AlphaPlus

LBS agencies in Ontario, and ABE agencies in the Northwest Territories, New Brunswick, and British Columbia contributed to the content development and testing of AlphaRoute activities and features.

1996-1997

In 1996, with funding from Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and the National Literacy Secretariat, what became AlphaRoute began as a pre-pilot phase 1 project called Literacy Students as Online Learners carried out from August 1996 to June 1997. It began with the research question: Can a Web-based environment offer adult literacy students an opportunity for learning? The findings, recommendations and a literature review from phase 1 formed the foundation for the phase 2 research, design and project implementation.

Literacy Students as Online Learners was a research project aimed to determine if technology-enabled literacy education could promote learner skill development and independence using an online learning environment. Samples of curriculum and learning activities, designed to provide about 30 hours of online instruction, were developed for intermediate level literacy students. A website was designed and programmed, in English and French, to deliver the curriculum. 

Students accessed the online literacy program via computers located at drop-in and resource centres. Access to the online learning environment was via user ids and passwords using a Netscape internet browser. Students were expected to use the website independently and were supported by onsite facilitators and a distance mentor, who interacted with participants via email. The pre-pilot was a proof of concept phase conducted to provide information about the potential effectiveness of online learning for literacy education, and discover factors that would enable the project team to successfully implement a larger-scale project trial. That was the beginning!

AlphaRoute’s first learning environment looked like this:

1996 - 1999

1997-1998

Reseau INTERACTION Network (RIN) of Ottawa was contacted by a steering committee of the funders and AlphaPlus to develop Literacy On-Line into an enhanced environment, called AlphaRoute, which used a village visual metaphor. RIN led further content development for Francophone and Anglophone environments. Content development during this phase was located within one area of AlphaRoute called the Resource Centre. Content development standards and templates were developed. Email, WebBoard discussion and chat features, and a learning management system were added.

1998-1999

The AlphaRoute steering committee piloted AlphaRoute in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, and this pilot informed AlphaRoute (Phase 2): A Research Report. The results showed clear direction from adult literacy students and programs to continue developing content and the AlphaRoute environment.

2000-2001

The AlphaRoute steering committee passed sole management of the AlphaRoute environment to AlphaPlus in August 2000. Content development continued in the Francophone and Anglophone environments, which were formally launched in September 2000. RIN continued to work on site and content development for the Deaf and Native AlphaRoute environments, which were both launched in 2001.

AlphaRoute was officially launched to the full Ontario Anglo and Franco literacy communities in 2000 and to the Native and Deaf literacy communities in 2001.

2000 - 2004

2002-2005

The AlphaRoute Placement Tool (APT), an online assessment tool was developed in 2002, piloted in 2003 with seven Anglophone LBS agencies, and was available for use by the Ontario literacy community in 2005.  It was retired from AlphaRoute in 2011.

2004-2005

Additional interactive and dynamic content for AlphaRoute was developed using Macromedia Flash.  This moved content out of the original learning management system and expanded content development to include ABE partners from across Canada.  The Skills at Work area of AlphaRoute was developed integrating online AlphaRoute activities with Skills at Work offline series of workbooks, promoting and supporting a more blended use of AlphaRoute in LBS programming.

In 2005 the Anglo, Native and Deaf sites were amalgamated into one site and the Franco site look was changed then as well.

2005 - 2011

2005-2006

More responsive online content for AlphaRoute was added in the form of short facilitated online courses to introduce students to the skills and dynamic of taking online courses. Initially these courses were offered using the WebBoard discussion form within the AlphaRoute communication area. A short article Learning About Online Teaching – Reflections on the first online courses offered to AlphaRoute students, published in the Spring 2005 journal Literacies in response to the question:  Will literacy students come if we offer online courses? presents course facilitator reflection on the response to the first online course offered. Feedback from learners within the courses indicated high interest in the courses, but recommended finding a better course delivery tool.

2006-2008

AlphaPlus integrated the Moodle course and learning management system into AlphaRoute. Twenty-six online courses were developed and delivered by adult educators trained and supported by AlphaRoute as new content within AlphaRoute.  

2009-2010

The emergence of e-Channel distance delivery lead agencies funded by MTCU specifically to explore and support multiple distance delivery learning management system use for adult literacy delivery brought the use of AlphaRoute as an online and distance delivery resource in Ontario to a close. Agencies continued to use AlphaRoute as a learning resource, but in declining numbers.

2011

AlphaPlus retired the full learning management version of AlphaRoute and refers interested users to an open scaled down version of AlphaRoute located on the Employment Ontario website.