Literacy Unlimited has been providing literacy services for over 30 years in a territory extending from Verdun, Quebec to the Ontario border, with an emphasis on Montreal’s West Island. Achieving a 30-year milestone in the literacy field is a testament to the dedication and enthusiasm of the Literacy Unlimited staff, board of directors and tutors, both past and present.

Leading a dedicated staff and a group of hard-working volunteers, Executive Director Jill Roberts and the LU Board of Directors strongly encourages community involvement. Their fundraising efforts have lessened Literacy Unlimited’s dependence on government funding. Non-government funding is now over 40% of their total budget.

Literacy Unlimited’s 2011-2012 Annual Activity Report outlines numerous achievements in pursuit of their mission to advance literacy. With the help of 151 volunteers giving 7,070 hours of service to Programs and Activities ranging from One-on-One Adult Tutoring to a School Literacy Program financed entirely through corporate funding. (A complete list of achievements is available through the link below).

One of Literacy Unlimited’s proudest moments came recently during la Semaine québécoise des adults / International Adult Learners’ Week where 22 LU learners were recognized for their dedication to life-long learning and LU learner Laverne Davis was one of 34 bursary recipients in Montreal.

Literacy Unlimited serves as a shining example of what can be accomplished through hard work, commitment and community involvement. It takes a community to raise a reader.

Photo (Signing the Golden Book at Montreal City Hall – left to right):
Manon Barbe, Chair, Montreal Regional Conference of Elected Officials
Laverne Davis, LU Learner and bursary recipient
Carole Battisto, Laverne’s LU Volunteer Tutor
Jill Roberts, LU Executive Director

Additional reading/resources:

Literacy Unlimited
la Semaine québécoise des adults
International Adult Learners’ Week

This year, The Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life Literacy Innovation Award will honour a community organization that has shown innovation in the creation and delivery of adult literacy or adult-integrated family literacy programs. Award nominations are still being accepted! We ask that you please circulate this exciting award information to the various literacy and learning centres in your community, and encourage them to apply.

Details:

• There will be one (1) top award of $20,000 plus travel to Toronto for one representative to receive the award during ABC’s Life Literacy Night in Fall 2012.
• In addition, up to four (4) honourable mention awards in the amount of $5,000 each will also be awarded. The awards as granted can be invested into the program and/or applied to operating funds.
• Award applications are being accepted until 5:00 PM ET on June 1, 2012.
• Go online to submit your nomination
• English: http://abclifeliteracy.ca/lia/
• Français:  http://abclifeliteracy.ca/pil/

For more information please contact Mack Rogers:

mrogers@abclifeliteracy.ca
Tel: 416-218-0010 Ext. 132
Toll-Free: 1-800-303-1004
Fax: 416-218-0457
www.abclifeliteracy.ca

On March 29, 2012 the Eastern Quebec Learning Centre (EQLC) hosted an afternoon tea in honor of Quebec City Reading Council.  Stephen Burke (Chairman) and Marielle Stewart (Director General) of the Central Quebec School Board (QCRC) joined EQLC Director Susie Faguy in stating their appreciation for QCRC’s 35 years spent providing adult and family literacy services in our community.

Ms. Stewart said, “I would like to thank the Quebec City Reading Council for the pivotal role that they play in supporting our Adult Learners [...]  The Quebec City Reading Council is instrumental in improving student success in our Adult and Vocational Education programs.  CQSB and EQLC are very fortunate to have such a devoted and caring partner in the Quebec City Reading Council.”  Click here for the complete text of Ms. Stewart’s recognition speech.

Cynthia Michaud, SARCA Special Projects Officer at EQLC, shared the history and lore of British-style tea with the students, staff, and QCRC members present.  The participants enjoyed tea, scones, cucumber sandwiches, and trifle.  Everyone agreed that an afternoon tea event should become an annual element of the EQLC+QCRC effort to celebrate Adult Learners Week.

