Are you helping learners prepare for the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC)? If so, don’t forget we offer a guide that can help you build their confidence and get ready for what this relatively new assessment really asks.

Our guide to the CAEC — and how it differs from the GED

The CAEC replaced the General Education Development (GED) test in 2024. In response, AlphaPlus created the Preparing Learners for the Canadian Adult Education Credential online guide to help adult literacy educators make the shift. It’s been one year since we launched the guide, and we want to make sure you haven’t forgotten it exists!

If you’re working with a learner who wants to write the CAEC, you’ll need to understand the test’s principles, the online experience, the question types and how to practise effectively. The CAEC is substantially different from the GED, so preparing learners for it requires a different approach.

Here are a few key differences between the CAEC and the GED:

1. The CAEC features genuinely Canadian content; it’s not a light adaptation of the GED. The social studies test and much of the reading test draw on Canadian institutions, perspectives and current issues — they are not just featured as topics here and there.

2. The thinking required goes deeper. The CAEC’s cognitive complexity framework asks candidates to apply concepts and reason, not just recall facts. This is a step up from more familiar test formats.

>> See this section of the guide: CAEC changes and new features compared to the GED®

3. Science and social studies knowledge is actually tested. Unlike the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF) Milestones, the CAEC assesses subject-based content. Your learners will need real knowledge of these subjects, not just reading comprehension. 

>> See this section of the guide: Using OALCF Milestones and Culminating Tasks with CAEC learners. 

4. Question formats are far more varied, including drag-and-drop, ordering and multi-select. Learners will need practice with the format itself (not just the content). 

>> See this section of the guide: Multi-faceted test preparation  

Get familiar with the CAEC now so you’re ready to teach using emerging tools

CAEC instructional materials such as test-preparation workbooks are starting to roll out and become available for purchase. So now is a good time to get ready for them by returning to our free CAEC guide:

• Our guide can help you put the CAEC and the emerging materials into context and make decisions about the right tools for you and your learners.
• There’s a difference between how to teach for CAEC preparation and how to take the test (the focus of the workbooks). We’re helping educators with the former.
• With the guidance of subject matter experts, we’ve also built subject-specific prep guides for reading, writing, math, science and social studies — along with curriculum-planning tools and sample question templates you can use directly.

Our guide won’t fill every gap, but because it was created by Ontario educators for Ontario educators, it’s a reliable place to start.

Don’t forget to use (and share) the CAEC guide

If you’ll be working with learners whose goals include writing the assessment, set aside time to work through the AlphaPlus CAEC guide to get you and your learners ready.

Are you looking for a chance to connect with Get SET practitioners from across Ontario to learn about hot topics and share various tips and perspectives?

Join us this Fall for two more Virtual Showcase sessions where we invite guest presenters to discuss and demonstrate how they use digital technology and implement innovative approaches in their programs. 

These FREE sessions will be 1.5 hours long and ASL interpretation services will be provided.

This Fall, we will focus on:

AI in Get SET programs – annual check in

September 29, 2026, 3 pm to 4:30 pm

Join us for a candid conversation on leveraging AI to transform Get SET programs. You will explore the real-world strategies leaders use to bring their teams along, address staff concerns, and establish smart organizational policies. From streamlining administration and automating workflows to customizing learner resources and boosting participant engagement, this showcase will deliver the practical insights, handy tips, and fresh ideas you can use right away.

Learn more and register for the AI session

Exploring accessibility needs and tools in Get SET programs

October 27, 2026, 3 pm to 4:30 pm

Join us for an insightful conversation on understanding and embedding accessibility into everyday teaching and learning. You will explore strategies to break down digital and instructional barriers, discuss compliance, and learn about building inclusive learning environments. From creating adaptable course materials to selecting assistive technologies and shaping organizational standards, this showcase will deliver actionable tips, concrete examples, and resources you can implement away.

Learn more and register for the Accessibility session

Don’t delay, secure your spot today. 

