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

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

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.

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.

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.

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:

• Share your thoughts with me now (alan@aphaplus.ca)
• Complete a very brief survey (and have the chance to win a $50.00 gift card!) to identify your professional learning priorities.

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.

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?

• Sign up for technology coaching and a member of our team will help you implement and adapt OER materials to make them work in your context.
• Join our upcoming fall Makerspace to explore and experiment with OERs (more details coming soon).

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:

• Using OneNote to manage learner files and other resources.
• Using social media to reach, teach and connect with learners.

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:

• What training would you like us to co-design with you?
• If we could assemble a group of 10-15 educators to address a specific topic related to technology integration, what would it be?

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:

• Reading
• Numeracy
• Writing
• Digital
• Problem-solving
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Adaptability
• Creativity and innovation

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.

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/

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:

• Where are you now, after the pandemic? Where would you like to go?
• What difference would you like to see in your programs as a result of using AlphaPlus tools and supports?
• If you envision doing things differently, what would that look like?
• What type of things would help you to make that change?

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:

• Opportunities to create new knowledge.
• Service offerings that stimulate the interaction of the nine skills listed above.
• Learning experiences that cultivate these skills and are accessible and inclusive of learners and their contexts.

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

Dear Literacy Educators,

The arrival of fall means “getting back to normal” for those of us working in the adult literacy field. Summer breaks are behind us, programs are ramping up and new and returning learners are looking for our support. But this fall, our sector is grappling with a “new normal” that isn’t normal at all.
 
Being an adult literacy educator in the fall of 2022 looks very different from just a few years ago. Today’s learners are asking for more flexibility regarding how they participate. Educators are under pressure to offer a mix of in-person, remote and hybrid learning — while finding ways to organize, share and distribute content and materials physically and electronically. Organizations are facing new challenges in recruiting staff and participants back to programs. And after the last two years of steep learning curves and forced innovation, you might be trying to figure out what elements you should preserve.
 
As you grapple with the challenges of the “new normal,” remember that AlphaPlus is here to help. As you evaluate new ideas and incorporate technology into your teaching in new ways on an ongoing (rather than an emergency) basis, we’re ready to be a touchpoint. We exist to support adult literacy education professionals in Ontario.
 

Literacy educators: What support do you need this fall?

Are you looking for technology solutions and tips?

Some of your peers have had the capacity to experiment with solutions and tools that you might be interested in. Participate in our Showcase sessions to learn what your peers in similar programs are doing. The next topic is using game-based learning and quizzes 
 

Do you need a space for reflection and professional development?

Perhaps you’d like to reflect on what you’ve learned and implemented, and where you’d like to go further. Our Educator Network and planning your digital tool box course will help you reflect upon how your approaches are part of broader, recognized frameworks in the teaching field. You can work alongside your peers in the Educator Network or in a self-paced, self-directed structure in the course — both can help you feel confident in your career as a teacher post-COVID.
 

Would you like to watch others implement new ideas?

If you’re interested in watching your peers experiment, create and document their experiences in pushing creativity in their teaching practices, visit the Wayfinders Studio Maker Space. This maker space has been designed to promote hands-on learning and foster creativity among educators. The current groups of makers are modelling knowledge-sharing and experimentation with digital storytelling and video production.
 

Are you looking for conversation and peer support?

Would you like to get together with fellow educators to discuss your experiences and challenges? Drop into one or more sessions of our Community Gabfest series – an informal but facilitated series of conversations among your peers.
 
See the information and links below to learn more about participating in these opportunities.
 

Are these the teaching and learning supports you need?

You’ve learned a great deal in the last couple of years and experimented with many new approaches and technologies. Today, you’re in a different place, asking different questions. You’ve come so far, and with that journey comes a new suite of challenges. Do the offerings I’ve described above address the support that you need?
 
Along with today’s challenges, there’s hope. We have reason to believe that investments in building the capacity of our sector may soon be coming through. If so, we’d like to be prepared to take advantage of any opportunities or resources and ensure that expectations are realistic. To that end, would you share your answers to the following questions?

• What challenges do you anticipate this year in teaching and learning?
• What will make your work easier?
• What barriers would stop you from taking advantage of capacity-building opportunities? 

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

Alan Cherwinski
Executive Director
AlphaPlus

Dear Literacy Educators,

For the last few months, AlphaPlus has been involved in the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development’s digital enhancement initiative for Ontario’s literacy and basic skills (LBS) sector. Along with Contact North, we played a convening and intermediary role in this project, consulting with and working on behalf of educators, administrators and learners. 

We ensured that all sectors (colleges, community programs and school boards) and streams (Deaf, francophone, Indigenous, and anglophone) were provided with equitable opportunity to contribute. We paid particular attention to including under-represented groups and we interpreted high priority issues that are actionable by the Ministry. Thank you to all who stepped forward to share your insights and experiences about digital delivery. 

