Community Literacy of Ontario – Organizing online resource fairs and workshops, using Centra
Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO) is a provincial network of 100 community-based literacy agencies located in communities large and small across Ontario.
In order to help remove the barriers of travel costs and travel time and to increase accessibility to training, CLO has been an “early adapter” of online learning for literacy practitioners. We have used many platforms to offer online learning, including web-based training modules, webinars, online discussions groups, Moodle, and Adobe Presenter. You can learn all about CLO and online learning at: www.nald.ca/clo/activities.htm
Our most long-term and trusty online training “friend” has been Saba Centra. Centra is a state-of-the-art live online classroom. The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities provides support for Literacy and Basic Skills agencies in Ontario to access Centra, and technical support is provided by Contact North.
Community Literacy of Ontario first started delivering online workshops on Centra in 2001 (over 10 years ago now!). Since that time, we have delivered more than 100 training sessions on Centra on topics as diverse as family literacy, proposal writing, instructional strategies, risk management, performance management, learner resources, volunteer recruitment, charitable receipting practices, Essential Skills, marketing, and the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework. CLO’s online training sessions have varied from two-hour workshops to a six-month long course.
Most recently, we’ve offered our first ever Online Resource Fair on Centra. Resource fairs have long been a popular feature at conferences. Not only are community-based literacy practitioners very generous when it comes to sharing resources, but they like to go home with new resources as well. It’s a win-win situation all around.
CLO’s Online Resource Fair was no different. This April, over 30 community-based literacy practitioners from across the province met on Centra to learn about and share resources related to online learning for adult students. CLO staff shared websites and tools that could be used for instructional purposes. Participants shared some of the resources that they find helpful in their programs.
CLO’s Online Resource Fair was a huge success and the evaluations were extremely positive. In the words of one participant:
“This fair was exceptionally helpful in sharing online resources. It can become overwhelming when researching for adequate sources. Identifying what other agencies around the province are using will definitely be helpful. Thank you!”
In terms of the future, CLO will continue to offer exemplary online training opportunities on Centra and via other mediums. For example, this fall Joanne Kaattari will be offering her “Cool Tools Rule: Using Social Media to Educate, Engage and Inspire” workshop on Centra for our member agencies. She will be joined by her co-facilitators – Vicki Trottier of CLO and Monika Jankowska-Pacyna of AlphaPlus.
In this fast-paced digital world, we can’t predict where the next 10 years of online practitioner training will bring us, but CLO will continue to explore, to innovate and to seek to make quality training opportunities more accessible to literacy practitioners across Ontario. We are looking forward to the journey!
Joanne Kaattari is Co-Executive Director at Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO), a provincial literacy network of 100 community literacy agencies. CLO produces excellent resources and tools to support literacy agencies, hosts websites, provides face-to-face and online training events, researches the needs and priorities of its members and shares information via e-bulletins and newsletters. It is well recognized and respected both provincially and nationally.