Are you ready to pick up a few new digital skills this fall?
Our practical, bite-sized Lunch and Learn sessions are coming back! 

Starting in September, we’re bringing you four brand-new Tips and Tricks sessions. Each 30-minute Zoom meeting is filled with useful tools, actionable tips and practical insights to help you stay current, save time, and make the most of your digital workflow.

Here’s what’s coming up:

Gemini Canvas Tips and Tricks

Tuesday, September 22, 2026 | 12:30 – 1:00 PM

Get started with Gemini Canvas, Google’s workspace for creating and collaborating with AI.
Learn how to generate and refine content, organize ideas, and create digital quizzes from your materials to review key concepts, strengthen retention, and support personalized learning for you and your learners.

Register now

Zoom Whiteboard Tips and Tricks

Tuesday, November 3, 2026 | 12:30 – 1:00 PM

Unlock the potential of Zoom Whiteboard. Learn how to capture ideas, collaborate with teams and learners in real time, and use templates, drawing tools, and sticky notes to bring concepts to life and keep everyone engaged.

Register now

Managing Tasks Tips and Tricks

Tuesday, January 5, 2027 | 12:30 – 1:00 PM

Take control of your to-do list! Explore tools for creating task lists, assigning and sharing tasks, setting reminders, and tracking progress so you can stay focused and collaborate more effectively to keep projects on track and reduce duplication.

Register now

Google for Nonprofits Tips and Tricks

Tuesday, February 9, 2027 | 12:30 – 1:00 PM

Discover how Google for Nonprofits can support your organization’s mission. Learn about the free and discounted tools available through the program, including Google Workspace, Google Ad Grants, YouTube Nonprofit Program, and Google Earth and Maps features that can help you reduce costs, increase impact and connect with communities.

Register now

Don’t miss out! These sessions are perfect for anyone looking to stay sharp, save time, and make the most of today’s digital tools. Learn more at https://alphaplus.ca/our-services/lunch-learn. 

Questions? Please contact Monika at monika@alphaplus.ca.

Have you been using the free, reproducible and adaptable instructional resources we’ve curated in our open educational resources (OER) collection? Do you need help finding useful teaching material?

In May, we surveyed adult literacy educators in Ontario, asking you to share your favourite resources from the OER collection. We wanted to better understand your experience with the collection and to share back some of your favourites — which we’re doing here today!

Educators’ favourite open educational resources

We were interested to see multiple people highlight math resources. Here’s a look at one math favourite and what else is resonating, in educators’ own words:

Adult education math course: “I like the length. Some math resources have too much information or too many practice questions. I like that these lessons are short. I also like the practice questions vs objective questions.”

— Jannah Bender, instructor/program lead, skills upgrading program – UGDSB

Paving the way to lasting employment — video series demonstrating workplace communication and culture: “The videos bring to life the importance of good customer service and encourage students to reflect on how they would handle various situations in a professional setting. The exercises accommodate a variety of learning styles. By encouraging discussion, students are able to use critical thinking skills and are more likely to retain the information presented.”

— Carol Anne Maloney, coordinator of volunteers, Tri-County Literacy Council

Read faster, understand more — advanced academic reading skills for English language learners: “Good strategies for higher-level reading skills and detailed explanations. We have lots of lower-level materials, but sometimes need more at a higher level. (Also, I will remind my colleagues again about these resources as there are some really good ones here. We all teach different classes/levels and there is definitely something for everyone.)”

— Georgina Smith, Get SET instructor, Ottawa Catholic School Board

Foundational digital skills and knowledge — cell phones and AI: “I used a lot of the resources about cell phones to help me build my own cell phone class. I feel like a curated collection like this is more likely to have reliable information and safe links. As well, I particularly liked the resources for helping people find and identify reliable sources of information. We all struggle with this!”