The consultation, research and analysis are now summarized in the report Enhancing the Literacy and Basic Skills Program Through Integrated Digital Delivery: An Opportunity and Needs Assessment (available on the online hub we’ve set up).

The report highlights the importance of digital skills and digital literacy, the gains made by remote learners during the pandemic, the challenges presented by the digital divide and the following four thematic areas of opportunity and potential action:

Provide access to technology devices, digital skills and tech support across the province to increase access and remove barriers.
Provide a shared repository of vetted, high-quality, open-sourced curricula, assessment and online-learning teaching resources and a comprehensive learning management system.
Provide accessible provincial professional development and structured forums and methods for knowledge sharing focused on online and blended-learning best practices.
Strengthen the enabling environment for system-wide effectiveness and coordination.

While none of this is new to those of us working in Ontario’s adult literacy sector, it’s helpful to see attention paid to these issues.

This initiative reflects a significant investment by the Ministry in understanding digital delivery, but we can’t lose sight of the opportunities and challenges of in-person programs. The report highlights the importance of digital skills and literacy to help learners successfully pursue their goals related to education, employment and independence — but most digital skill building happens through in-person opportunities and experiences.

In addition to representing 85% of LBS program delivery, face-to-face is the optimal environment to build relationships, trust and comfort with learners. And as remote services increase, we don’t want to risk excluding those with lower digital literacy skills and limited access to devices or the internet. Therefore, we believe that to ensure robust and digitally enriched adult literacy programming, the entire system should be designed from the perspective of in-person teachers and learners. In-person, including hybrid, delivery provides the appropriate and critical opportunities for learners to develop the competency to fully participate in future independent digital learning at home, at work or in further education.

While fully remote service delivery is an excellent option for certain situations and learners, it shouldn’t be the default nor the dominant (only takeaway) theme from the report. An army of in-person teachers is providing foundational digital skills opportunities to improve learners’ access to future digital learning. Overly focusing on the needs of fully remote or distance LBS delivery would short-change the immediate struggles of the in-person programs doing the yeoman’s share of the LBS digital skills development.

Where do we go from here?

While it’s not clear what next steps the Ministry will take, this initiative reflects incremental progress and momentum around much-needed conversations. The Ministry involved AlphaPlus because of our advocacy on behalf of literacy programs and projects like our Shift to Remote Delivery Report and 8 Strategies for Improving the Digital Capacity of Our Adult Literacy System. We will continue to try to meet with them and advance these conversations.

Recognizing that digital delivery is just one component, AlphaPlus will continue to support and advocate for face-to-face programs trying to deal with 21st-century technology and learning. The report findings will help us narrow our focus and clarify where we can make an impact.

To that end, we also want to continue the conversation with you. I encourage you to read the Ministry’s report and get in touch directly with me to share your thoughts:

• Is it a reasonable presentation of the issues? What’s missing? 

• How can AlphaPlus collaborate with you to advance individual elements? How can we make progress together in meaningful ways?

Please email me with your reactions and ideas at acherwinski@alphaplus.ca. I hope to hear from you.

Alan Cherwinski

Executive Director

AlphaPlus

Ontario’s Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) sector is emerging from two years of tremendous change; we need a system that recognizes and supports that transformation.

The pandemic forced everyone working in adult literacy to step in and fill a void, making changes and improvements that we had talked about for a very long time. We all moved through an extreme learning curve, incorporating new ways of doing things and tackling projects that previously seemed impossible. From online program delivery, digitizing learner records and files, online audits and much more, our field has developed countless new solutions, many of which are here to stay.

From our vantage point at AlphaPlus, we’ve witnessed you overcoming barriers and obstacles. You acted quickly to find ways to continue reaching and supporting learners. We see the hard work you’ve done to adapt, and we’re proud to have played a role in helping many of you.

Last October, we started a discussion about a vision for system-level change for our sector. We introduced some of our thinking and our eight proposed strategies for improving the digital capacity of our adult literacy system, inviting you into the conversation. That same week, the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development announced a new initiative. 

The new Ministry initiative aims to identify gaps and priorities for digital services, and tools for learners, educators and organizations. They’re seeking input into creating a roadmap for enhancing the LBS system’s capacity to deliver more services remotely and expand blended learning opportunities to serve more learners.

You might recall that the Ministry conducted a program evaluation in 2016 that resulted in over 40 key recommendations — many of which have not been addressed. Today, our landscape bears little resemblance to what it looked like in 2016; we have to grapple with the changes we made during the pandemic and how we want to advance them.

