Browse by TEXT field_publisher "AlphaPlus"
Displaying Results 1 to 10 of 10
1. Adult Learners and Digital Media: Exploring the usage of digital media with adult literacy learners (2012)
Authors: Christopher Greig, Janette Hughes
Collection: Research Materials
This document is housed on the AlphaPlus server.
This research report is based on a small-scale study undertaken to explore the attitudes and experiences of adult Canadians who are non-users or limited users of digital media and information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Twelve adult learners in two Ontario cities worked in small groups to produce their own digital texts using either Microsoft’s PhotoStory or a web-based interactive poster program called Glogster. Afterwards, they were interviewed about whether their experiences might help them build digital literacy skills and whether they might be able to apply these skills in their daily lives.
The results suggest a relationship between varying levels of literacy skills and ICT use. The higher the literacy level, the more likely adult learners are to be engaged with computers and digital media. Those less likely to engage with ICTs tended to have lower literacy levels.
Age is a factor in how individuals respond to digital media, as younger people are more likely to have grown up with a computer in the home. However, social class also affects the response to digital technology, the authors say, pointing to a 2010 Statistics Canada report showing that 94 percent of people in the top income bracket used the Internet, compared with only 56 percent of those in the lowest bracket.
Closing the gap between income groups could be accomplished by expanding publicly funded digital literacy classrooms and other spaces that offer access to the Internet and the opportunity to develop digital literacy skills.
Added: 2012-10-31
2. Cloud Computing: What is cloud computing and why is it important for Adult Literacy? (2011)
Authors: Griff Richards, Rory McGreal, Brian Stewart
Collection: Research Materials
This document is housed on the AlphaPlus server.
This report was commissioned by AlphaPlus, a provincially-funded Ontario organization that provides expertise to support adult educators.
The report’s authors look at how “cloud computing” could help nurture adult learning. With cloud computing, organizations purchase computing services over the Internet instead of maintaining an in-house computing infrastructure.
The authors say low-cost cloud technology offers many possibilities to encourage individualized and group literacy learning opportunities. They call for free online space and an email account for every adult literacy learner.
They also point to cloud computing as an opportunity for community collaboration to share resources and promising practices in the cloud.
The authors also speculate that the future could include new literacy appliances – smartphone applications to read signs, turn text into voice, and help individuals with literacy challenges function better.
Added: 2011-06-16
3. Finding Our Way: Digital Technologies and E-Learning for Adult Literacy Students, Educators and Programs (2011)
Literature Scan: 2005-2011
Authors: Maria Moriarty
Collection: Research Materials
This document is housed on the AlphaPlus server.
The author says the goal of this document is to spark a national discussion about what is happening, and what needs to happen, to harness the potential of digital technology and e-learning in the service of adult literacy teaching and learning.
Because there is relatively little literature specifically related to that topic, the scope of the review was widened to look across the education spectrum, including K-12 and postsecondary education materials. The search was restricted to the time period 2005-2011 and confined to sources from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand because each of these jurisdictions has well-developed adult education and adult basic education sectors.
The author has grouped the findings according to a variety of themes, including digital reading; digital skills and employment; learning disabilities and assistive technology; the digital divide; anywhere/anytime learning; collaborative learning; and professional development in technology for literacy educators.
AlphaPlus is a provincially-funded Ontario organization that provides expertise to support adult educators.
Added: 2011-07-26
4. Incorporating Digital Technologies in Adult Basic Education: Concepts, Practices and Recommendations (2012)
Authors: Suzanne Smythe
Collection: Research Materials
This document is housed on the AlphaPlus server.
The author has combined a literature review with in-depth interviews with educators who are using digital technologies in adult basic education (ABE) programs and to support professional development.
The report explores 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; and professional development for educators and related curricula and delivery policy.
The author notes that research is needed to explore how adults who struggle with conventional print literacies engage with and learn digital literacies.
Other recommendations to emerge from the study include linking the funding of digital technology infrastructure to sustainable funding for ABE and literacy programs; studying digital divides in the context of both federal and provincial employment training, employment insurance (EI), social assistance, and broadband access policies; and addressing patterns of inequality across Canada through a multi-pronged, federally driven social and education policy framework that includes adult education.
The document is licensed under Creative Commons, a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available to share legally.
Added: 2012-10-01
5. Industry Shared Approaches: Aligning Literacy and Essential Skills with Economic Development (2012)
Becoming State of the Art: Research Brief No.1, 2012
Series: Becoming State of the Art: Research Brief
Authors: Essential Skills Ontario
Collection: Research Materials
This is the first in a series of research briefs on finding innovative ways to delivery literacy and Essential Skills to achieve results. The aim of the series is to explore the role literacy and Essential Skills can play in supporting local economic and workforce development.
In this document, the authors examine the concept of industry shared Essential Skills. This approach gets employers and service providers involved in the co-design and delivery of training in order to promote employment opportunities for job-seekers with complex needs.
The authors point out that such initiatives have the potential to relieve anticipated shortages in the pool of skilled labour.
The brief was written by Essential Skills Ontario, a non-profit organization that helps adults develop the skills they need to thrive in a changing world. It focuses on adults who have complex learning or social needs; lack a high school diploma; need to upgrade their skills; or who are facing difficulties in finding and keeping a job for any of a number of reasons.
Funders:
- Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), ON
Added: 2012-09-26
View complete record details...
See also:
6. Learning Together with Digital Technologies: Illustrative Case Studies (2012)
Authors: AlphaPlus
Collection: Research Materials
This document is housed on the AlphaPlus server, where it can be downloaded in PDF format.
