Teaching strategies Archives

Workshop 2: AI and Disinformation

Lessons and activities that help learners develop strategies to verify information in a landscape where
AI is used to create content.

Links shared in Workshop 2

Links shared in chat

From Tracey Mollins: I did not share the link but I mentioned this.
- Perry Carpenter and FAIK – https://www.thisbookisfaik.com/
- He is selling a book but there are some good articles under the resources tab. This one describes the FAIK framework: The FAIK Factor: Your Shield Against Digital Deception
- It is basically lateral reading and very similar to the SIFT framework that CTRL-F uses but some of the ways he talks about emotional intelligence is interesting.

Links from AI in Daily Life Workshop 3 slides

Workshop 3: AI Ethics and Bias

Lessons and activities that help learners explore ethical questions
about using AI and how AI perpetuates biases and
stereotypes.

Links shared in Workshop 3

Links from AI in Daily Life Workshop 4 slides

Workshop 4: AI in the Classroom

Lessons and activities for discussing AI guidelines and using
AI to complete tasks.

Links shared in Workshop 4

AlphaPlus AI resource list
AI to Create and Manage Learning Activities by Shawn McCusker: 2024 12 AI for Educators

AI and Climate

Reducing AI Waste – EdTech Center
The AI data centre boom is coming to Canada — and it’s thirsty

AI and intellectual property (copyright) transparency

Citing generative AI – U of Ottawa
This page is in French but for English speakers, a description of the logos is available in English.

AI Literacy Day

An initiative from MediaSmarts at https://mediasmarts.ca/canada-ai-literacy-day

Workshop 4 Slides

This resource from AlphaPlus was created by Tracey Mollins after a workshop series called AI in daily life: Exploring Learning Resources.

What are visible thinking routines?

Project Zero (at Harvard) defines a thinking routine as a set of questions or a brief sequence of steps used to scaffold and support student thinking. Thinking routines are designed to deepen students’ thinking and to help make that thinking “visible.” Visible thinking refers to any observable representation that documents and supports the development of a learner’s ongoing thoughts, questions, reasons and reflections. Examples include mind maps, charts, lists, diagrams, worksheets — anything that reveals learners’ unfolding ideas as they think through an issue, problem or topic.

Visible thinking routines and adult learners

Adult learners bring a wealth of life experience but also unique challenges (such as fear of failure due to past schooling experiences, or gaps in foundational skills). Thinking routines offer a supportive framework that respects adult learners’ perspectives and promotes active learning, rather than the passive, lecture-driven methods some adults may recall from school.

Visible Thinking Routines

Visible thinking routines workshop series

In these workshops we looked at how visible thinking routines can be incorporated into adult literacy instruction. Using existing instructional materials, these routines can enhance learners’ ability to activate prior knowledge, make connections and predictions, retain information, think critically, and more. We explored ways that educational technologies can enhance the impact of these strategies and make lessons more engaging.

You can find links to all the resources we used in the workshops in this document.

Workshop Resources

Workshop 1:

What are visible thinking routines, how do they help learners, and what do they look like in action?

Workshop 2:

How can educational technologies enhance visible thinking strategies?

Workshop 3:

How can I utilize visible thinking strategies with my existing resources?

This resource from AlphaPlus was created by Tracey Mollins after a workshop series called Enhancing Literacy Skills with Visible Thinking Routines.

Learn Together: Creative Writing (Poetry) – Express yourself creatively

In June 2026 we facilitated a 3-part exploration of how to keep creativity flowing in the literacy classroom. We are going to take a dive into resources, tools and approaches that support creative writing instruction. We

Explored lesson plans that encourage creative expression, reading and writing.
Provided opportunities for participants to into your their creativity.
Expanded participant lists of Open Education Resources.
Experimented with digital tools that can support writing skills and the development of digital competencies.

We took a look at learning resources that:

Enhance our knowledge of how AI works and how to evaluate its outputs
Expand our capacity to detect images and content produced by AI
Encourage learners to reflect on the use of AI in their learning journey

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.

Workshop Outline

You can find links to all the resources we used in the workshops in this document.

Workshop Resources

Workshop 1:
Creating something from something

We explored how we can create poetry even if we have never read or written a poem
before. We looked at

how creating something from something fosters a growth mindset.
two resources for learning about what poetry is;
two forms of found poetry that are a place to start;

Workshop 2:
Quiet observations and form poems

We explored how we can create poetry from our own experiences and our own lives.
We looked at

a poem created from an observation and a question;
how that poem inspired action;
how images can inspire creativity;
how form poetry can help us start creating;
and a little on how to find images that we can use.

Workshop 3:
Poetry grows our hearts

We explored how we can learn about poetry by experiencing it in different formats.
We looked at

how poetry gets in our hearts;
places to read and hear poems;
how reading poems, listening to poems, and reading poems out loud help us to understand poetry.

This resource from AlphaPlus was created by Tracey Mollins after a workshop series called Resources and tools to support creative writing instruction.

How can we (literacy practitioners) use what we know about learners’ daily lives to better answer their learning needs?

In a series of 3 workshops on Wednesday, January 14, 21, 28, 2026 we explored different ways to use learners’ daily digital tasks to create activities that develop digital skills, other skills and knowledge.

We looked at how to go from a simple daily activity such as using a web mapping app to identify digital skills that can be developed through various means and

Develop a practice of integrating daily life apps and websites into curriculum and lesson plans

Explore how integrating daily-life technology supports literacy learning

Expand your list of apps and websites that support learners in completing daily life tasks and accessing resources

Workshop 1: Search

Basic searches, AI augmented searches and using chatbots to get answers to questions, using search skills on websites.