The Quebec City Reading Council extends our sincerest thanks to CQSB and EQLC for their support of QCRC!  We are delighted to share such a strategic, effective partnership in the joint effort to support local adult learners.

All Essential Skills including working together, thinking and digital skills were put to good use as the teams produced their videos and uploaded them to the QELAtv YouTube channel.

The school administration was pleasantly surprised to see young adults working together, listening to each other as they enthusiastically produced videos on learning.

The sessions are continuing throughout Adult Learners’ Week in other towns in the region.

Why would a carpenter or welder need to use a computer? How do hairstylists’ math skills help them get ahead? How can I get into a trade if I don’t have a High School Leaving Certificate? During Adult Learners’ Week (la Semaine québécoise des adultes en formation), the answers to these questions and more will be presented by the Quebec English Literacy Alliance in half-day sessions at six adult education centres and communities on the Lower North Shore of Quebec starting on March 26^th.

The presentations will give targeted information about how changes in the trades have increased the need for Essential Skills training such as using a computer, problem solving, working with others, and oral communication. With guidance from professional filmmakers, participants will learn video-making techniques including brainstorming and storyboarding, and use Essential Skills to plan and create thirty-second video segments.

Participants will be invited to upload their completed segments as contest entries to the “1001 Ways to Learn Challenge” sponsored by la Semaine québécoise des adultes en formation where they will be eligible to win prizes if selected by the judging panel.

Says Louise Quinn, Executive Director, Quebec English Literacy Alliance, “We’ll use job-specific examples to show adult learners how Essential Skills can help them get ahead in the trades. Training is available through our network of school boards and Literacy and Essential Skills practitioners across the province.”

This Essential Skills workshop for the Trades is hosted by the Littoral School Board and is presented by the Quebec English Literacy Alliance to promote Adult Learners’ Week (la Semaine québécoise des adultes en formation).  This workshop is funded by the Government of Canada – Office of Literacy and Essential Skills.

La Semaine québécoise des adultes en formation est organisée par l’Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes (ICÉA) grâce au soutien financier du gouvernement du Québec.

E-reading has many advantages for today’s adult learners. While many of us love the feel of a good book in our hands, learners benefit from e-books in ways that paper books simply can’t match.

The greatest advantage of tablets and e-readers is their ability to adapt to all 3 main learning styles. Visual Learners, Auditory Learners and Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners can all benefit from theses devices.

Text on paper is practical only for visually inclined learners. But most tablets and e-readers with their text-to-speech capabilities, audio, video and interactive animations help auditory and tactile learners as well. A learner can highlight words, sentences or the entire book to be read aloud. Slowing down the playback speed helps in learning the pronunciation of difficult words. Interactive audio, video and animations are a tremendous help to visual and auditory learners. 3D graphics can be rotated and manipulated assisting the tactile learner.

These features encourage independent learning. Operating a tablet is very intuitive. They’re fun to use and little or no assistance is needed for most learners. Re-sizeable fonts reduce eyestrain making it easy to keep reading longer and are a blessing for the visually impaired. Without a visible book cover, adult learners reading at low literacy levels can read anywhere without feeling self-conscious about what they’re reading.

At Amazon.com, the giant online bookseller, customers are now purchasing more electronic books than paper books. Not since Gutenberg invented the printing press over 500 years ago has the written word changed so much. With the many benefits of e-reading, the move from paper to tablet is sure to continue.

The Many Benefits of e-reading/e-books:

• Text-to-speech – aids auditory learners and varying playback speed helps learn pronunciation
• Interactive audio, video, 3D graphics and animations
• Re-sizeable fonts
• No visible book cover – low literacy learners can read anywhere without feeling self-conscious
• Built-in dictionary – quickly look up definitions without leaving the book
• Searchable (content can be found instantly without flipping pages)
• Highlight, bookmark or annotate text
• Books are downloaded in seconds (24/7)
• E-books are (usually) less expensive than paper books
• Millions of public domain books are available free (including most of the classics)
• Portability – hundreds of books can be carried on an e-reader
• Can be read in low-light or in total darkness (depending on the device)
• E-books are “green” (trees rejoice!)

