Is there a big technology project you need to tackle for your adult literacy program? Where should you start? According to Andrea Maggrah, executive director at Atikokan Literacy Incorporated’s Adult Learning Centre, the answer for programs in Ontario is simple: get help from an AlphaPlus technology coach.

When Andrea started working in her current position in June 2023, she was relatively new to the adult literacy field. As she got oriented to the organization, which had undergone several leadership changes, Andrea identified two potential areas for technology improvement: the website and file sharing.

“Our website was built on a platform that none of our employees had experience managing. To make content changes, we needed to work with an external person, and co-ordinating that in a timely way was a challenge,” explains Andrea. “As for document management, we were each mostly working on our local drives, and we needed to have a way to share certain types of documents. I wanted to make everyone’s life easier and more efficient — and eliminate the need to interrupt someone working with a student just to get a document!”

Connecting with a technology coach

Andrea’s search for solutions led her to the AlphaPlus website: “I saw that AlphaPlus offers coaching for adult literacy providers, so I contacted them about the cost. I was amazed to discover that there’s a group of people with this level of knowledge about both technology and adult literacy providing these services for free.”

Andrea was connected with Monika Jankowska-Pacyna. Monika is an organizational development specialist in education and technology and one of the team members who delivers one-on-one coaching. Monika and Andrea started by meeting to discuss Atikokan Literacy’s needs.

One solution for website and file management: Google tools

After their initial meeting, Andrea and Monika created a plan that outlined their priorities, the types of support Monika would provide (including guidance, training and direct hands-on support) and the frequency of their meetings. Monika suggested using Google tools for a unified solution: transitioning to Google Sites for the website and adopting Google Workspace for file and document management.

Andrea and Monika began meeting every two weeks. During their calls, Monika provided assistance, answered questions, set up next steps and then left the team to do their part until the next check-in two weeks later.

Project setbacks and delays

Implementing technology change is not always straightforward. For Monika and Andrea, hurdles and setbacks have included missing information about who managed access to the domain, difficulties making technical changes with the hosting provider and waiting periods within the Google Workspace setup. In addition, in the middle of the project, Atikokan Literacy acquired a new building. This opportunity to expand programming was good news, but it forced another pause in the technology projects.

“We ran into delays, but with the program’s patience and trust in us, we persisted,” says Monika, “Many small literacy programs are in the same situation, and we work hard to help them find their footing. We do a lot of checking, research and support, and we guide them through the changes. Our coaching support is not only about training but also about helping programs through the process when obstacles arise.”

“Monika was incredibly accommodating: if we needed to pause, she was happy to wait for us,” reflects Andrea. “And she’s on top of every challenge or question we have. Even if she doesn’t have the answer, she’s already thinking about who she can contact, refer us to and get us to the point we need to reach.”

Coaching results: Technology improvements and skill building

Today, Andrea is pleased to be making progress toward her original vision. Atikokan Literacy will soon have a new website with staff trained to manage content and updates. They will be equipped to use their newly acquired Google Sites knowledge to build additional websites for specific programs if necessary, and they are building and organizing Google folders for the team. Andrea is also starting to work with AlphaPlus on a new potential project: using digital technology to share a new curriculum with other literacy programs in the North and elsewhere.

“I’ve learned a lot from these coaching sessions, including how to do some of the processes that I didn’t have under my belt before,” says Andrea. “Knowing that a place like AlphaPlus is available to us and that we don’t have to figure it all out on our own is really amazing and valuable. If you’re apprehensive about technology change, that is the very reason to reach out and get the support of an AlphaPlus coach.”

A new round of coaching spots is open for spring 2025. Contact us to learn more about how you can implement technology change with the support of an AlphaPlus technology coach.

Open educational resources (OER) discovery series email tour

Are you passionate about teaching adult learners — and having the best tools to do it?

Join our email-based tour of the AlphaPlus Open educational resources (OER) collection. This is your opportunity to delve into a library of open and modifiable resources carefully curated and vetted by your fellow Ontario adult literacy educators.

