Full Research Report

In 2014-15, AlphaPlus was involved in a research project examining current assessment practices related to the OALCF Use Digital Technology Milestones, the alignment between the Milestones and program learning and reporting trends. Our study concludes that the Milestones and accompanying administration guidelines work counter to the ministry’s objective for the OALCF to “improve service delivery, learner experiences and learner outcomes” by introducing a series of challenges, contradictions and inequities.

EOIS-CaMS data and anecdotal information indicated that the OALCF Competency D – Use Digital Technology Milestones were often being selected. We wanted to know why there was a reliance on a limited number of Milestones and determine why assessors were making this choice. An investigation initially focused on digital technology Milestones grew to incorporate a broader investigation of Milestone use in general.

This SDNDF-funded project Assessment Use and Reporting: Investigating Data Integrity Issues gathered information from assessors in LBS programs by way of an online survey and in-person interviews focused on the digital technology Milestones as well as assessment and reporting practices and their impacts on programming. The insights of practitioners with experience using the OALCF Milestones were integral to the project.

Christine Pinsent-Johnson
Matthias Sturm
2015

See the Research Brief.

See the Research Overview.

See the Presentation.

The 2012-13 Annual Report highlights various projects and initiatives we worked on during the past fiscal year and provides a sneak-peek into what you can expect in 2013-14.

The E-Learning on the Goal Paths e-bulletin is focused on activities that instructors and learners can use to find information about each of the goal paths, and to work on digital skills and building self-efficacy.

To help you find activities and resources quickly, we have used a Live Binder – essentially a “three-ring binder on the web” that functions as a web-based repository of live links, and is a very handy way to keep links organized by topic or theme. 

The E-Learning on the Goal Paths Live Binder is organized by goal path and under each tab you will find direct links to informational and learning activity sites which provide students with opportunities to acquire and practice digital skills.

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.

E-learning is becoming an increasingly important component in our work, in further education and training and in our daily life.

In this OALCF Goal Paths and E-learning e-bulletin, we take a look at the transitional competency requirements in each of the OALCF goal paths related to e-learning and the opportunities currently available to adult literacy students in Ontario.

As we undertook this brief review of e-learning in the goal paths, we had the following questions in mind:

• What do we know about e-learning demands and opportunities in each of the goal paths?
• What do learners need to know and be able to do in relation to e-learning in order to support a successful transition to their next step?
• What do instructors need to know to support students in developing the necessary e-learning competencies?
• Where and how does e-learning fit with the OALCF?

Much of what we learned is information already familiar to experienced adult literacy practitioners; however, we want to highlight the ever-increasing reach of e-learning in workplaces and in education.

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.”