While they’re not exactly “beach reads”, these two recently released reports make for very interesting and relevant reading for anyone interested in how to support adult students in navigating the digital world for employment, and in how to use technology to bridge time and distance.

First up is, Adults, Computers and Problem Solving What’s the Problem? from the OECD providing an analysis of he results from the Survey of Adult Skills related to problem solving in technology-rich environments.

“The report shows that the ability to use computers is not only becoming an essential skill, but proficiency in computer use has an impact on the likelihood of participating in the labour force and on workers’ wages” (p.3)

Second is Blended Learning for the Adult Education Classroom by David Rosen and Carmine Stewart two experienced educators in the field of adult basic education and adult literacy. This guide is addressed to adult educators and provides a very clear and accessible “road-map” to the what, the why and the how of blended learning.

Enjoy!

If you are new to LiveBinder or want to learn more check out o the AlphaPlus LiveBinder Webinar Recording

Enjoy!

The guide covers the basics of troubleshooting browser problems, tips to optimize performance and how to deal with your cache. It is also a good resource for developing learning activities to help students develop good web and digital literacy skills.

Enjoy!!

Although it is intended for educators in the K-12 sector and some of the questions may not be entirely relevant to adult literacy practitioners, it is still  a fun and useful way to get a sense of  where you are at in relation to using and integrating technology in your practice.

Enjoy!!

Carleton’s Blended and Online Teaching program helps participants design an online or blended courses. By the end of this program, participants should be able to create an online or blended module and engage and motivate students in online and blended learning environments.

The online version of the course is delivered using the Moodle LMS.  To register on the Moodle site and enroll in the course follow these steps:

• Go to the CU OPEN – e-Carleton Moodle site
• Click on the Sign In link (top right)
• Follow the instructions to Create a new account (this creates your account to access Moodle)
• Locate the cuOpen course and click on the course title to enroll in it.

Work through the 11 sections or modules of the course at your own pace.

Each module contains SCORM packaged teaching resources that use videos, audio, closed captioning and text for teaching.  Videos feature online learning instructors from Canadian colleges and universities sharing their practice.  Resources feature the work of Canadian online learning specialists as well, such as Terry Anderson and George Siemens.

Below is an example of a screen in a SCORM package that presents images, text, audio and closed captioning.

Also helpful in the Moodle course modules are time guides that provide estimates of how long it should take to work through chunks of content, as seen below.  With an online delivery, the course should take approximately 20-30 hours to complete.

This free online course is ideal for adult educators looking to:

• take a free online course at their own pace on the Moodle platform
• gain skill and knowledge about blended and online teaching
• locate open resources to use, download, repurpose  when teaching their peers
• gain knowledge and ideas about how to structure a Moodle course using a range of Moodle activity types

A wide range of Moodle activity types are used to deliver this course.

You can take a look at the full course content overview here.

Thanks Carleton University for making this course openly available to us!  It is excellent!  And thanks Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities for funding the development of this course. You can learn more about the course history and development here.

I was sold by the end of the first sentence!

“You sit down at your desk, press your computer’s power button, and nothing happens. You see no familiar flashing lights, hear no pleasant whirring sounds, and detect absolutely no signs of life.”

Do-it-Yourself Desktop Troubleshooting provides a step-by-step guide to  what to do when you’re faced with that panic-inducing situation – I know that I will be consulting this great resource often, and. it could be the basis for some practical learning activities

Enjoy!

Now, again thanks to the generosity of Maxine and her students, we have released two short videos where you can see how Maxine has used Evernote to help her to manage the diverse learning needs of her students and see on of those students describing her own experience with Evernote. Click HERE to see the videos

Working with Maxine to put the webinar together was a wonderful experience – she has really made this tool work for her and  her students. But, don’t take my word for it.. watch the recorded webinar and “binge-watch” the videos.

Enjoy!

Funding came from the TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund administered by Prosper Canada.

The FLLAME course series was developed for an Aboriginal adult learner audience to holistically and culturally provide current information that impacts on learner knowledge, skills, attitudes and feelings related to financial matters.

Exploring how adults think, feel and react to money situations generates thinking about personal spending styles and attitudes about money aiming to empower learners to make informed decisions regarding changes they can incorporate.