Sign up today to unlock:

• Weekly emails over six engaging weeks, highlighting various sections of the collection, such as reading, writing, math, and job preparation. 
• Previews of free, reproducible, and modifiable workbooks, lessons, activities, modules, slide sets, and complete courses. 
• Our expert tips on getting the most out of the collection, delivered in concise, easy-to-read emails. 

Join our OER discovery series

Don’t miss out. Join your fellow educators who are already benefiting from these valuable resources. Sign up for the discovery series today! 

Have you met Christine Pinsent-Johnson and Guylaine Vinet? They’re the AlphaPlus team members behind the open educational resources (OER) collection, an online library of resources that you may already be using.

The story of the collection began a few years ago. In response to the need for digital materials that adult literacy instructors could use with remote learners during the pandemic, Christine and Guylaine started exploring available resources. They discovered a range of free materials being developed and distributed, including open resources that could be modified for educational purposes.

Their exploration evolved into a project to build an online library of open resources. Tapping into Guylaine’s library science expertise and Christine’s background in teaching as well as co-ordinating and supporting educators, they collaborated with an advisory group of Ontario literacy professionals from community and school board programs, representing both urban and rural settings.

Today, the OER collection boasts over 200 educational resources for adult literacy teaching, many of which can be adapted to suit your needs. Read this interview to learn more about the collection and to meet the team behind it.

OER collection: Interview with the team

Q: How do you hope educators will benefit from using this collection?

Christine: Over the years, there’s been a significant change in publishing and resource access. As adult literacy educators, we used to receive a catalogue of resources from booksellers. You would simply search through it, and the work of curating, purchasing and sharing was handled. Today, all of that has disappeared, and finding resources, assessing their quality and building a personal collection is extremely time-consuming. We’ve taken on the searching, curating and organizing work to provide a tailored and ready-made collection specifically for adult literacy educators in Ontario.

Q: How did you decide what resources to include?

Guylaine: The working group confirmed our initial criteria to guide curation decisions and told us what they needed: modifiable and open resources focusing on the core domains of reading, writing, digital skills, mathematics and numeracy. We established that instructional resources had to be free, modifiable, reproducible and ready-to-use and had to include teaching tips and guidance.

At first, the open resources we found were mostly academic and didn’t meet the needs of our audience. So we looked at who might be publishing what learners need. Christine was very proactive, contacting the organizations directly. We discovered that valuable, relevant materials that instructors don’t have the time to explore and uncover are available. We reviewed and evaluated hundreds of options, but only select resources were included in our collection.

Q: What are some of your favourite resources in the OER collection and why?

Christine: Phonics — if you’re looking elsewhere, you might end up paying for a comprehensive package. But we found two completely free, open, comprehensive examples that we included in the collection. And the collection from Decoda in British Columbia [please verify] was a wonderful surprise: a comprehensive set of modifiable, open workbooks.

Guylaine: We’re also hearing that instructors are excited about the sections on basic math, empowering learners, literacy development supports, and resources to update educators’ skills and knowledge.

Are there any innovative or unique aspects of this collection that you’d like to highlight?

Christine: Two things stand out. Because websites change — for example, they move or are taken down — we’ve made modified resources available in a Google Drive collection. The other is the traffic light (red, yellow, green) system we developed to help users distinguish between copyrighted, shareable and modifiable resources.

Q: What are your plans for adding to or evolving the collection?

Christine: The collection is currently quite comprehensive. When we receive suggestions, we often find they’re covered. However, we recognize that many of the resources are PDF workbooks designed for pen and paper, so we’ve been considering making them more interactive to encompass learning and digital skills and support hybrid learning.

Q: What advice do you have for educators using the collection for the first time?

Guylaine: Make yourself a cup of coffee and browse like you’re flipping through a catalogue, starting with where your interest is. Start where your question is, for example, Is there anything for reading and intermediate learners? Begin with your most pressing question or issue and as you browse, you might find other helpful content.

Q: What else do adult literacy educators in Ontario need to know about the collection?

Christine: Access to good content is only one part of the AlphaPlus approach. We think a lot about how to help adult literacy educators use content and knowledge. This project aligns with our philosophy of leveraging technology and tools, modelling what can be done and supporting educators in integrating products into their programs. We’re here to support you further through our services.

