This spring, our sector made a sudden shift to communicating, working, and teaching online. As LBS programs made the transition to remote delivery, we realized this was an opportunity to learn more about how our sector was working and adapting to this unprecedented and unplanned change. What were their new priorities and how were those […]

This August, Alan Cherwinski and Christine Pinsent-Johnson represented the AlphaPlus team during an adult literacy roundtable discussion with Jill Andrew, MPP for Toronto–St. Paul’s. They were joined by Reb Chevalier of Parkdale Project Read and organizer Phylicia Davis-Wesseling, founder and program manager of the KGO Adult Literacy Program. Together, the group discussed how the COVID-19 […]

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. […]

The Learner Gains Research Project is bringing the Essential Skills for Employment and Education (ESEE) online assessment to LBS programs. AlphaPlus has been keeping an eye on the ESEE practice test pilot including issues, discussions, and the response from our sector. To help keep the conversation going, we are highlighting a new blog called ‘Policy […]

In 2014-15, AlphaPlus was involved in a research project examining current assessment practices related to the OALCF Use Digital Technology Milestones, the alignment between the Milestones and program learning and reporting trends. Our study concludes that the Milestones and accompanying administration guidelines work counter to the ministry’s objective for the OALCF to “improve service delivery, […]

While they’re not exactly “beach reads”, these two recently released reports make for very interesting and relevant reading for anyone interested in how to support adult students in navigating the digital world for employment, and in how to use technology to bridge time and distance. First up is, Adults, Computers and Problem Solving What’s the Problem? […]

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 […]

AlphaPlus’ most recent publication, Adult Learners and Digital Media: Exploring the usage of digital media with adult literacy learners, reports on the results of a study that documented the perceptions and experiences of ten adult learners using digital media to create their own digital texts. The learners were then asked to reflect on how they think digital media […]

AlphaPlus’ most recent publication Adult Learners and Digital Media: Exploring the usage of digital media with adult literacy learners reports on research based on the study of the perceptions and experiences of ten adult learners with digital media as they work through small group sessions to create their own digital texts and then reflect on whether and how they think that digital media might help them build digital literacy skills and whether they might be able to apply these skills in their daily lives.

We are excited to announce that our report on a short-term project that provides a snapshot of the unique, innovative and exciting ways in which four adult literacy programs in Toronto are using digital technologies for teaching and learning is now available.