Links shared in Workshop 1

Learn about basic search

Basic Search – 3 lessons and a practice: Search engines, Basic search, Ads in search results.

Learn about AI-augmented search

AI-Augmented Search Lesson Plan – CTRL-F Online Search Skills Lesson 2

Lateral reading: CTRL- F has a series of lessons and videos based on the SIFT method.

Learn about chatbot search

Coding Ireland Digital Skills Curriculum: Using AI for Web Searches

This lesson explores how AI is transforming the way we conduct web searches. The lesson gives learners the opportunity to compare traditional search engines with AI-powered tools and discuss the appropriate situations for using each.

PBS News Hour Classroom: AI Unlocked — finding facts with generative AI search

This lesson teaches students how AI responds to different types of prompts and how prompt engineering might be able to help them generate additional information.

Using Search skills on websites – Housing Rights

Steps to Justice website from CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario)

Free information about legal problems in Ontario.
Reliable, practical, and easy to understand.
Written by lawyers and edited by trained plain language editors.

OJEN (Ontario Justice Education Network) A Foot in the Door

This 6-module resource, produced by the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO) and the Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN), provides an introduction to real estate and housing law in Ontario, including the various considerations and processes involved in purchasing and renting a home.

Workshop 2: Reading

Reading the news and using the library.

Links shared in Workshop 2

Reading the news

Media Smarts lessons

Libraries

Library scavenger hunt

Using the Libby app

Links from the chat

Workshop 3: Creating

Creating a budget, using a shopping app and storytelling with Google maps.

Links shared in Workshop 3

Budgeting and shopping

Maps and stories

Learn about mapping

Google: Create or open a map

Maps and stories lesson plans

Google Applied Digital Skills – My Maps activities

The GFCGlobal link in the slides that went missing can be viewed in the Wayback Machine (crawled on December 31, 2025) here: https://web.archive.org/web/20251231202220/https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/google-maps/

I tried to replicate the tutorials here: LearnFree Maps Tutorials

Links from the chat

Government of Canada Budgeting Site
- (in English)
AlphaPlus Information Literacy Resources
Google Applied Digital Skills
- Google Applied Digital Skills Lessons
- Teacher Guides: Applied Digital Skills
AI for Educators (AlphaPlus and EdTechTeacher workshops):
- Slides
- Recordings

How to Create an Online Learning Site

This resource from AlphaPlus was created by Tracey Mollins after a workshop series called Digital Technology in Daily Life.

Creating a website for your program or class with Google Sites

Online learning sites help learners

Meet learner expectations
An online learning site can help meet learner’s expectations to find information easily online and lets learners connect to learning materials from anywhere at any time.

Develop lifelong learning skills
Your site can provide a centralized platform for sharing information, resources, and interactive learning experiences and promotes lifelong learning by modelling the ways we can stay updated with the latest knowledge in online environments.

Online learning sites help teachers

Streamline classroom communications
You can cut down on the number of handouts and emails you need to share and the strategies you use to remember with whom you shared them.

Tailor your site to your specific needs
You can develop your site to meet your specific communication and collaboration needs and the needs of learners who attend your program.

Online learning sites can be anything you want

You can use the site as a simple communication space and post announcements, events, and calendars as well as course outlines and learning pathways with links to assignments, study materials and resources.

Or you can create mini-courses with embedded materials, interactive slides and quizzes. See two examples of this in the PDF.

Open the PDF

This resource from AlphaPlus was created by Tracey Mollins after a workshop series called Create an Online Learning Site from October 2025. You can see all the workshop links and resources here: Creating an Online Learning Site Links. We did the workshops again in April 2026 and the links to that set of resources is here: Creating an Online Learning Site 2 Links. There is not a huge difference between the two sets of resources.

If you’d like to learn more about whiteboards or schedule a demonstration, contact Tracey or our Quick Tech Help service.

Have you been thinking about offering test preparation for the new Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC)? Do you need help supporting learners as they prepare to take these tests? As we kick off the academic year, we have a new guide to help you.

In the spring of 2024, the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC) was released. This new credential replaces the GED® for Canadian adults seeking a secondary equivalency. While the CAEC offers important and useful changes from the GED®, it requires significant teaching and background knowledge, and the transition to a digital platform has implications for both test-taking and literacy. Until now, little support has been available to build teachers’ knowledge so they can assist learners.

New guide available: Preparing for the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC)

AlphaPlus is pleased to unveil a new, comprehensive guide to help you learn about the new CAEC and support adult learners. The guide includes teaching tips, curriculum planning outlines, lesson routines, and other resources. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll find inside:

Test overview to help you get familiar with the unique features, demands and requirements of the CAEC and how to effectively prepare learners.
Subject overviews and teaching tips on each of the five CAEC test subjects: reading, writing, math, science and social studies.
Templates, curriculum plans, and lesson routines to help you develop your own test preparation courses and workshops.
Test readiness tools: To identify your learners’ skills and determine their readiness to take the CAEC tests.

Check out this brand-new guide and get up to speed with the digital, content, and cognitive complexity changes you will need to understand to support learners with the CAEC.

Additionally, please let us know your thoughts on the content of the guide so far and what you’d like to see added. We welcome your feedback! Complete the form to let us know what you’d like to see in the guide.

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

How do algorithms work?

Slide Deck

How do I verify information?

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.

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

Slide Deck

What are Information Zones?

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.

Building an “Understanding Journalism” Curriculum

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.