Explore the collection: Sign up for the guided tour

Are you ready to explore the OER collection?

We know the collection is vast and you might need help getting oriented. That’s why we’ve created an email-based guided tour starting in March. Learn more and join us for the OER discovery series.

During the summer, a small group of researchers and GED instructors did an in-depth analysis of the CAEC sample tests to identify the main changes on the CAEC compared to the GED. 

Based on our analysis we describe three main changes:

1. Digital changes with the new online testing platform, test questions and sources to read and interpret
2. Content changes in reading, writing, science and social studies, including questions without sources (math has fewer changes) 
3. The use of a cognitive complexity framework that emphasizes the application of conceptual knowledge and skills rather than the recall and reproduction of facts.

The CAEC is a very different test compared to the GED! Preparing learners means educators will need 

• Time to make the adjustment
• A different instructional approach that relies on building content knowledge in both online and offline environments, followed by the development of the digital and test-taking skills needed to demonstrate that knowledge
• New resources to support the two-fold instructional approach 
• Professional training. 

We’d like to share what we’ve learned about the CAEC in a comprehensive report, presentation video and accompanying slides.

New CAEC resources

We are excited to share Adult Education: The Missing Piece to Bridging the Digital Divide, a paper co-written by Christine Pinsent-Johnson, one of our staff, and former staff member, Matthias Sturm. In the paper, published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), they argue that the digital divide extends beyond mere access to technology and is fundamentally about the ability to benefit from it, which hinges on digital literacy. Canada’s adult education programs are well positioned to offer essential digital learning opportunities but are currently excluded from the digital learning conversation.

For Anita Dhanjal, a community literacy worker at LAMP Community Health Centre, teaching literacy and basic skills has changed significantly from when she started at the organization five years ago. Today’s learners operate in a very different digital world and have a strong appetite for learning new things.

Anita’s role at LAMP, which serves community members in South Etobicoke and South Mississauga, includes supervising and tutoring adult learning classes. Anita also covers tutors’ classes when they’re away and manages the program’s administration, including reporting to the Ministry of Labour.

“When I started in this role, we relied on GCFglobal.org for our curriculum, printing off worksheets as we went,” says Anita, describing how her work at LAMP has been transformed since 2019. “Today, both instructors and learners are moving forward with the technology we were forced to learn during the pandemic. Now, our learners are constantly asking to learn new skills and new ways of using existing technology and tools.”

Learning new ways to use digital tools in teaching

To prepare to answer learners’ questions and learn alongside them, Anita continuously seeks applicable training opportunities. In 2023, she participated in the AlphaPlus Building Digital Skills training series, designed to help literacy educators sharpen and apply digital creation and collaboration skills. Starting in the spring with the first series, which focused on using Google Workspace, Anita followed up in the fall with the second series on Microsoft Office 365.

“Over the course of these trainings, I learned about many free tools within Google and Microsoft that I can use in teaching and program administration. Free is helpful because some of our learners aren’t able to pay for subscriptions,” explains Anita. “From Forms to OneNote to learning how to use Sway for reading and writing classes, I discovered amazing new tools — and tools that can do much more than I had realized. It was fun to see what we could get from the training and what we could use to teach our learners.”

Starting with the basics, building confidence

Anita explains that the LAMP approach to adult literacy is to start with the basics and build confidence, keeping learners engaged by catering to their curiosity and topics of interest. Each week, they review what was discussed the week before and the new skills learners want to acquire.

“If they want to learn OneNote, we’ll have that ready for them. Google is everywhere, so they want to know all about it. These are applications that people want to learn and use,” says Anita. “We were able to apply all of the little tips and tricks we learned in the AlphaPlus training with our learners, giving them bites of everything they’re curious about. We’ve also noticed that learners are excited to help one another use digital tools. That’s what we want: for the experience to be creative and interactive, helping learners to navigate and use digital technology to communicate and collaborate.”

