What is the current state of professional development for adult literacy instructors in Ontario? This is a question we’ve been exploring over the last year.

Since spring 2024, AlphaPlus has been researching the complexities surrounding professional development in our sector. The research, commissioned by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD), was completed this spring, and we’d like to share a few top-level findings and recommendations with you.

Why research the state of professional development?

Although the ministry commissioned this research, we too were interested in deepening our understanding of the topic beyond what we know anecdotally. As an organization dedicated to supporting adult literacy programs, we wanted to learn more about the most effective professional development formats, the challenges and barriers you encounter, and the factors that impact your participation, engagement, and ability to apply the knowledge you gain. We also wanted to explore potential solutions and models to support successful implementation. Recognizing that professional development is often underfunded and undervalued, understanding strategic paths forward is critical.

What we learned reflects what we already know: barriers and needs

To do this work, we contracted a researcher who conducted a literature review and facilitated 26.5 hours of focus groups and interviews with 30 individuals from across all delivery sectors and cultural streams. Here’s a glimpse of what we learned.

To foster meaningful participation in professional development, you need flexible and inclusive delivery formats, opportunities to design and test practical tools aligned with real-world needs and culturally responsive and holistic materials that are developed collaboratively.

Underlying these specifics is a need for structural investment in professional development that is separate from service delivery funding to ensure sustainability and effectiveness. Here’s what one research participant from a community-based program had to say: “If it’s just another line item in our service agreement with no additional support or flexibility, we won’t be able to do it — not without cutting something else.”

Potential solutions

While the research findings reflect what we already know anecdotally, they sharpen the focus on a few key points. Primary among these is the structural issue of dedicated funding for professional development. We also propose a set of four recommendations:

1. Piloting paid professional development time

2. Establishing a centralized provincial professional development hub for tools, learning events, and sector knowledge

3. Supporting peer-led maker spaces and informal mentorship networks

4. Exploring micro-credentials to support recognition of practitioner growth and development.

Some of these recommendations draw on options currently offered by subsets of our community; we suggest combining complementary approaches to work synergistically. See the full report to learn more about how your peers are implementing professional development, and for the details of our recommendations.

Using the data to find a path forward

We know that ongoing professional development is valuable and necessary to support your success and effectiveness. We recognize that, as a field, we are doing all we can under the current circumstances. And we know that optimizing professional development for adult literacy educators will require both a financial commitment and strong leadership. Although not surprising, this research provides the data we need to find a path forward.

Access the professional development research report

We encourage you to download the summary or the full report, explore this research in further detail and use it to inform conversations with your team (which we’ll be doing here at AlphaPlus) and with the ministry.

This June, join us for a four-workshop series about different approaches to teaching and learning information literacy with a focus on digital media.

June 5, 12, 19, and 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Learn new things about information literacy

An essential 21st century skill is learning how to distinguish information that is reliable from disinformation, misinformation and fake news. We all struggle with this at times. Information literacy requires an understanding of the media landscape and knowledge about how to use our critical thinking skills in this landscape. It is very difficult for us to keep up-to-date as this landscape shifts and evolves.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were resources that meet the needs of the people who want to learn about information literacy AND teachers who want to develop instructional approaches to engaging learners in conversations about information literacy?

Explore resources with teachers

We have been researching online curriculum resources that meet both those needs. We  are inviting you to explore them with us and curate your own collection.

Become part of a cohort of creative teachers in a facilitated, collaborative environment and:

• Engage with peers in rich conversations about the practice of teaching.
• Explore examples of resources that support teaching and learning in adult literacy programs.
• Curate a selection of co-learning resources to use with learners.

We will take a look at curriculum resources that: 

• Enhance our knowledge of how news and information is created and disseminated.
• Expand our capacity to evaluate information and information sources.

Engage learners in discussions about information literacy

These resources include teacher-facing guides, instructions, objectives and/or teaching tips and support instructors to:

• Cover a topic comprehensively.
• Build a series of lessons that flow together. 
• Co-learn rather than feel pressure to be the expert.

Attendance policy 😊

We hope that you will find all the workshops relevant to your work and will want to attend the complete series. We think it will be beneficial to the group to have a cohort that develops a discussion over four weeks but we also know that people are busy and have to make choices. We will share an outline so that you will have the information you need to make the choices that work for you.

To learn more, read about how Tracey and Guylaine planned these workshops or contact Tracey and Guylaine directly.

