In this Lunch & Learn session, delivered on January 6, 2026, we focused on new and innovative AI tools, advancements in assistants like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, tips on how to apply AI in your daily work, experimenting with prompts, and more.
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What is a personal learning network?
Personal Learning Networks are formal and informal networks of people with similar goals and interests who interact using digital tools to share information, learn from each other, problem solve and collaborate.
Personal Learning Networks are curated lifelong learning opportunities for professional development. They support practitioners who want to activate their intellectual curiosity in the company of others in a world of rapidly changing information.
Why do I need a personal learning network?
- Diversity matters: personal learning networks create space for a variety of experiences and perspectives and can help us find interesting ways to innovate in our practice.
- Teaching can be isolating: personal learning networks help educators to escape the isolation that can become part of the profession.
- Connect anytime, anywhere: a virtual personal learning network can help you overcome networking barriers related to time, place, and distance.
- Opportunities to reflect: online discussion forums, blogs, and courses can prompt you to reflect more regularly on your teaching practice.
- Finding information or support: as a seeker of information, your personal learning network can help you solve challenges, learn about how other practitioners are applying methodologies and resources, and find mentors who might not be available locally.
- Sharing your expertise and ideas: as a creator of information, you can help others by talking about your experiences, interesting experiments and what you are researching. Participating in virtual discussions, workshops and courses helps others get to know you and benefit from your professional wisdom.
How can I get started?
Here are some ways to get started building a personal learning network that meets your own specific needs.
Open the PDF
This resource from AlphaPlus was created by Tracey Mollins after a workshop series called Maximize your limited time for PD with a personal learning plan.
Happy December!
Here are some activities that you can do with learners before or after the winter break: Winter Break Activities from AlphaPlus
Plus one Christmassy activity for those who celebrate.
New for 2025!
What makes you feel cozy in the winter?
What are your favourite comforts?
Learn about comfort foods and one of the most famous food and memory stories. The story is the from a book by Marcel Proust.
Proust writes about eating some tea cakes called madeleines and how the smell of the cakes takes him back to the days of his childhood.
This is now sometimes called the Proust Effect, The Proust Phenomenon or the Madeleine Effect.
In this activity you can
- discuss comfort foods and other things that make us feel safe and cozy
- learn about the Proust effect
- think about good writing
- watch videos
- and, if you like, write a story.
Winter Break Plans, Poems and Songs
Winter Break is a drag-and-drop and Answer Garden conversation starter where learners can think about what they will do on the break.
Winter Poem is a poetry activity based on the poem Dust of Snow by Robert Frost. Learners can read and listen to the poem and then examine the rhyming pattern (ABAB). They can then compare that rhyming pattern with the rhyming pattern in Catch a Little Rhyme by Eve Merriam (AABB).
Christmas Songs is an advent calendar of Christmas songs. You can see the whole playlist and links to the lyrics or play the songs one by one and look them up. If you want to make your own calendar, contact Tracey.
Winter Solstice Stories and Activities
Start by watching a video overview about the Winter Solstice and then watch these two videos:
- Author and Journalist Waubgeshig Rice from Wasauksing First Nation shares the importance of winter solstice as a time of change and storytelling for indigenous peoples.
- Wilfred Buck of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Manitoba sharing the Cree story of the winter solstice.
After the introduction, you will have a choice to
- Learn about Cree Astronomy from Wilfred Buck and make a Turtle Calendar based on the 13 Moons.
- Go to the Winter Animals activity and hear stories about animals (see below).
- Plan a Winter Solstice Party.
- Make a twig lantern or a jam jar lantern for a lantern walk.
- Make clove orange decorations.
- Make a warm, spicy drink.
- Make a winter playlist.
Winter Animal Songs and Stories
Winter Animals is made in Google Slides and gives learners a choice of stories or songs to listen to:
- Deer: A song called Deer Dancing Round a Broken Mirror by Bruce Cockburn and Rik Emmet.
- Owl: A TVO short about Kenojuak Ashevak and her painting, The Enchanted Owl.
- Raven: The Raven and the Owl, an Inuit legend put to song. There are two versions: one by The National Film Board of Canada and one by Becky Han.
- Fox: The Fox and the Whale, a 2016 Canadian animated short film directed by Robin Joseph.
- Skater: a 1980 animated film from the National Film Board of Canada narrated by the author of the story, Roch Carrier. There is a link to a 2023 riff on this story called the Hockey Jersey.
There are follow up activities in a Google Form and collaborative Slides.
This AlphaPlus Lunch & Learn session, delivered on November 4, 2025, focused on powerful tools in Microsoft 365. We explored Clipchamp, the integration of AI-powered Copilot across apps, transcribing and translations in Teams, Planner, and more.
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Delivered on Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved significantly since we first explored its potential in Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programs a year ago. With new tools emerging and existing ones becoming more sophisticated, the ways we use AI have also transformed. So, what’s happening now?
During the session, guests from the literacy community shared how they actively integrate AI into their programs. From prompt engineering to creating graphics and videos, to developing training materials, we dove into how AI is reshaping our work—and what that means for educators, staff, and learners alike.
ASL interpretation was be provided.
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NOTE: VIDEO WITH ASL INTERPRETATION COMING SOON
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
PRESENTERS
Lisa McArthur has been working as an adult educator since 2003 in a variety of capacities. They include, but are not limited to, being a certified educational skills assessor, a family literacy facilitator and certified Clear Writing consultant. Lisa has sat on a number of community advisory committees and has evaluated numerous literacy projects.