This report describes a project undertaken by AlphaPlus in partnership with four community-based adult literacy agencies in the Toronto area. The goal was to get a better sense of how staff, volunteers, and students in literacy agencies are working with digital technologies, and to better understand the opportunities and challenges presented by digital technologies in adult literacy teaching and learning.
The authors found that students at even the most basic levels of literacy can learn using digital technologies. Student expectations and levels of proficiency are varied, requiring practitioners to work hard to address a range of learning needs.
Other key points include the need for sufficient financial resources to cover the costs of both developing and maintaining infrastructure; the provision of adequate professional development; and the importance of a culture that values the use of digital technologies for teaching and learning.
AlphaPlus is a provincially-funded Ontario organization that provides expertise to support adult educators.
Added: 2012-08-17
7. Social Networking Sites & Adult Literacy Learning (2011)
Authors: Donna M. Chovanec, Amy Meckelborg
Collection: Research Materials
This document is housed on the AlphaPlus server.
The authors have analysed information from articles, policy documents, web-based sources, and literacy learners and educators to decide if and how social networking sites such as Facebook can be used to facilitate adult literacy learning.
They conclude that social networking and adult literacy learning go hand in hand. At the same time, there are issues and questions that must be dealt with if they are to be brought together in non-formal and formal educational contexts.
By their very nature, the sites promote social learning and offer opportunities for practising reading and writing, the authors note. On the other hand, participants were divided about whether social networking helped or hindered text-based literacy development.
If adult learners are to take advantage of the opportunities social networking offers, then the digital divide must be overcome by ensuring access to computers and the Internet in programs and in homes; by providing training and technical support; by modelling a culture of digital engagement; and by advocating for structural changes that address the root causes of marginalization.
Added: 2011-12-20
8. Supporting task-based programming related to using digital technology (2012)
Developed for Literacy and Basic Skills practitioners in Ontario: Package 2 - Includes sample tasks for using digital technology for managing health, managing learning, and sharing and collaborating using digital technology
Authors: Tracey Mollins
Collection: Learning Materials
The aim of this resource is to support the use of digital technology in Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programs within the context of the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF). The material is based on three theme areas: managing health using digital technology; managing learning using digital technology; and sharing and collaborating using digital technologies.
The resource is housed on the AlphaPlus server, where it is available for download in four separate PDF files.
The first file is an introduction to the package, explaining how the resource package is organized and how the material relates to the OALCF.
The second file offers six health-related tasks of varying levels of difficulty, from learning how the body works to creating a health research database.
The third file includes 12 tasks related to learning. They range from learning about adult learning or finding an online class, which are considered level 1 tasks, to level 2 and 3 tasks like creating a blog, registering for an online course, or creating a photo story.
The fourth contains five tasks: identifying community resources; researching community resources; creating a resources map; creating a resources blog; and creating a resources photo story. Each is identified as level 1, 2, or 3 in terms of difficulty.
For each task in the second, third and fourth files, there are suggested learning outcomes and activities, along with extensive practitioner notes.
AlphaPlus is a provincially-funded Ontario organization that provides expertise to support adult educators.
Added: 2013-04-18
9. Supporting task-based programming related to using digital technology - Developed for Literacy and Basic Skills practitioners in Ontario: Package 1 - Includes sample tasks for using digital technology for employment and for managing money (2012)
Authors: Anne-Marie Kaskens
Collection: Learning Materials
This resource has been designed to support the use of digital technology in Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programs within the context of the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF). It features two theme areas: work using digital technology, and managing money using digital technology.
The resource is housed on the AlphaPlus server, where it is available for download in four PDFs.
The first file offers an introduction, explaining how the resource package is organized and how the material relates to the OALCF.
The second PDF offers sample tasks and learning activities related to work using digital technology. The tasks range from relatively simple ones, like entering data into a digital device, to more complicated ones, like using digital templates to create a promotional flyer.
The third file focuses on tasks related to managing money, including using a debit card; shopping online; making a budget and tracking expenses digitally; and paying bills online.
For each task in both the second and third files, there are suggested learning outcomes and activities.
The fourth PDF offers a sample of instructional resources that are available online. The resources are divided into interactive ones, which offer opportunities for learning online, and printable ones like workbooks or tutorials available in PDF format for downloading or printing. Access to all the resources is free of charge. In each section, Canadian resources are identified with a flag icon.
AlphaPlus is a provincially-funded Ontario organization that provides expertise to support adult educators.
Added: 2013-01-17
10. What is in a Technology Competency? (2011)
A recipe for the skill(ed) use of digital tools
Authors: Matthias Sturm
Collection: Research Materials
This document is housed on the AlphaPlus server.
The goal of this technical paper is to provide a basis for discussing and further defining the skills that adults need to use digital technology effectively in order to participate fully in society.
It is based on the preliminary development work for a technology-related competency within the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF) Initiative. However, the author notes that the paper is not limited to the OALCF context but can be applied to the development of performance indicators within any curriculum framework.
Among the recommendations included in the paper are updating the current computer use Essential Skills description to focus on “digital technology use” competency; developing performance indicators that would be applicable and transferable to any competency-based curriculum; exploring the challenges presented by the ever-increasing use of digital technology devices; and fostering the development of vision and leadership among program administrators to further the integration of technology into adult literacy programming.
Added: 2011-10-14
Displaying Results 1 to 10 of 10
© 2012 National Adult Literacy Database
Powered by Drupal
Powered by Drupal
This project is funded by the Government of Canada’s
Office of Literacy and Essential Skills.
Office of Literacy and Essential Skills.
Comments
Comments
If you found this particular resource to be useful, please include a comment.