- What is PIAAC and PS-TRE?
- What’s the Problem?
- What’s PS-TRE to you and LBS?
- PS-TRE and OALCF Instruction
- PS-TRE and OALCF Assessment
Additional Resources
Use Digital Technology Instructional Resources
The recording is no longer available but you can view the slides.
From June to July 2013, the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) On-line Field Trial was undertaken by the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC)1 and the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU) in Ontario.
PIAAC On-line is also known by the title The Education and Skills Online Assessment. It was developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as “an assessment tool designed to provide individual-level results that are linked to the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) measures of literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.”
In September 2013, AlphaPlus gathered feedback from participants in the Field Trial, specifically to explore the perspectives of adult literacy practitioners on the impact of digital technology in individual assessment on-line such as PIAAC On-line.
Project officers from MTCU and CMEC indicated their interest in general feedback from participants. A short survey was designed that included items related to the perceived impact of technology as well as items based on communications provided by MTCU during the PIAAC On-line Field Trial.
This short report summarizes the results of two independent surveys.
The first was undertaken by AlphaPlus, surveying literacy practitioners about their own and adult learners’ experiences participating in the PIAAC On-line Field Trial.
The second was undertaken by PTP Adult Learning and Employment Programs, surveying the learners in their program who participated in the Field Trial. We hope to contribute to the discussion about PIAAC On-line by providing some quantitative but foremost qualitative data that speaks to the data collected through the Field Trial.
This research report is 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.
The purpose of this small scale study was twofold:
- To explore and understand the attitudes and experiences of adult Canadians who are non-users or limited users of digital media and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
- To investigate the ways in which adult learners use and respond to digital media in order to expand their communication potential.
The report explores the following four themes:
- How digital technology is shaping and transforming literacy and learning, with implications for policy and practice
- Promising practices in incorporating digital technology in ABE
- Digital divides and inequality in access to digital technologies for learning
- Professional development for educators and related curricula and delivery policy.
A report on a short-term project conducted in partnership with four self-selected, community-based, adult literacy agencies in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Although over the years we have worked closely with many adult literacy programs across the province, we wanted to look more closely at the realities of using digital technologies for adult literacy teaching and learning.
Specifically, we wanted to:
- see how a program uses, works with and integrates digital technology in adult literacy programming
- explore how programs are actually using digital technologies and e-learning (We define e-learning as teaching and learning with digital technologies)
- learn about the opportunities and challenges that programs face so that we are better informed and can more closely align our services and supports to the needs of adult literacy programs
- take a preliminary look at the use of digital technologies and e-learning in adult literacy programs in relation to the Use Digital Technology Competency of the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF).
Social Networking Sites and Adult Literacy Learning: Raising the Issues, explores how educators and adult learners might harness the full potential of Social Networking Sites (SNS) and other social media in the service of adult literacy teaching and learning.
This paper, commissioned by AlphaPlus, is a synthesis of the critical analysis of the issues that we uncovered from the literature, policy documents, web-based sources and, more importantly, from literacy learners and educators themselves.
Acknowledging that informal literacy learning is occurring in the process of using SNS, the paper addresses various factors that influence literacy learners’ use of these sites such as 21st Century skills, social and civic engagement, marginalization, the digital divide, and digital citizenship. Noting the ubiquity of digital technologies in today’s society, the authors argue that literacy programs have an important role in helping adult literacy learners keep pace with others in society. However, the paper also raises important issues that will need to be addressed if SNS are to be incorporated into literacy programs.
“Social networking sites and adult literacy learning go hand in hand, in our opinion, yet the issues and questions we’ve raised require careful consideration if they are to be brought together in non-formal and formal educational contexts.”
Finding Our Way: Digital Technologies and E-Learning for Adult Literacy Students, Educators and Programs Literature Scan: 2005-2011, presents a global snapshot of how technology has been used to enhance teaching, learning and professional development.
Given the ubiquity of digital technologies in today’s world and the pressure on educators to keep up, the report explores how they are and could be supported to integrate technology into their practice.
Ultimately, the report aims to spark a national discussion about what is happening, what needs to happen, and how AlphaPlus can, in collaboration with the adult literacy field, begin to harness the full potential of digital technology and e-learning in the service of adult literacy teaching and learning.
The Cloud Computing: What is cloud computing and why is it important for Adult Literacy?” report is the first of its kind and details how cloud computing can contribute to literacy in Canada. The opportunities cited in the report include:
- Powerful computing infrastructure and the ability to buy computing software, as needed, over the Internet.
- For educators and learners, cloud computing can help centralize and connect e-learning materials and literacy communities interspersed throughout the internet, and lead to the creation of a centralized online platform, enabling adult educators and learners to share and collaborate on resources, tools, forums and more.
- Literacy funders and organizations will be better able to design and operate e-learning software based on users’ online habits and performance.
In addition, the report suggests that, as we enter the “smart” age, where free Internet is becoming available in many public places, literacy organizations and researchers can collaborate on cloud computing services, creating synergy and great potential for service.