Next steps: Continue exploring how teachers can use digital workspaces

In the coming months, Anita will continue to use and teach what she learned in 2023. She’s already started to use digital forms for assessments and is evaluating how to support tutors with additional resources. She’ll continue to explore learners’ areas of interest, paying particular attention to their desire to learn on smartphones.

“These training series have opened access to learning, information, advice and resources. Any application we learn gives us the confidence to use it, teach it and then learn other things. Learning all the time is how we get better at our jobs.”

Would you like to build confidence in using digital technology in your teaching? Register for AlphaPlus training. The upcoming series includes sessions on artificial intelligence, accessibility and a return to Microsoft Office 365.

Our progress as a field over the last few years has been nothing short of transformative. The pandemic forced a shift to technology integration, resulting in a field of educators who are now more tech-savvy and have a greater capacity to engage with digital technology and tools.

Reflecting on adult literacy education in 2023

By 2023, we noticed that you were ready to solidify and consolidate what you’ve learned, taking time to consider new approaches. This change is a testament to your collective effort and commitment to advancing literacy education. For AlphaPlus, this change has shifted our approach from promoting the idea of integrating digital technology to collaborating with educators in ways that are driven by your motivations.

Over the last year, funding from the Skills for Success (SFS) program has allowed AlphaPlus to work with educators directly and in larger numbers than ever. We provided training at a scale we’ve never done before. The Building Digital Skills training series (which focused on using Google Workspace and Microsoft 365) allowed us to work directly with more than 300 educators, fostering a community driven to explore and adopt digital technologies. This has given us a glimpse of the adaptive capacity of educators and learners and what you’ve accomplished in the last year.

Looking ahead: 2024

In 2024, we’ll finish delivering the training funded by Skills for Success while also evaluating the strategic direction of our organization. This year, we’re introducing two innovative training series focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and accessibility. We’re committed to ensuring our community is well-prepared and confident in leveraging AI tools ethically and safely. The upcoming training sessions and sandbox experiences (dedicated time with AlphaPlus staff and other participants to try out new knowledge) are designed to facilitate this, providing practical, hands-on learning opportunities.

The increased training and services we delivered with Skills for Success funding helped us clarify how to consolidate some of our offerings and gave us information on which to base our new priorities. In addition, we sought your input via a recent survey, the results of which reinforced educators’ longstanding need for the following:

• More online, interactive instructional activities for learners with lower-level skills, a demand amplified since the pandemic. 
• Support working with learners facing learning challenges and anxiety.
• Modifiable, pre-developed instructional activities focusing on beginner-level literacy, numeracy and technology skills that cater to adult learners. 
• Curriculum planning for developing workshops, courses and modules.

While partial solutions exist, we recognize the need for a more comprehensive solution to address these priorities.

Leadership from our board members

Our board of directors, which includes several new members, will lead the development of our new strategic direction. Complementing the strengths of existing board members (Mr. Koosha Golmohammadi, Mr. Andrew Vaughan and our chair, Mr. Paul Gibson), our new members bring academic and practical experience from working in the Ministry of Labour and directly delivering adult literacy programming. Welcome, Mr. Tariq Ismati, Dr. Tannis Atkinson, Dr. Farra Yasin and Ms. Susan Lefebvre, whose wealth of experience in the literacy sector will be instrumental in shaping our future initiatives. Their insights, coupled with the feedback from educators and learners, will guide us in refining our strategies and offerings.

Your active participation and engagement remain crucial as we evolve and grow. I invite you to register for our AI training, join our sandbox sessions, and stay connected and involved with AlphaPlus.

Alan Cherwinski
Executive Director
AlphaPlus

We recently added numerous ready-to-use instructional activities to our open educational resources library. You’ll find activities in various formats including interactive PDFs, digital activities, online modules and slide presentations. Nearly all resources can be reproduced and most can be modified. Modifiable resources allow you to adapt the content to meet your students’ needs and reflect their situations.

We’ve also made it easy for you to build your collection of instructional materials by setting up folders on Google Drive that contain many of the resources. You’re sure to find at least one new gem that you can add to your personal collection. 

Check out the new topics!