Ryan Pike is an adult literacy instructor who has taught at the Labour Education Centre in Toronto for 11 years. He also worked with Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy (MTML) on the Smartphones and Employment Skills project, helping to design learning tools that support adults using smartphones for work. He’s passionate about making technology feel less intimidating and more empowering for adult learners. Ryan enjoys experimenting with different digital tools and approaches to create engaging, interactive resources that make learning accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
Richard has dedicated 21 years to the Toronto District School Board, currently working at the Mimico Adult Centre. His work focuses on providing literacy education to adults seeking academic upgrading, as well as supporting individuals with special needs. Through instruction in English, math, and digital learning, Richard empowers learners to achieve greater independence and pursue their personal and educational goals
Explore the The Virtual Showcase Collection to see what happened in past sessions.
This session, delivered on September 23, 2025, focused on the latest features in Google Workspace. We explored Google Vids, learned about new building blocks in Docs and Slides, set up appointment schedules in Calendar, and dove into activity notifications, smart chips in Docs, disabling autosave in Forms, AI in Google Search, and more.
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Why is it important for us to understand this?
An essential 21st century skill is learning how to distinguish information that is reliable from disinformation, misinformation and fake news. Information literacy requires an understanding of the media landscape and knowledge about how to use our critical thinking skills in this landscape.
If we understand a little about how algorithms shape the attention economy, it helps us analyze and evaluate the media we are consuming and interacting with.
Algorithms and the Attention Economy
Algorithms are sets of rules or series of steps. Today, algorithms are generally understood as processes run by computers that take inputs and produce outputs. Online algorithms collect information from people and websites and apps use that information to decide what to show you. Here are some examples:
- Search engines – like Google – try to show you results it thinks are relevant and useful
- Social media sites use algorithms to recommend what it thinks you will want to look at
- Video streaming services (like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, and others) use algorithms to suggest what to watch next.
The attention economy is an online business model in which tech companies compete for people’s attention — while also gathering data about them — to serve them personalized ads.
Building lessons with practitioners
How can we understand how algorithms work and how they shape our online experience?
One place to find lessons to help us learn the skills and knowledge we need is CTRL-F.
In this resource we explore the CTRL-F algorithm lesson.
In this lesson, participants:
- demonstrate an understanding of algorithms
- explain how Google uses algorithms to provide search results
- analyze how algorithms can be manipulated
See all Information Literacy Resources.
Why is it important for us to understand this?
An essential 21st century skill is learning how to distinguish information that is reliable from disinformation, misinformation and fake news. Information literacy requires an understanding of the media landscape and knowledge about how to use our critical thinking skills in this landscape.
If we understand a little about how to verify information, it helps us analyze and evaluate the media we are consuming and interacting with and stops us from spreading misinformation.
Misinformation, disinformation and fake news
- Disinformation is information that is false or distorts reality. It is transmitted by means of mass media or social media. Its aim is to manipulate public opinion.
- Fake news is a publication that has the same structure as a news article, but contains exaggerated, distorted or false information. Fake news is a form of disinformation.
- Misinformation is information transmitted by mass media or social media that is considered to be truthful by the transmitter, but, in reality, distorts facts or is wrong.
Read more here: What is disinformation? (activities to do with learners)
Building lessons with practitioners
How can we verify the information we see online and make sure we are not spreading misinformation?
One place to find lessons to help us learn the skills and knowledge we need is MediaSmarts.
In this resource we explore part of a MediaSmarts lesson called Break the Fake: Verifying Information Online to help us build our resilience to online misinformation.
In this lesson, participants:
- Learn simple steps for verifying online information
- Practice verifying online information
- Understand digital literacy key concepts
- Create a media text
See all Information Literacy Resources.
What are information zones?
Information can be categorized into one of six “zones”: news, opinion, entertainment, advertising, propaganda or raw information.
Each category has a primary purpose: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to sell, to provoke or to document.
Why is it important for us to understand this?
An essential 21st century skill is learning how to distinguish information that is reliable from disinformation, misinformation and fake news. Information literacy requires an understanding of the media landscape and knowledge about how to use our critical thinking skills in this landscape.
If we understand a little about the purposes of different forms of information, it helps us analyze and evaluate the media we are consuming and interacting with. If we confuse the categories, we can ascribe incorrect purposes to the information we access.
Building lessons with practitioners
In our recent Information Literacy series, we looked at some possibilities for how to combine News Literacy Project and Checkology curriculum resources to create an Information Zones lesson for emergent readers.
The News Literacy Project is a website designed to help teachers make sure that students are skilled in news literacy and develop the knowledge and ability to participate in their communities as well-informed, critical thinkers. Checkology is a virtual classroom from the News Literacy Project. Many of the lessons on this site are presented by working journalists.
See all Information Literacy Resources.
How do journalists and editors decide what news to cover and which stories to promote to readers and news consumers? Why is it important for us to understand this?
An essential 21st century skill is learning how to distinguish information that is reliable from disinformation, misinformation and fake news. Information literacy requires an understanding of the media landscape and knowledge about how to use our critical thinking skills in this landscape. The decisions journalists and editors make are important to all of us as they shape the news media landscape. If we understand a little about how these decisions are made, it helps us analyze and evaluate the media we are consuming and interacting with.
Building curriculum with practitioners
In our recent Information Literacy series, we looked at some possibilities for how to combine News Literacy Project activities and Checkology lessons to create an Understanding Journalism curriculum for emergent readers.
The News Literacy Project is a website designed to help teachers make sure that students are skilled in news literacy and develop the knowledge and ability to participate in their communities as well-informed, critical thinkers. Checkology is a virtual classroom from the News Literacy Project. Many of the lessons on this site are presented by working journalists.
See all Information Literacy Resources.