Meet the team behind the AlphaPlus open educational resources (OER) collection

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.