program eligibility expansion, which acknowledges the digital nature of literacy skills today — a shift we pushed for. This change aligns with our vision of evolving literacy education to meet the demands of the digital era, with the potential to change many aspects of our field, including intake conversations, curriculum planning and assessments.

Forming our new strategic plan: Your voice is central as we shape the path forward for AlphaPlus, especially now as our board of directors spearheads strategic planning. A heartfelt thank you to the 300+ respondents to our recent survey for contributing insights about your aspirations for students, professional development, resource and technology needs, and other aspects of your work. Stay tuned for more details on the survey results and our new strategic plan.

As we look ahead, we’re optimistic about the future of adult literacy education. The last two years have included unprecedented outreach and connections for AlphaPlus. We’re eager to build on this momentum and contribute to the growth and development of our field in Ontario.

Warm regards,

Alan Cherwinski

Executive Director

Are you taking advantage of the many ways Microsoft tools can support and enhance your adult literacy program? Go beyond Word and PowerPoint to access a powerful suite of tools that will help you to:

About the Building digital skills with Microsoft 365 training series

This training is an in-depth look at the use of Microsoft 365 for teaching and learning. There will be eight 90-minute online sessions that look at the following topics:

  1. Outlook and calendar
  2. Introduction to OneDrive
  3. Using OneNote for organization and to save time
  4. Teams meetings and Microsoft whiteboard or Stream for instruction and collaboration
  5. Using the Microsoft accessibility suite to meet the needs of every learner
  6. Using Word Online and PowerPoint Online for feedback and collaboration
  7. Using Sway for creation and collaboration
  8. Using Microsoft Forms for learning, assessment, and course feedback.

See the training overview for more details about what we’ll cover, the format, timing and deadlines for registration.

We’re offering two cohorts of up to 20 participants (one afternoon and one evening option).

The training series is eight workshops starting January or March. We are offering afternoon and evening sessions.

This might be the only time we offer this training. So if you’re interested, secure your spot. And don’t forget to invite tutors working in your programs.

Register nowarrow right

There is so much more to Microsoft 365 than documents and presentations, and we’d love to help you tap into the potential of these tools. We hope to see you at the training!

In your view, what does capacity building for adult literacy educators really entail?

At AlphaPlus, we believe that professional development must address the day-to-day context of adult literacy education. It should meet the needs of teachers and learners in the classroom and in daily life. For many years, this belief has shaped our supports, services and even the composition of our team. In 2023, we used an infusion of funding to test this model in our approach to training.

Leveraging Skills for Success funding in a tangible, meaningful way

This fiscal year, AlphaPlus received Skills for Success funding allocated to digital capacity building and training. We made a conscious decision against providing training on the implementation of new abstract and top-down systems (such as the Skills for Success model). Instead, we leveraged this opportunity to develop and provide training opportunities that more directly cater to adult literacy educators and their profession.

In partnership with external experts, we developed a professional development program tailored to educators’ needs. The Building Digital Skills training series offered an in-depth exploration of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, emphasizing skills and knowledge to help you teach adult learners. More than an orientation to digital tools and how they work, our lesson plans contextualized their use in an adult literacy classroom. We also partnered with programs supporting Deaf, Indigenous and francophone communities to customize this training for their teaching and learners.

Training that brings practical technology applications into the classroom context

More than 300 adult literacy educators have joined us to explore new ways to use digital workspaces to communicate, create and collaborate with learners; plan lessons and organize instructional materials; collect, organize and share data; and more. Through engaging and hands-on lessons, participants have uncovered a wealth of valuable free tools and applications — useful and practical discoveries that will pave the way for even more success in their teaching.

Never before have we been able to offer training to such a large group of adult literacy educators in Ontario. Our team has learned a great deal, engaged in several projects and connected with colleagues and working groups to inform our approaches. Most importantly, by centring the actual needs of teachers, we helped them succeed in new ways — examples of which we’ll be sharing in the coming months.

Should this teaching-centred training continue? What should come next?

As we near the one-year mark of this funding, we’re envisioning what comes next. How can we leverage the momentum — and teaching focus — of our professional development?

The opportunities created by the Skills for Success funding have reinvigorated our commitment to contextualizing what teachers are trying to do, bringing in expert facilitators, reaching more adult literacy educators and discovering new approaches. Though the funding was a time-limited federal investment, it can have a lasting impact if we build on it wisely.

We know that the key to success is asking you, adult literacy educators in Ontario, what should come next. What did we do right in 2023? Should we advocate for the funds to repeat what we’ve been doing? How can we build upon the training we offered this year?

Here are a couple of ways you can share your input with us:

Stay tuned for other opportunities we’re planning to ask you about your training needs. We value and need your input to offer professional development that’s relevant to you.

How proficient are you at using digital workspaces or office suites?
Are you fully leveraging these tools to work with learners?
Are you equipping your learners to use these tools in the future?

We are offering this popular, free training opportunity for adult literacy instructors and tutors again this Fall

WHAT: Six weekly 90-minute digital workspace training sessions. We’ll use Google Workspace as a platform to explore and apply digital collaboration skills. Each session will be an opportunity for you to:

WHEN: Wednesdays, 2:30 pm to 4 pm on Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, and Nov 15.

See the training outline for more details about what we’ll cover in these free training sessions, as well as the format, timing and deadlines for registration. And don’t forget to invite tutors working in your programs.


HOW TO SIGN UP >> Sessions start in October, so secure your spot now

Register Here



This year, AlphaPlus has been exploring ways to strengthen the network of adult literacy educators in Ontario. This has included a combination of strengthening educators’ capacity and co-creating with you.