1. Job preparation and hiring is focused on instructional materials that can be used to help learners explore and prepare for employment. It also includes up-to-date information on automated tracking systems (ATS) and writing a resume that won’t be screened out. 
2. Test and exam preparation is focused on instructional materials that can be used to introduce learners to content related to first-aid/CPR, WHMIS, safe food handling, G1 driver’s test, Canadian citizenship test and Red Seal exams.

We hope you find something useful. Also, if you have any questions about making modifications, organizing the materials in your own folders or anything else, get in touch (info@alphaplus.ca). We’re here to help.

If you are using a great resource that meets our inclusion criteria, please share it so we can add it to the collection.

We’ve started working on the final two topics: 1) learner empowerment and 2) resources for educators. We’ll let you know when they’re finished.

From scanning paper documents to searching for available electronic substitutes, in 2020, adult literacy instructors scrambled to digitize their teaching manuals and tools. A sector with a long history of relying upon binders and books on shelves struggled to avail itself of quality digital teaching resources, and the AlphaPlus team discovered the extent of the challenge.

“During the pandemic, we noticed instructors’ difficulties with getting content and resources to learners electronically. At the same time, we realized the potential to leverage technology to open up more equitable access to free, quality literacy and numeracy resources,” explains Christine Pinsent-Johnson, policy and research specialist in education and technology at AlphaPlus. “We started experimenting with several solutions, including creating and curating online resources through HyperDocs. However, the response told us we needed a different, more collaborative approach.”

Working group complements research and library expertise

Christine and her colleague Guylaine Vinet, organizational development specialist in education and technology, started exploring the idea of open educational resources. While well equipped for digital library building — Christine as a researcher and Guylaine as a librarian — they recognized the value of forming a working group to shape their project’s scope, approach and contents.

“We started with a basic idea and knew we needed user guidance regarding the project’s viability, format choices, how we should organize materials and the relevance and usefulness of what we were assembling,” says Guylaine. “For educators to use the resource, we needed to know what works best for them.”

Christine and Guylaine assembled a group of instructors from school boards and community groups, representing urban and rural communities across the province. Members work in program areas ranging from workforce development to academic, with diverse learner groups.

The working group first met in May 2022 and started by forming terms of reference and the optimal formats for resource curation and sharing: Google Drive and a microsite. In June, the group established criteria for resources to be included. For example, materials must:

Be free and ad-free.

• Include modifiable text.
• Be shareable and reproducible.
• Include ready-to-use materials with instructional activities.
• Have tips, ideas and strategies for educators to implement.

With the scope defined and a full suite of parameters established, Christine and Guylaine began their search of over 100 collections and lists from Canada, the U.K. and Australia. They gathered resources that met the criteria and involved the working group in content review. One working group participant, Karin Meinzer, instructor for the West Centre at PTP Adult Learning and Employment Programs, reflects on her experience:

“As an instructor, there aren’t many day-to-day opportunities to connect directly with colleagues in the field. I always like to say yes to projects such as this because of the exposure it gives me to new ideas and things happening outside my tiny sphere!” 

Working online has made me hyperaware of the limitations on sharing published materials. Good, open-source material is hard to find, and it’s even harder to come by the time and the skills needed to assess the usability of materials. I am so glad that Guylaine and Christine are evaluating materials for the field and organizing them in an accessible way.

Karin Meinzer

Open educational resource prototype now available

The result of the working group’s efforts to date is not simply another collection of resource links but a fully vetted collection of workbooks, modules and activities that address a full range of instructional topics. A prototype is now available covering the first two of 10 topics the working group identified: (1) reading instruction workbooks and modules and (2) general knowledge content. The prototype will be delivered in English, with research underway to explore a French option.

“This working group has created a good opportunity for educators to get together, talk with each other over a shared interest and produce a body of work. All educators in Ontario will soon be able to access a library of open educational resources ready to download, use and save,” says Christine. “Having input from the working group made us more confident about the end product, and the success of this experience means we will be looking for working groups in the future.”

Let us know what you think of our open educational resources prototype. Do you have suggestions for additional resources? Would you like to participate in future steps as an educator advisor? Get in touch with us.