FLLAME provides an historical/cultural perspective on how Indigenous people managed their resources, and how those ancestral values can be applied to today’s context.

An introductory podcast outlining the importance of the five financial literacy competencies, a process for maximizing success with students participating in FLLAME courses, and a course structure document are available here.

Course titles are:
1. Making the Mo$t of Our Re$our¢e$
2. Tra¢king our Re$our¢e$ – Budgeting
3. Choo$ing Product$ and $ervice$
4. Planning Ahead & $etting $mart Goal$
5. Keeping Your $ense$ $harp – Staying Informed

Each course follows the same structure:
A. Overview
B. Emotions and Money
C. Culture
D. Financial Teaching
E. Tricksters
F. Quiz

Course overviews include short videos by elders introducing the topics.

Ningwakwe George, Anishnawbe Kwe from the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation, involved in Aboriginal education/literacy for thirty years at the local, provincial, national and international levels and Maria Morrison, developer of  indigenous literacy resources for 19 years, former staff at Ningwakwe Learning Press, and  publishing and literacy consultant developed the course content, guidebook and Moodle courses for this project.

The public can visit the FLLAME Moodle site and access limited course content as Guests.  Click on the Login link and then select the Login as Guest option.

For information about how to register on the site for full access to course content  contact onlc@outlook.com .

This is a wonderful new addition to Canadian online resources supporting adult learners.  Check it out!

Tutor Ready Learning Plans is an online resource offering anytime, anywhere access to professional development for literacy tutors.  One of the goals in the development of Tutor Ready was to connect tutors to research-based teaching strategies.  Tutor Ready Learning Plans are not lesson plans, they present tutors with strategies to use when teaching reading skills.

This first development of Tutor Ready focuses on the components of reading. The plan is to seek further funding to include a component on writing.  Recommendations in the webinar included seeking a focus on numeracy as well as incorporating digital badging into the Tutor Ready resource.

How does it work?  First you create an account and sign in –very easy.

From the My Home screen select a goal to work on.  The Tutor Ready system tracks your progress for you.

My Goals screen presents Steps for each goal path.  Tutor Ready tracks your progress through the steps as well.

Each Step presents an overview of the content.

And then offers links to Resources that may include videos.  It is here where the tutoring tips and techniques are presented.

Tutor Ready offers a Workspace for tutors to write a reflection on what they have learned as well as track ideas they want to try with specific students.

Tutor Ready and LINCS will be offering a future webinar on the content within Tutor Ready.  If you are interested in attending, please email info@literacyworks.org and indicate that you are interested in the Tutor Ready Content Webinar.

This resource is worth checking out and promoting to tutors who may want or need deeper training on reading strategies.

Tutor Ready Learning Plans were created by LINCS’ Region 4 Professional Development Centre  in partnership with the Literacy, Language and Technology Research group at Portland State University. Tutor Ready is built on the Learner Web platform that was created by Portland State University in part with the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Once again we thank our neighbours to the south for sharing this resource.

I focused on module 1 of the course Introduction to Blended Learning.

The workshop was open to adult literacy students, volunteer tutors, adult literacy program staff and administrators and according to the feedback received it worked for everyone.  The workshop mainly took place in a computer lab for 25 in a small Ontario university.  We had access to the learning commons area for group work right outside the computer lab.  The building had WiFi so anyone bringing their own device could opt to use that for the workshop if desired and a few participants did use their own laptops.

My goal in the 90 minute workshop was to create a blended learning experience in which everyone could leave with a way of describing what blended learning is or could be.  A big challenge was delivering to an unknown audience and in a computer lab that was also new to me.

During the workshop participants listened to short videos using headsets, followed along a PowerPoint presentation, broke into small groups to match blended learning models to definitions and discuss the models they liked or were familiar with, and learned about mneumonics by identifying bird songs.  Lots of variety for sure and also opportunities for some to practice problem solving in a technology rich environment – PS-TRE!

I put the workshop content and links on a public Wiki.  There is enough content there for an instructor to deliver the workshop themselves to their own class.  Support resources are available on the Educator page.

Check it out if you are interested in learning more about blended learning.