Join us June 5, 12, 19 and 26 between 11:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. 

Have you met Tracey Mollins, an AlphaPlus team member and our professional learning specialist in education and technology? Tracey is our internal lead for professional development and training. She’s the driving force behind many of the in-depth learning series and professional communities we facilitate for adult literacy educators.

Tracey and Guylaine Vinet (see our Q&A with Guylaine and Christine Pinsent-Johnson) are preparing to host a series of gatherings exploring information literacy in June. Check out this interview to get to know Tracey and learn more about what to expect from the gatherings.

Community of practice: Interview with co-lead Tracey Mollins

Tracey, how would you describe your role at AlphaPlus?

I’m here to support teachers looking to expand or enhance their practice in some way: by learning new things, reflecting on current practices, sharing ideas with others — or all three. I try to learn what teachers want to learn and how they like to learn it and then experiment to figure out what’s actually possible. In many ways, I bring my experience as a literacy instructor to the work I do now.

What’s your approach to creating learning spaces?

I aim to create an experience where teachers can engage in activities and reflect on them from a perspective they haven’t considered before. I try to create a shell for them — a guided process for reflection that will be helpful, allow for open outcomes and, hopefully, move their practice somewhere. I enjoy the balance of making the container tight enough that everyone has a good, supported experience but loose enough that surprising things can happen.

Why is it important to bring adult literacy educators together?

Any time you get adult literacy teachers together to talk about their practice, it’s an interesting time. They’re very thoughtful about their work and focused on creating good learning experiences for the huge diversity of people that come into their programs or our field as a whole. We want to encourage and make space for that to happen.

Why did you select information literacy as the topic for the upcoming sessions?

We know that adult literacy educators want to talk to learners about information literacy. But because the topic is constantly changing, it’s really hard to navigate and maintain your expertise on it.

We’ve discovered a suite of valuable online information literacy curriculum resources designed to support teachers’ work. We decided to offer an exploratory, conversational experience where Ontario adult literacy educators can examine the materials together and discuss how to use them.

How will the upcoming community of practice be structured?

First, participants will experience the information literacy curriculum materials as learners. Then they’ll step back and think as classroom teachers and instructional designers. We’ll reflect on questions like:

• How would I want to approach this topic with the learners I work with?
• Would these materials work for them?
• What would I have to do to make them work?

We’ll meet once a week over four weeks, with space between each session for the information to settle and gel, and for participants to reflect and think things through.

How will participants benefit from the experience?

At a minimum, participants will learn something new about information literacy, which will be fun. This will also be an opportunity to have a conversation with their peers about teaching — a chance they don’t often get. However, the biggest benefit we’re hoping for is for participants to return to these curriculum resources when information literacy questions arise. They’ll be ready to review specific topics as co-learners in the classroom. They don’t have to be experts.

Participants can attend for any one of these benefits. Come and see how it goes!

How will your expertise and experience shape these sessions?

Guylaine and I will be collaborating to deliver these sessions. Guylaine is a librarian at heart. She really understands information literacy as well as equitable access to good information that helps us understand and participate in our communities. She’s also an amazing facilitator. As a teacher, my excitement and energy come from being in a room where someone is learning something new or grappling with a challenge. With Guylaine’s librarian experience and my classroom experience with literacy learners, we’re a good complement to each other.

What else do you want participants to know about these upcoming gatherings?

These sessions will take place in June, when we’re getting ready for the summer. So come and spend these four weeks with us in a delightful atmosphere of thinking about something new or in a different way. Let’s share that space with each other and create something new for ourselves.

Get the full details and register for our upcoming community of practice: Exploring Information Literacy Curriculum Resources. If you have questions, contact Tracey or Guylaine directly — they’ll be happy to help.

In this three-workshop series, facilitated by Tom Driscoll, learn about a powerful and practical set of strategies known as “visible thinking routines” that can help enhance literacy instruction.  Utilizing existing instructional materials, these routines can enhance learners’ ability to activate prior knowledge, make connections and predictions, retain information, thinking critically, and more!  We will also explore ways that educational technologies can enhance the impact of these strategies while making lessons more engaging.  

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

• Workshop 1 Theme:  What are visible thinking routines, how do they help learners, and what do they look like in action?
• Workshop 2 Theme: How can educational technologies enhance visible thinking strategies?
• Workshop 3 Themes:  How can I utilize visible thinking strategies with my existing resources?