— Jane Wouda, instructor/practitioner, Training and Learning Centre

Online safety and engagement: “I find all of these resources very interesting, especially the ones from Get Cyber Safe. I deliver cybersecurity basics training at Adult Learning Centres and am always looking for reliable, engaging materials for seniors, who are a particularly vulnerable group.”

— Diana Zarzosa, learning facilitator, Adult Learning Centres – Collingwood

Favourite sections: reading, job preparation, digital skills

Respondents also highlighted favourite sections in the collection, including reading instruction, job preparation and hiring. Here are two comments about the foundational digital skills and knowledge section:

“I like the way it is set up with the links to the major categories easy to see on the main page. I have used some of the resources for my digital workshops and individual learnings. I have used the online safety information.”

— Barb Mills, facilitator, Peterborough Native Learning Program

“This particular resource is wonderful for when I’m working one-on-one with clients who are learning to use their specific digital tools or devices in order to make their lives better. It’s great to have a one-stop shop to easily navigate various resources so that I don’t have to spend a ton of time searching for a very specific handout or activity that I can do with them. Generally, I’m teaching on the fly and I don’t like to take time away from them to find materials. This just makes things easier for me and faster for them so it’s a win-win.”

— Jenna Nantais, instructor, UHC

AlphaPlus observations, favourites and new additions

We’re happy to see educators making use of this library. It’s a rich international collection of high-quality English-language materials that have been tested and validated. By making tools, often from other jurisdictions, available to Ontario practitioners, we hope to complement what’s been developed in the province.

Here are a couple of insights that came up for us from reviewing the survey results:

• There were a few requests about it, so don’t forget that we offer an entire online guide dedicated to preparing learners for the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC)!
• The empowering learners section sits further down in the OER collection, so we want to make sure you don’t miss it. The resources in this section include topical reading that’s interesting, motivating and informative. 
• After the survey kicked off, we added two new resources in the literature and poetry section:
  • Poetry in Voice for teaching poetry through Grade 12.
  • Blackout poetry – digital literacy in creative ways, a workshop using poetry as an engagement lens on mindsets, learning, creativity and literacies.

Please help us ensure this collection is working for you

Finally, here’s a comment from Jane Wouda, instructor/practitioner, Training and Learning Centre, that resonated with us:

“I feel like a curated collection like this is more likely to have reliable information and safe links.”

We want other adult literacy educators in Ontario to feel supported in this way, and here’s how you can be a part of that:

1. Explore the collection to discover what’s available for you and your learners. If you need help navigating it, sign up for a digital tour.
2. Reach out to Guylaine if you’re looking for something specific. She can either point you in the right direction or include it in her ongoing scans for high-quality resources.
3. Share the collection with someone you know!

Visible thinking routines can help adult literacy educators create reflective, engaging learning environments by making learners’ ideas, questions and reasoning easier to see and support. In March, AlphaPlus hosted a well-attended and dynamic workshop series on visible thinking routines, and now we’re sharing the topic with those who were unable to attend.

In this Q&A, AlphaPlus team member Tracey Mollins explains what visible thinking routines are, why they matter and how educators can use them to give learners more space to think — during a time when AI tools are making the learning process less visible.

Helping to make learners’ thinking visible: Q&A with Tracey Mollins

Q: What are visible thinking routines?

A: Project Zero (at Harvard) defines a thinking routine as a set of questions or a brief sequence of steps used to scaffold and support student thinking. Thinking routines are designed to deepen students’ thinking and to help make that thinking “visible.” 

Q: What do visible thinking routines look like in action?

A: Visible thinking refers to any observable representation that documents and supports the development of a learner’s ongoing thoughts, questions, reasons and reflections. Examples include mind maps, charts, lists, diagrams, worksheets — anything that reveals learners’ unfolding ideas as they think through an issue, problem or topic.

Q: What led you to feature this topic in the workshop series?

A: Exploring visible thinking routines was a nice balance to tech-heavy topics and a return to other parts of blended learning, such as reflection and critical thinking. This topic gave workshop participants a chance to think about the fun parts of their practice.

