2020 has been like no other for our coaching team! It has been busy, hectic —and yes — sometimes overwhelming. Many programs reached out to our team to ask for ideas, support and training in the unexpected and fast shift to working from home and delivering their services remotely. It was also extremely rewarding to see these programs try new things, build up their confidence and then take off with so many great ideas.

Over the past few weeks, many LBS programs have reached out to AlphaPlus for support regarding how best to work from home and how to reach and connect with learners from a distance. Many are also reflecting on the inevitable changes the pandemic will place on how they do their work in the future. Our […]

A new fiscal year is underway and we are excited to announce a mini-project: an environmental scan of local data collection systems. As part of our 2017–18 business plan and with funding support from the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, AlphaPlus will complete an environmental scan identifying local systems supporting the collection and […]

Charlotte Parliament is the Literacy and Essential Skills Program Coordinator at Simcoe County District School Board. Responsible for the MAESD learning programs, she is on the move around the county, supporting six learning centres delivering a range of programs. As someone in constant contact with individual instructors and coordinators, Charlotte decided to use AlphaPlus technology […]

After months of careful research and planning, we are excited to announce the release of the Technology Planning Roadmap, a set of packages designed to help adult literacy organizations make the best use of the technology they already have and to plan for their future needs. The set includes the following packages: Technology Infrastructure Inventory […]

The Dropbox tag line is “Simplify your life” and that is exactly and literally what it has done for me! First of all it is super easy to use – I just opened a free account, got my own Dropbox and now I use it to store files, documents, images, and videos. Best of all I can access them from anywhere, share them with friends and colleagues, and I can sync them on all my mobile devices.

Dropbox is a free storage service that lets you save and access all your files, including photos, documents, and videos, in a cloud and access them from all your computers and phones and even from the Dropbox website.

When you visit the Dropbox site, you will be invited to download Dropbox software. It will allow you to install Dropbox on your computer and to create a Dropbox folder that automatically syncs with your online Dropbox account.

Google Docs, a free, web-based office suite and data storage service offered by Google, includes Google Forms – a tool that allows users to quickly create and administer simple polls, subscriptions, tests or questionnaires.

With 97 themes that can be quickly applied to the form and seven question types to choose from, Google Forms can be a great tool for practitioners to use to give online quizzes, organize contests, manage registrations, or gather feedback. Students can also practice their digital skills by learning how to fill out various forms and by quickly setting up their own polls or questionnaires as part of an assignment or project.

During the month of October, join TechSoup Canada and the TechSoup Global Network for Cloud Computing Worldwide campaign.

Community Literacy of Ontario just published a Guide to Effective Technologies for Providing Online Staff Development and Training, a must read research report for literacy practitioners, volunteers and administrators.