The training series is three workshops:

• Thursday May 15, 22 and 29 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

If you’re interested, secure your spot. And don’t forget to invite tutors working in your programs.

Join our interactive 30-minute Lunch & Learn sessions designed especially for adult literacy educators. Explore innovative digital tool features, learn practical tips, and uncover special settings that can help you support your learners more effectively.

FALL & WINTER SESSIONS

Help shape our future topics! Save these dates and click here to suggest a tool or topic for upcoming sessions:

• Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 12:30–1:00 pm – Topic TBD
  Pre-register
• Tuesday, November 4, 2025, 12:30–1:00 pm – Topic TBD
  Pre-register
• Tuesday, January 6, 2026, 12:30–1:00 pm – Topic TBD
  Pre-register
• Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 12:30–1:00 pm – Topic TBD
  Pre-register

It’s a busy time at AlphaPlus, with a full roster of events to help you integrate technology into your adult literacy program. From presentations to training to peer groups, our spring lineup is full of opportunities to connect, learn and exchange ideas.

There’s no shortage of digital tools and tech integration strategies for adult literacy practitioners and coordinators. This spring, our focus is on making the most of them. Together, let’s explore the answers to questions such as:

• Which tools work for organizations? For teaching?
• What technologies and teaching strategies can we leverage to have the greatest impact and engagement from learners?
• How can we build and adapt resources to engage and empower adult learners?

Check out the following overview to pick the right opportunity for you. And remember that everything we do at AlphaPlus is free for adult literacy education programs in Ontario.

AlphaPlus spring events to support you

Lunch & Learns

At each Lunch & Learn, we’ll explore a specific digital tool through hands-on demonstrations and Q&A, led by AlphaPlus team member Monika. The focus is on picking up tips and getting familiar with tool-specific features and special settings useful for adult literacy educators.

Format: 30-minute live online interactive presentation

Commitment: Light. Select an individual session based on the topics/tools that interest you.

Upcoming topic: 

• May 13 → Canva
• More to come in the fall starting September 23.

Can you spare 30 minutes to pick up tips about a tool you use – or would like to use? Get the Lunch & Learn details and register.

Virtual Showcases

Each Virtual Showcase features guests from community-based, school board and college programs, demonstrating how they use digital technology. The focus is on learning approaches, strategies and tips from your peers.

Format: 90-minute live online presentation

Commitment: Light. Show up when you can, for the topic that interests you.

Upcoming topics:

• May 6 → Growing Your LBS Community: Innovative and Practical Ways to Enhance Your Engagement Strategies
• June 3 → Succession, Contingency and Onboarding Planning: Ensuring Continuity in Your Program

Do you have 90 minutes to learn from your peers? Get the Virtual Showcase details and register.

Training

Our training series take place over multiple sessions with in-depth instruction, demonstration, real-life examples and opportunities to engage with the instructor and fellow participants. The focus is on enhancing your teaching strategies and digital skills so you can create engaging and interactive learning experiences.

Format: Three live, sequential 90-minute online sessions

Commitment: Medium. We encourage you to participate in all three sessions of a training series.

Upcoming topic: Enhancing Literacy Skills With Visible Thinking Strategies (May 15, 22 and 29 from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m)

• May 15 → What are visible thinking routines, how do they help learners and what do they look like in action?
• May 22 → How can educational technologies enhance visible thinking strategies?
• May 29 → How can I utilize visible thinking strategies with my existing resources?

Can you set aside time once a week for three weeks to build your digital skills? Get the training details and register.

Communities of Practice

At our communities of practice, you’ll gather as a group of peers to explore specific teaching resources (e.g. curriculum) and how they would apply in an Ontario adult literacy context and in your classroom. The focus is on in-depth discovery and exploration of resources.

Format: Four live, sequential 90-minute online sessions

Commitment: Extended. Please plan to attend and actively participate in every meeting (all four).

Upcoming topic: Information Literacy (June 5, 12, 19 and 26 11:30 a.m to 1 p.m)

What you will experience in the four sessions: 

• Engagement with your peers in rich conversations about the practice of teaching.
• Exploration of resources that cover the topic of information literacy comprehensively.
• An opportunity to curate a series of lessons that flow together. 
• Opportunities to  co-learn, rather than feel pressure to be the expert.

Would you like to spend four weeks working with your peers to explore adult literacy approaches? Get the community of practice details and register.

Select the event that meets your needs and secure your spot.