Q: How do visible thinking routines help educators?

A: Educators can experiment with visible thinking routines to teach new material and to see how individuals and groups tackle learning. Adding visible thinking routines to our practice reminds us, as teachers, to address the duality of teaching and learning. Sometimes we can focus on the acquisition of skills, which is essential, and lose sight of the equally essential exploratory elements of good learning.

Q: How do visible thinking routines help learners?

A: Visible thinking routines build time for reflection into the formal learning process instead of leaving it to people to do on their own. Rather than coming up with the “correct” answer right away, these routines give learners space to think, ask questions and ponder, What if? what if not? how else could this be done? or what’s the other side of the case?

These routines help learners stay curious and open-minded, and see learning as a process of exploration and experimentation, not just as a path to a prescribed outcome.

Q: How can visible thinking routines help now that learners are increasingly using AI?

A: Some of the benefits of AI (personalized assistance, quick feedback) might be drawbacks for teachers. When learners use AI to help plan their work and find answers, their thinking becomes less visible to the learning community as a whole and to the teacher in particular. Visible thinking routines help preserve parts of the learning process that AI can obscure.

Furthermore, the promise of AI is a life without friction, but this so-called friction is where learning happens. As Sonja Drimmer says, “Learning is the result of human grappling with the parts of the world that resist us and our capacity to understand.” Visible thinking routines can help teachers and learners take the “frictiony” parts of learning and break them down into manageable chunks. 

Q: What technologies can instructors use to apply these strategies?

A: During the sessions, we discussed several technologies that can make thinking routines visible, such as Padlet, Book Creator and Figma. However, it’s important to remember that you can also do this work using common apps learners may encounter at school or work, such as Canva, Word, PowerPoint and the Google Workspace versions of these tools.

Q: What participant insights stood out to you from the workshop?

A: One thing that stood out for me is the idea of wonder. Often, adult learners come to school feeling they have to have the right answers, but visible thinking routines help them consider possibilities.

Also, visible thinking routines help us return to tried-and-true practices for figuring out what learners want to learn and how they’ll learn it, so that as teachers, we can properly personalize their learning and keep them engaged and motivated. These routines help us see how learners’ thinking is evolving and engage them in conversations that help them continue to evolve. Though some people want efficiency, many desire breadth and enjoy the detours.

Did you miss our last session on visible thinking routines? Check out the session slides and contact Tracey with any questions.

With all the events we organize and host, it might be hard to keep up with the various dates and the email announcements/reminders we send out. 

To make things easier, we have added an Events menu to our website.

We have also organized the events into three colour-coded categories, allowing you to quickly identify different types of activities and find the events most relevant to you.

We used Google Calendar for AlphaPlus Events because it’s easy to share on a website and gives you an option to add it directly to your own Google Calendar (simply click on Add to Google Calendar in the lower left corner). When added, you will see all upcoming AlphaPlus events alongside your other calendars.

We hope this new tool will help improve visibility, sharing and participation in our events.

Please take a moment to explore the Events menu and feel free to send us feedback and/or share it with your networks.

In March, when we announced the retirement of AlphaPlus team member Christine Pinsent-Johnson, I promised to follow up with more personal reflections about Christine’s impact.

Christine joined the AlphaPlus staff team in 2018, after four years of collaborating with us as a freelance researcher. During her time with us, Christine has helped shape not only what we do but also how we think about supporting educators and communities.

AlphaPlus board member Farra Yasin puts Christine’s contributions into context:

“Christine is a well-respected scholar in adult literacy education who has made an invaluable contribution to our field. Her work addressed the emerging landscape of digital literacies in the 1990s and the era of social media to the present. Her research dug into the roots of large-scale assessment and its impact on education programming and policies. Her institutional knowledge and commitment to adult education programming will be missed, but I know she will continue to be an advocate of digital affordance to empower our communities.”

