https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/ From time to time, I like to share my thinking with others. Mainly I think about adult literacy and training policy. I often think about the public policy responses that are taken by national and provincial/territorial governments. My opinions are my own. My consulting work involves strategic planning and policy development in workplace literacy, […]

In Ontario, our government is transforming how it collaborates with the public and provides services by migrating many everyday interactions and transactions to an online platform. This e-government service initiative includes a commitment to provide opportunities for people to advance or gain new digital skills, particularly to individuals most in need of digital literacy training. […]

Research funding announcement: ‘Digital opportunities and barriers for Ontario’s vulnerable adults’ There is a need in the adult education sector for a comprehensive analysis and review of federal and provincial employment training, social assistance policies, adult education programs, technology policies and programs and their impact on digital access for Ontario’s vulnerable adults. We are pleased […]

There is a need in the adult education sector for a comprehensive analysis and review of federal and provincial employment training, social assistance policies, adult education programs, technology policies and programs, and their impact on digital access for Ontario’s vulnerable adults. We are pleased to announce that AlphaPlus has received a grant from the Ministry […]

In August, AlphaPlus invited adult literacy stakeholders to provide feedback on the experiences literacy educators and learners had with the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) On-line Field Trial to explore the impact of digital technology in online assessment. We summarized the feedback we received in a short report called Voices Speak to […]

The Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy (MTML) recently published the Exploring Learner Pathways:  Meeting at the LBS/ESL Intersections Final Report which explored the learner pathways of adults with second language learning needs who also have low-level literacy skills.

Essential Skills Ontario recently released a report – Stronger Together: Toward More Literate Communities that describes the family literacy environment in Ontario by mapping current programming and policy frameworks to identify gaps and opportunities within the system.

Recently, Maria Moriarty from AlphaPlus sat down with Karim Kanji, a host of XConnect show, to talk about the impact of technology on education.

Statistics Canada just published Literacy for Life: Further Results from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, the second report from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey. The report presents additional results on the nature and magnitude of the literacy gaps faced by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and how these gaps have evolved over the medium term.

The WDM – Consultants, Chris Chinien. Ph.D. and France Boutin, Ph.D., carried out a study on behalf of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), designed to re-examine the existing concept of computer use as one of the nine Essential Skills and to make adjustments to more fully reflect the changing skills needs of Canada’s knowledge-based economy.