Which event in our spring lineup meets your current needs and availability? Would you prefer to join quick drop-in-style events to help you pick up new ideas and tips? Can you commit to a series of training sessions to build your digital skills? Are you ready for ongoing work with your peers to deeply explore relevant topics and approaches?

Follow the links to each offering for full details, and let us know if you have any questions about finding the best fit for you. We’re here to help you learn and explore.

Is there a big technology project you need to tackle for your adult literacy program? Where should you start? According to Andrea Maggrah, executive director at Atikokan Literacy Incorporated’s Adult Learning Centre, the answer for programs in Ontario is simple: get help from an AlphaPlus technology coach.

When Andrea started working in her current position in June 2023, she was relatively new to the adult literacy field. As she got oriented to the organization, which had undergone several leadership changes, Andrea identified two potential areas for technology improvement: the website and file sharing.

“Our website was built on a platform that none of our employees had experience managing. To make content changes, we needed to work with an external person, and co-ordinating that in a timely way was a challenge,” explains Andrea. “As for document management, we were each mostly working on our local drives, and we needed to have a way to share certain types of documents. I wanted to make everyone’s life easier and more efficient — and eliminate the need to interrupt someone working with a student just to get a document!”

Connecting with a technology coach

Andrea’s search for solutions led her to the AlphaPlus website: “I saw that AlphaPlus offers coaching for adult literacy providers, so I contacted them about the cost. I was amazed to discover that there’s a group of people with this level of knowledge about both technology and adult literacy providing these services for free.”

Andrea was connected with Monika Jankowska-Pacyna. Monika is an organizational development specialist in education and technology and one of the team members who delivers one-on-one coaching. Monika and Andrea started by meeting to discuss Atikokan Literacy’s needs.

One solution for website and file management: Google tools

After their initial meeting, Andrea and Monika created a plan that outlined their priorities, the types of support Monika would provide (including guidance, training and direct hands-on support) and the frequency of their meetings. Monika suggested using Google tools for a unified solution: transitioning to Google Sites for the website and adopting Google Workspace for file and document management.

Andrea and Monika began meeting every two weeks. During their calls, Monika provided assistance, answered questions, set up next steps and then left the team to do their part until the next check-in two weeks later.

Project setbacks and delays

Implementing technology change is not always straightforward. For Monika and Andrea, hurdles and setbacks have included missing information about who managed access to the domain, difficulties making technical changes with the hosting provider and waiting periods within the Google Workspace setup. In addition, in the middle of the project, Atikokan Literacy acquired a new building. This opportunity to expand programming was good news, but it forced another pause in the technology projects.

“We ran into delays, but with the program’s patience and trust in us, we persisted,” says Monika, “Many small literacy programs are in the same situation, and we work hard to help them find their footing. We do a lot of checking, research and support, and we guide them through the changes. Our coaching support is not only about training but also about helping programs through the process when obstacles arise.”

“Monika was incredibly accommodating: if we needed to pause, she was happy to wait for us,” reflects Andrea. “And she’s on top of every challenge or question we have. Even if she doesn’t have the answer, she’s already thinking about who she can contact, refer us to and get us to the point we need to reach.”

Coaching results: Technology improvements and skill building

Today, Andrea is pleased to be making progress toward her original vision. Atikokan Literacy will soon have a new website with staff trained to manage content and updates. They will be equipped to use their newly acquired Google Sites knowledge to build additional websites for specific programs if necessary, and they are building and organizing Google folders for the team. Andrea is also starting to work with AlphaPlus on a new potential project: using digital technology to share a new curriculum with other literacy programs in the North and elsewhere.

“I’ve learned a lot from these coaching sessions, including how to do some of the processes that I didn’t have under my belt before,” says Andrea. “Knowing that a place like AlphaPlus is available to us and that we don’t have to figure it all out on our own is really amazing and valuable. If you’re apprehensive about technology change, that is the very reason to reach out and get the support of an AlphaPlus coach.”

A new round of coaching spots is open for spring 2025. Contact us to learn more about how you can implement technology change with the support of an AlphaPlus technology coach.

Open educational resources (OER) discovery series email tour

Are you passionate about teaching adult learners — and having the best tools to do it?

Join our email-based tour of the AlphaPlus Open educational resources (OER) collection. This is your opportunity to delve into a library of open and modifiable resources carefully curated and vetted by your fellow Ontario adult literacy educators.