As the Ministry starts to examine our new reality, they’ve asked AlphaPlus and Contact North|Contact Nord to help consult with educators, tutors, learners and organizations. We recognize you’re being consulted once again but we’re cautiously optimistic about what this could mean for our field as a whole. Now is an excellent time to provide insight into the problems that remain and the solutions we need. We want to help ensure that the right people are consulted and heard, and that good information gets into the hands of decision-makers.

This initiative is unfolding quickly, with multiple organizations playing a role. In addition to AlphaPlus and Contact North|Contact Nord, the project is working with the sector and stream organizations to organize participation in 13 small discussion groups over January and February. We’ve set up a home base to provide you with essential information, links and AlphaPlus updates.

Working on the big picture and contributing to moving forward these long-term pieces — such as the eight strategies and capacity initiative — is a process that takes time. We know that you want us to participate in those discussions and advocate for the adult literacy sector, and we also know that you need support now.

While we play a role in big-picture vision-building, we continue to support the immediate needs of instructors and program administrators. In the last year, we’ve worked by your side through coaching, networks, offering tools and templates to help you digitize your course materials, and showcasing and sharing your innovations and successes.

As we kick off 2022, we’re excited about new opportunities to support you. For example:

• Our educator network is creating spaces for instructors to learn and explore together.
• In April, we’ll be opening a new round of coaching sessions for instructors and program administrators.
• Keep an eye out for the Wayfinders Studio. We spoke to educators who are exploring, experimenting, and reflecting on how digital technology can enhance learning in creative ways. We will launch the Studio in February to let you know what we learned.
• This spring, we’ll launch a completely new AlphaPlus website with a renewed focus on resource curation and knowledge exchange within a user-friendly experience.

The pandemic has forever altered the landscape for delivering adult literacy education. We’re here to help ensure that we hold on to our sector’s best innovations and continue on a positive trajectory forward.

If you have any questions about our role in the Ministry initiative or how the AlphaPlus team can support you directly, please email me at acherwinski@alphaplus.ca.

Alan Cherwinski
Executive Director
AlphaPlus

At AlphaPlus, we’re currently looking for perspectives that may have been missing in our inclusion efforts.

I’m the Executive Director of AlphaPlus, but I wear more than one hat in the adult literacy education field: I’m also on the board of a literacy program here in Picton, which allows me to engage in adult literacy work in an entirely different way.

Recently, during a board discussion about 2S-LGBTQ+ issues within the local program, I was struck by perspectives I had previously been missing. As we discussed disruptions to family life and school that can lead to a need for a literacy program down the road, I realized that, though gay myself, I had, as a white, cisgender male living with several privileges, been unaware of many LGBTQ issues affecting learning.

Since coming to that realization, and knowing that at AlphaPlus we tend to talk about equitable delivery but less about being intentionally inclusive by design, I have entered AlphaPlus into a partnership with Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network (ODLAN), an organization that facilitates digital literacy and advocates for the removal of barriers to accessing online spaces for 2S-LGBTQ+ communities. ODLAN offers resources to help organizations build the infrastructure and capacity to concretely address these issues. This partnership allows us the opportunity to learn about aspects of digital equity from an organization outside the field of adult literacy. Through the ODLAN network, organizations can collaborate further on using an intersectional lens in developing digital strategies that will minimize the barriers 2S-LGBTQ+ communities are experiencing.

This initiative leads us to the following questions:

• Who else can we learn from and partner with?
• What other organizations and projects outside of the adult literacy space are leading the way in digital inclusion?

Creating sector-wide system change

One of AlphaPlus’ strategic priorities is building a more equitable and inclusive literacy and basic skills (LBS) system. We have identified eight strategies to address long-standing challenges and gaps – from affordable access, to infrastructure investments, to choosing performance measures that work for learners. We’ll be sharing our recommendations for sector-wide system change over the next few months.

The strategies were built upon an AlphaPlus vision of the digital learning opportunities an adult learning system must provide. The wording of the vision is a work in progress (you can read it here), and we believe our framing of digital opportunities can, with your help, be strengthened by a more careful examination of, and explicit commitment to, inclusion.

Seeking your input

As we work toward creating sector-wide change, we’d like to learn from you, our peers in the adult literacy sector. Can you help us to be more consciously inclusive and think about approaches to inclusion that we haven’t previously considered? Please share your insights, recommendations, examples, partner ideas. We would also welcome any answers you might have to the following questions:

• Who are the members of our communities that we’re not reaching?
• Are there other tangential inclusion perspectives that we’re still missing?
• Are you further ahead in this work than we are at AlphaPlus? What can we learn from your experiences with more inclusive program delivery, design and administration?

We recognize that we have more questions than answers, which is why I’m sharing them with you. I welcome your input and would like to hear from you directly, so please email me at acherwinski@alphaplus.ca to share your thoughts.

Thank you in advance for helping us to learn together.