Although the focus of the day is the K-12 sector  it’s worth checking out the Toolkits and Showcase for some great ideas and examples of digital learning.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had an Adult Literacy Digital Learning Day !

Based on extensive extensive survey research in the adult literacy field in Ontario, Digital Discoveries is an excellent overview of how online learning for adult literacy students is being delivered in community literacy agencies in Ontario . Digital Discoveries also provides a review of strategies and best practices in relation to online learning and a look at some of the challenges too.

The Digital Learning Resources section is a cornucopia of great online teaching and learning resources. All in all Digital Discoveries is a “must have” for adult literacy programs.  To get a copy (for a nominal fee) contact Community Literacy Ontario.

I look forward to seeing this very useful resource online soon…

Thanks CLO !!!

This year I was gratified to find that I knew about so many tools on the list.But, as always, I found some new ones – here are a couple that look like they could be very interesting to use in adult literacy programs. Check out Storybird – a great little tool to create art-inspired stories – they can be custom printed – could make a very good group project.  Take a look  at Yammer - it is used by organizations to create private social networks where colleagues can work together and with clients… as I looked at it I wondered if this could be a good tool for agencies with multiple sites? There’s a free basic version  and the paid version ( good for up to 100 users) looks  quite – definitely worth investigating.

If that is the case the challenge is not only to provide  meaningful, authentic learning experiences using digital technologies but also to build ON the skills that adult literacy students already have. This is a bit of a round about way of getting to the question of how to assess the digital skills of  students as they enter a program. In the (recent) past we tended to focus on “computer skills” i.e. mouse skills, internet browsing and email  - here ia on example of the types of areas covered – computer skills self-assessment from HRSDC.

But, given the ubiquity of digital devices and the sheer numbers of Canadians who are online, and, of course, the requirements related to OALCF, I wonder if  now, right from the beginning we should be asking about cell-phone use, about texting , about social networking (e.g. Facebook) use, about online banking and online shopping… would this be a useful way to gauge the level of familiarity that students have with digital technology, and therefore make it easier to plan programming and to incorporate digital devices  that students regularly use in programming? I don’t have a clear sense of how adult literacy programs are handling this issue now and would love to hear what you think.  Has anyone, for instance, put together a list of questions related to digital technology/device use as students enter a program?

Once again thanks to T.R. Leger  for a great set of resources!

If it sounds a bit dry…well… yes, it is quite technical – although the paper is written as clearly as possible – but I think that the actual description of the process and discussion of how the Use Digital Technology Competency was developed and how it works with the other competencies in the curriculum framework should be quite helpful to practitioners as they, examine and work with complexity levels across all the competencies, develop integrated tasks and lesson plans and set about the job of using the curriculum framework in their daily practice.

So here’s a brief overview… In the first place we asked ourselves and did some research to try to understand, as fully as possible just what digital skills are and how they relate to the way adults live, work and learn.  We believe that all adults need these skills to participate and succeed  in the workplace and in their communities.  We see digital skills as a set of discrete skills, but these skills are a means to an end and we were very conscious of the need to keep the discrete nature of digital skills  related to occupational skills, n mind ( such skills need to be taught on a granular level) while, at the same time, bearing in mind that digital skills are foundational or enabling skills  to perform tasks within other competencies using digital technology as a medium.

Sound a bit complicated?  well… it was… but I think that it would actually be very helpful to take a look at a few of  the integrated task examples in the little chart below – in it you can see some of the connections across the competencies – it’s only a glimpse and a beginning – we would very much like to know what practitioners think… so do send us your comments and feedback…

I find it very useful –  I know that for myself  that sometimes when I run into a problem – when something “just won’t work” – I get a bit flustered because I don’t even know  where to start –  I don’t have enough information to formulate the right questions!!  That’s where I have found Tech-Ease so helpful – I get enough information to help me figure out the problem or figure out that I need to get some tech help.

As I was reviewing the site today I realized that it could also be a good source for instructors in planning lessons in digital technology – for example in the section on Windows Files and Sharing you could use the information to create lessons on saving files, naming files, re-naming files, copying files, creating shortcuts, deleting files and much more….

Check it out…

We’ve started by creating an OALCF section on our web site.  We are populating that section – right now click on the OALCF button to find background information, and links to the OALCF documents. You’ll also find a link to OALCF related resources in the AlphaPlus Index –  we will be adding to those resources throughout the year.

This is just the beginning – we will be adding to the OALCF section in the coming months and over the next several weeks we will also be devoting at least one blog post each week to issues and information related to the OALCF – and particularly the Use Digital Technology Competency.

As always we  welcome your comments and suggestions about what would be most useful to you…

at

Christmas

and throughout the

New Year

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