A voice for adult literacy educators in Ontario

Christine has always been a voice for the adult literacy sector, asking challenging questions of her AlphaPlus colleagues, the Ministry and the field as a whole. For example, she has consistently called attention to the barriers that learners and educators must overcome. Two lasting examples are the policy papers Christine co-authored with former AlphaPlus staff member Matthias Sturm. One paper illustrates how inequitable access to the internet affects adults in Ontario, and the other explores how adult education is the missing piece to bridging that digital divide.

Looking back, Christine describes the importance of this work: “I’m proud of these policy papers, which explored how the digital divide affects adult literacy learners. Those projects created space to step back and highlight challenges that practitioners experience but rarely have time to articulate themselves.”

Understanding teaching practice

With her empathy for the role educators play and the work they do, Christine has opened my eyes to two big lessons related to teaching practice. The first lesson was about shifting perspectives from deficit thinking. Rather than focusing on what learners are missing, start with what they’re already good at and the goals they want to achieve.
Christine has also re-centred reading and writing as the best long-term strategy for providing people with opportunities and power. At AlphaPlus, this has meant a shift from a “learning about tech” perspective on digital skills to an emphasis on the impact these technologies have on a learner’s ability to read and write.

Practical support that reduces the burden on educators

Christine has pushed very strongly to remind our team that educators, working in this system with all its challenges, don’t need more things to do or learn. Rather, they need us to reduce the burden for them. In the last few years, Christine has translated her insights and critiques of the problems in Ontario’s adult literacy system into practical solutions she has co-created:

• The open educational resources (OER) collection helps literacy programs access hundreds of free workbooks, online modules, learning activities and assessments.
• The Preparing Learners for the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC) guide helps educators get up to speed with the digital, content and cognitive complexity changes learners will need to prepare for this new test.

“Developing an open educational resources collection and supporting educators as they began working with the new Canadian Adult Education Credential were also meaningful parts of my time here,” shares Christine. “Both aimed, in small ways, to ease pressures on educators’ limited time while offering flexible supports that respect their professional judgment and diverse teaching contexts.”

Christine’s legacy and impact on AlphaPlus

The expertise Christine brought to her role spanned policy, research, curriculum development and on-the-ground experience as a literacy volunteer, tutor coordinator and instructor. She created a mindset shift within AlphaPlus, and her influence will continue to shape our work for months and years to come. It feels fitting to leave the final word to her:

“While I’m stepping away from my formal position, I’m not leaving these conversations behind. I look forward to continuing to explore projects that highlight the amazing work and challenges that practitioners experience.

As I move on, I want to acknowledge the educators who sustain this field every day. Adult literacy work is often invisible, yet it calls for deep expertise, adaptability and commitment. I’m grateful for what I’ve learned from this community, and it has been a privilege to contribute in small ways to that ongoing work.”

Warmly,

Alan Cherwinski
Executive Director, AlphaPlus

Express yourself creatively

This June, join us for an exploration of how to keep creativity flowing in the literacy classroom. We are going to take a dive into resources, tools and approaches that support creative writing instruction. 

What to expect

In 3 Zoom sessions (90 minutes each), we will:

• Explore lesson plans that encourage creative expression, reading and writing.
• Tap into your own creativity.
• Expand your list of Open Education Resources. 
• Experiment with digital tools that can support writing skills and the development of digital competencies. 

Start the summer inspired

• Hearing what other instructors are doing in their classroom, how they are innovating, will help you see your work with fresh eyes and validate your experiences. 
• Having an opportunity to play and create is a powerful way to renew your energy, purpose, and excitement about your work.  
• After the workshops, take the summer to reflect upon what inspires you creatively and what might similarly inspire the learners in your program.

This training series is three workshops:  Wednesday June  10, 17 and 24, 2026 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

See what happened

See what other workshop series are coming up: Workshops at AlphaPlus

Or you may be interested in a quick update at a Lunch and Learn.

And to see what colleagues around the province are achieving with the help of educational technology, join us for a Virtual Showcase.