On January 12, 2023 AlphaPlus hosted another in our series of Community Gabfests.

We started by asking people to share the things that they were proud of from 2022.

The conversation starter is: New Year’s Blended Learning *Aspirations

We talked about

• what is going well
• what we are proud of from 2022
• what we want to try next
• who / what could help us

*not Resolutions – the things that are still in dreams, wishes and ambitions phase of planning.

We had a an amazing conversation about

• what went well in 2022
• the specifics of what it means to start where learners are at when we include digital technology as part of that
• the challenges of supporting learners and reducing barriers to learning in the marketplace of apps and devices
• what educational technology we are using and how it is working
• we shared ideas about what technology we want to use and people in the group who were already using that technology shared their expertise
  • Smartboards and hyflex and hybrid learning – where some learners are in the bricks-and-mortar classroom and some are connecting remotely – and how people are making it work
• bite-sized learning and byte-sized learning (examples: Skillswise and Rumie)
• the AMAZING Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy Smartphone project
• the changing definition of blended learning and how do we know we are doing it
• how to create independent learning modules, or bytes, in an emergent curriculum context and could H5P be part of the solution
• who used the Winter Break H5Ps in their class 🙂

It was inspiring and interesting.

We wrapped up by thanking each other for their contributions and generosity.

• It is amazing to work with people on their learning adventure!
• Thank you so very much everyone. Your inspiration is great!
• Thanks so much for sharing all your wonderful information
• Thank you for inspiring us!
• Thank you for the excellent ideas and resources!

On November 24, 2022 AlphaPlus hosted another in our series of Community Gabfests.

We started by asking people to share the things that people love about them.

Our conversation starter was: Learner identity (and blended learning)
Here is what Wayfinder Evan Hoskins said:

Each learner has a connection to the past to be considered. All teachers know … every student comes to learning with a different backstory … and you have to know how to adapt your teaching methods quickly. For example, one day we’ll be talking to a learner about how they learn while dealing with anxiety. On another day we will have to talk about what happened in their world before they dropped out of high school in grade nine. What made them not feel comfortable on the computer? We as teachers learn how to help the learner work through that emotional pain in order to gain the confidence needed to learn how to use the computer, to get their fingers moving again.

What do you think? How do you navigate this terrain and support learners as they develop their learner identities and confidence?

We had a an amazing conversation about

• what we need to know about people so that they can thrive in literacy programs
• how working with learners is an iterative process of experimentation and discovery as literacy facilitators work to find the learning environments that work best for each participant
• the challenges of supporting learners and reducing barriers to learning while mapping boundaries and expectations
• the challenges of nurturing our own mental health and staying energized so we can do the work that we love
• how pandemic recovery is about more than economic opportunities and assessing where we are in terms of digital technology integration

It was a lot. And it was inspiring and validating.

We wrapped up by thanking each other for their contributions and generosity.

On October 27, 2022 AlphaPlus hosted our second Community Gabfest.

We asked the September participants to share their ideas for conversation starters. We got a great list. We decided to combine two ideas that we thought might go together.

The conversation starter for the October Gabfest is warm ups and motivation.

• What are some warm up ideas instructors use with their class?
• What techniques or approaches are people using to engage learners and keep them motivated on their educational journey?

We started with an Answer Garden warm up: What is your favourite thing about talking to literacy workers?

We used a Jamboard to guide our conversation: Wayfinders Gabfest 2 Jamboard.

More warm ups here:

Building Community in Remote Learning Environments

On September 27, 2022 AlphaPlus hosted our first Community Gabfest.

The conversation starter for the first Gabfest was Jim Tysick’s video The Way Forward.

Jim is an experienced and innovative literacy instructor who works at the Sharbot Lake location of the Northern Connections Adult Learning Centres literacy program. In the summer of 2022, he participated in the AlphaPlus Wayfinders Maker Space and created a video about changing his teaching styles to increase learner agency and independence. In The Way Forward, Jim describes how he is changing from a “sage on the stage” approach to become a “guide on the side” teacher.

Here are two quotes that inspire and inform Jim’s work:

• The one who does the work does the learning. – Terry Doyle
• The purpose of adult education is to help them learn, not to teach them all you know and thus stop them from learning. – Carl Rogers

We used a Jamboard to guide our conversation: Wayfinders Gabfest 1 Jamboard.

Resources mentioned in the video

Scott Young

• Practice Made Perfect: The 10 Keys to Optimize Improvement
• See-Do-Feedback: The Right Way To Practice

Google Applied Digital Skills

• Get Started Guide
• The Digital Skills Library indexes Google Applied Digital Skills by topic. In the search box, under name choose Applied Digital Skills to see the list.