Reading Resources

Grass Roots Press – Adult Basic Education & ESL Resources

ABC Life Literacy Canada – Good Reads books

Project Gutenberg – Free books online

Are you aware of a unique technology initiative that contributes to the advancement of adult literacy and essential skills?

The National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) has extended the nomination phase for its third annual Innovation Technology Award.  Submissions will now be accepted until April 16, 2012.

The award recognizes outstanding achievement in developing and implementing a technology initiative that contributes to the advancement of adult literacy and essential skills.  Specifically, the product, project or service should promote, support and/or facilitate knowledge exchange within the adult literacy community.

For more information on the NALD Innovative Technology Award, read the nomination criteria and the application form.

You may also phone 1-800-720-NALD (6253) or write to contactnald@nald.ca.

The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES) Call for Concepts 2012 has been launched. The closing date is April 5^th, 2012.

The goal of the Call 2012 is to address critical research gaps in adult Literacy and Essential Skills (LES). This Call targets the three following themes: 

• measuring the benefits of increasing LES levels in different delivery contexts;
• researching the essential skills foundations (evolution of concepts, measures, occupational profiles); and
• developing analytical and/or imputational frameworks for studying the anticipated 2013 data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).

The application guide and related documents are posted on our website. Please visit the link below:

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/LES/OLES/concept_papers/index.shtml

But in fact, menial jobs are affected! Menial No More, a Discussion Paper released by the Ontario Literacy Coalition (OLC), highlights how jobs that were once considered entry-level or low-skilled now need middle-level skills. Businesses keeping up with emerging technologies to stay competitive are demanding higher digital and technology skills at all employment levels – including where none were needed before.

More than ever, the importance of literacy and essential skills (LES) is evident. Canadians need the continued efforts of the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES), LES organizations and forward-thinking companies working together to develop programs that raise literacy levels and build digital technology skills.

From the stockroom to the executive suite everyone is impacted by the need to constantly improve his or her digital technology skills. But sadly it’s the workers at the lowest levels, the ones that can least afford it, that suffer most and are the hardest hit by these changes. Most of these workers, already at low-literacy levels, are now challenged to increase their literacy levels while learning new digital technology skills at the same time. A daunting task indeed.

Further compounding the problem, many companies view low-skilled workers as easily replaceable and resist investing time and money into literacy and essential skills training. Fortunately as LES organizations infiltrate the workplace, this prejudice is changing. A large Canadian manufacturer recently told QELA “We used to replace these workers but now we keep them.”

Working towards a solution

The Ontario Literacy Coalition (OLC), with funding from Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) and the collaboration of a number of community partners, have implemented 15 workplace literacy and essential skills projects throughout Ontario. The projects are providing basic skills to entry-level employees with promising preliminary results. The Menial No More research paper was created based on information gathered while evaluating the program’s effectiveness.

Menial No More also profiles initiatives in the USA, UK and Australia that may be beneficial in shaping our own future programs. For example, OLC believes there may be great value in combining general literacy and essential skills concepts with some aspects of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) approach found in Washington’s I-BEST program. (See Menial No More, pages 8-11, for additional details)

The Future

For centuries unskilled labour represented the majority of the workforce. Today however, digital technology skills are demanded at all levels. But with 48% of Canadian adults below the level 3 literacy considered the minimum required to learn these skills, we have a long way to go.

The lesson learned from OLC’s discussion paper, is that by working together and incorporating the best aspects of foreign and domestic projects, we can make great strides in helping all Canadians develop the skills required in today’s workplace.

Additional reading/resources:

Menial No More, by the Ontario Literacy Coalition (OLC)

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST), Washington State’s program for learners with writing and reading skills below grade level 9

Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP), develops training programs targeted to specific industry needs