Professional development, skill-building and individual support remain imperative for adult literacy educators. However, we realize that the best and most innovative solutions are rooted in the classroom experience, so we’ve also embarked on several co-creation projects with you. Here’s a snapshot of what’s been happening at AlphaPlus in 2023.

Strengthening your capacity

We listen to what you say about how you use technology in teaching, the practical demands of your efforts with adult learners in the classroom, and the professional development and materials you need. These considerations are top of mind when we develop our capacity-building programs and resources.

Training to help you teach in a digital workspace

In January, we launched an immersive, fast-paced training series to help you work in a digital workspace environment. Thank you to the dozens of literacy educators who joined the training to build digital literacy, creation and collaboration skills.

Based on your feedback, we’re offering Building Digital Skills with Google training again, starting in May. Join us to repeat the free training or as a first-time participant. Everyone is invited to an introductory overview session on Tuesday April 19. Register for the afternoon session or register for the evening session.

Hosting a library of free digital tools

Last month, we officially launched our new open educational resource (OER) library. In response to teachers’ requests for more developmental level-specific resources, a working group of your peers shaped this library of workbooks, textbooks, lessons, activities, modules and courses fully vetted for adult learners.

Would you like our help with using these open educational resources?

Connecting educators to network, share and learn

Last fall, we piloted Community Gabfests: monthly online gatherings where literacy educators connect, discuss and share ideas and approaches in an informal setting. The pilot revealed that you value these gatherings, so we’ll continue to host monthly Gabfests. Register for the next meeting here. 

We’re also bringing back the Virtual Showcases series featuring facilitated discussions and presentations by your colleagues who share their approaches, strategies and tips. Our next two session topics will be:

Sign up here.

Co-creating with you

While your feedback has shaped our capacity-building offerings, we also recognize the importance of including teachers in design and creation. You have a unique understanding of the expertise and time needed to work with technology, and the challenges of transitioning to a reality where some form of remote teaching is here to stay. That’s why we’re facilitating more co-creation projects in which literacy educators build what you need.

Co-creating activities and lessons

During the next round of Educator Network, we’ll go deeper into the ideas from the Building Digital Skills with Google training. Working together as a learning cohort, participants will support each other in co-creating activities and lessons with AlphaPlus providing support and resources, including access to the trainer from the Google training series. Email Tracey Mollins to learn more and sign up.

Co-designing digital teaching spaces and routines

We recently introduced you to our newest team member Olga Herrmann and the project she’s been leading to understand and address your needs in curriculum design and technology integration. The research phase of this project is now wrapping up. In May, we’ll share what we’ve learned and our plans to move on to the next step: co-creating curriculum resources and planning tools.

Additional professional development and co-creation opportunities for educators

Many of our initiatives this year are possible because of increased government investment in our sector. As custodians of a portion of these funds, AlphaPlus has access to financial resources and skilled trainers, and we’re looking for your guidance:

Please share your ideas for co-designing professional development based on the needs of your region, network, sector or specific group of learners; use my scheduling link to set up a time to chat through them with me.

We’re looking forward to more capacity-building and co-creation projects with you in the months ahead.

Alan Cherwinski

Executive Director

AlphaPlus has kicked off 2023 with a full roster of offerings and several initiatives underway. Today, I’d like to share information about two projects that are funded by the Ontario Skills for Success program supported by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

If you’re familiar with the Skills for Success model, you know it includes nine skills “needed to participate and thrive in learning, work and life” listed here:

While it’s quite common to focus on and teach these skills individually, we can’t ignore the fact that they overlap and interact. When we think about how learners will have to apply these skills in different contexts —learning online, accessing government services and digital communities, understanding online security, using social media, online shopping and more — it’s clear that multiple skills are applied to succeed at the task at hand.

As AlphaPlus takes on the responsibility of directing available Skills for Success resources within our sector, we’re exploring ways to help educators stimulate the interaction of the nine skills in different contexts.

New training series: Building digital skills

One of the first initiatives we’ve rolled out to support this integrated approach is our Building Digital Skills With Google training series. You may have already heard about this opportunity when we announced it in the fall. It’s a short-term capacity-building opportunity to apply this integrated concept, using Google as an applied learning space to demonstrate and model how things can be done with adult learners.

While the first cohorts are underway, spots remain available in the final few. Learn more and register here: https://pd.alphaplus.ca/

Curriculum and materials development

The training series complements the deeper work we’re undertaking to consider how literacy and numeracy activities can be integrated with digital skills and how they’re applied in different digital spaces. For this project, we’re reaching out to educators to support curriculum-planning and development of educational materials — two priorities identified in the digital capacity-building consultation. The educators in the field are helping us to understand priorities, needs and interest in trying new, integrated approaches, exploring questions like:

When this consultation is complete, we’ll use what we’ve learned to co-create actionable, implementable tools and supports, giving teachers ways of doing practical work with learners in their everyday work. Starting in April, we’ll form working groups to lead us through an iterative process to explore:

We’re here to support a more integrated approach

You might be questioning whether discrete training on compartmentalized skills is the best approach for your learners. You might feel that things can be different and there’s value in working through it, but you know that this type of change won’t necessarily be easy.

We’re here to do the work and explore that change alongside you. Consider joining us in our current training series or stepping forward in April to co-create new curricula or materials.

As always, I’d love to hear directly from you, so please email me with your responses or questions at acherwinski@alphaplus.ca. Thank you.

Alan Cherwinski
Executive Director
AlphaPlus