National Adult Literacy Database

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.