Sign up today to unlock:

• Weekly emails over six engaging weeks, highlighting various sections of the collection, such as reading, writing, math, and job preparation. 
• Previews of free, reproducible, and modifiable workbooks, lessons, activities, modules, slide sets, and complete courses. 
• Our expert tips on getting the most out of the collection, delivered in concise, easy-to-read emails. 

Join our OER discovery series

Don’t miss out. Join your fellow educators who are already benefiting from these valuable resources. Sign up for the discovery series today! 

Have you met Christine Pinsent-Johnson and Guylaine Vinet? They’re the AlphaPlus team members behind the open educational resources (OER) collection, an online library of resources that you may already be using.

The story of the collection began a few years ago. In response to the need for digital materials that adult literacy instructors could use with remote learners during the pandemic, Christine and Guylaine started exploring available resources. They discovered a range of free materials being developed and distributed, including open resources that could be modified for educational purposes.

Their exploration evolved into a project to build an online library of open resources. Tapping into Guylaine’s library science expertise and Christine’s background in teaching as well as co-ordinating and supporting educators, they collaborated with an advisory group of Ontario literacy professionals from community and school board programs, representing both urban and rural settings.

Today, the OER collection boasts over 200 educational resources for adult literacy teaching, many of which can be adapted to suit your needs. Read this interview to learn more about the collection and to meet the team behind it.

OER collection: Interview with the team

Q: How do you hope educators will benefit from using this collection?

Christine: Over the years, there’s been a significant change in publishing and resource access. As adult literacy educators, we used to receive a catalogue of resources from booksellers. You would simply search through it, and the work of curating, purchasing and sharing was handled. Today, all of that has disappeared, and finding resources, assessing their quality and building a personal collection is extremely time-consuming. We’ve taken on the searching, curating and organizing work to provide a tailored and ready-made collection specifically for adult literacy educators in Ontario.

Q: How did you decide what resources to include?

Guylaine: The working group confirmed our initial criteria to guide curation decisions and told us what they needed: modifiable and open resources focusing on the core domains of reading, writing, digital skills, mathematics and numeracy. We established that instructional resources had to be free, modifiable, reproducible and ready-to-use and had to include teaching tips and guidance.

At first, the open resources we found were mostly academic and didn’t meet the needs of our audience. So we looked at who might be publishing what learners need. Christine was very proactive, contacting the organizations directly. We discovered that valuable, relevant materials that instructors don’t have the time to explore and uncover are available. We reviewed and evaluated hundreds of options, but only select resources were included in our collection.

Q: What are some of your favourite resources in the OER collection and why?

Christine: Phonics — if you’re looking elsewhere, you might end up paying for a comprehensive package. But we found two completely free, open, comprehensive examples that we included in the collection. And the collection from Decoda in British Columbia [please verify] was a wonderful surprise: a comprehensive set of modifiable, open workbooks.

Guylaine: We’re also hearing that instructors are excited about the sections on basic math, empowering learners, literacy development supports, and resources to update educators’ skills and knowledge.

Are there any innovative or unique aspects of this collection that you’d like to highlight?

Christine: Two things stand out. Because websites change — for example, they move or are taken down — we’ve made modified resources available in a Google Drive collection. The other is the traffic light (red, yellow, green) system we developed to help users distinguish between copyrighted, shareable and modifiable resources.

Q: What are your plans for adding to or evolving the collection?

Christine: The collection is currently quite comprehensive. When we receive suggestions, we often find they’re covered. However, we recognize that many of the resources are PDF workbooks designed for pen and paper, so we’ve been considering making them more interactive to encompass learning and digital skills and support hybrid learning.

Q: What advice do you have for educators using the collection for the first time?

Guylaine: Make yourself a cup of coffee and browse like you’re flipping through a catalogue, starting with where your interest is. Start where your question is, for example, Is there anything for reading and intermediate learners? Begin with your most pressing question or issue and as you browse, you might find other helpful content.

Q: What else do adult literacy educators in Ontario need to know about the collection?

Christine: Access to good content is only one part of the AlphaPlus approach. We think a lot about how to help adult literacy educators use content and knowledge. This project aligns with our philosophy of leveraging technology and tools, modelling what can be done and supporting educators in integrating products into their programs. We’re here to support you further through our services.

Explore the collection: Sign up for the guided tour

Are you ready to explore the OER collection?

We know the collection is vast and you might need help getting oriented. That’s why we’ve created an email-based guided tour starting in March. Learn more and join us for the OER discovery series.