About Us

Literacy Basics has been designed to help busy literacy practitioners access needed training at convenient times and locations.

About Literacy Basics

Literacy Basics is a free, self-directed online training website for Ontario literacy practitioners. This innovative training website was researched, written and designed by Community Literacy of Ontario.

Literacy Basics has been designed to help busy literacy practitioners access needed training at convenient times and locations. The training modules on Literacy Basics are self-directed; therefore participants can choose content and tools appropriate to their interests, needs, and skill levels.

Literacy Basics removes many of the barriers to training faced by literacy practitioners. It reduces travel time, travel costs, and scheduling conflicts. It also minimizes the lack of local availability and the lack of time to attend training in more traditional settings.

Are the modules at a basic, intermediate or advanced level?

Each training module is covered at the entry level. The modules contain supplementary readings and Internet resources as well as “questions for reflection”. This will encourage practitioners to think beyond the ways they are currently doing things; more experienced practitioners can use this as a base for new learning. Practitioners who have changed positions within their literacy agency or increased their area of responsibility will also find Literacy Basics to be beneficial.

Each person will get something different out of the Literacy Basics training modules. For many, it will be an opportunity to discover new information, resources and tools. For others, it will be a review or an affirmation of what they know. For others still, it will be the chance to reflect on current practices.

How long will it take me to complete a module?

The time it will take you to complete the Literacy Basics modules will vary based on individual needs. It is up to you whether you will use all or just part of the modules and how long you will spend reading the materials. It is your choice whether you use the supplementary readings and Internet links and whether you use the sample forms and other practical materials in the modules. You decide as well how long you will spend thinking about the questions for reflection or discussing them with others in your literacy agency.

While timing will vary greatly based on individual needs, we estimate that each module would take approximately two to three hours to complete.

Who the Website Is Designed For

Literacy Basics is designed to benefit you if:

  • You are new to the literacy field

  • You are already working as a literacy practitioner and want to upgrade your skills

  • You are a literacy practitioner with new responsibilities or a completely new job description

  • You are a volunteer in a literacy program

  • You are a board member who wants to learn more about literacy training

Literacy Basics is Designed for Ontario literacy practitioners

While Literacy Basics was designed for Ontario literacy practitioners, others will find our website valuable as well. The Literacy Basics training modules will be valuable if:

You are a literacy practitioner in other parts of Canada or the world

  • You want to know more about adult literacy training

  • You are a volunteer or a volunteer manager outside of the literacy field

  • You are involved with adult education or education at the elementary or secondary level

  • You are considering working or volunteering with adult literacy learners

Modules

A variety of innovative self-study modules to help organizations develop and strengthen literacy basics training opportunities

Board Governance

This module will examine effective governance in the areas of board roles and responsibilities, governance structures, risk management, development, board meetings, and evaluations.

Community Literacy of Ontario has designed this self-study module to help organizations further develop and strengthen their board governance practices.

Learner Retention

The reasons why adult students decide to enroll in a literacy program and then choose to either continue or drop out are multiple, complex and varied.

Adult students come to literacy programs with their individual sets of motivations, barriers and personal needs. In this training module, Community Literacy of Ontario explores issues around the important topic of student retention.

Strategic Planning

This module is designed to provide literacy agencies and others with insights, step-by-step procedures and the tools to take an organization through an effective strategic planning process.

Community Literacy of Ontario presents this online, self-directed training module on strategic planning. A disciplined effort in fundamental decision-making regarding the operations of an organization, such as concepts, procedures and managers’ tools.

Volunteer Management

Volunteers have been a critical part of the Ontario literacy field since the beginning of the literacy movement in this province.

Literacy organizations have been tutoring adults in small and large communities throughout Ontario for over 100 years. Volunteers were important many years ago, and they are still an integral part of Ontario literacy organizations today. In this module, learn what special value volunteers bring to your agency including national volunteer trends that reflect what’s happening at your agency.

Learner Recruitment

Literacy practitioners and from our knowledge of our local communities, including the results of provincial and national surveys, there is a need for literacy programs and tools for learner recruitment.

CLO’s June 2016 survey of Ontario’s community-based literacy agencies notes that meeting mandated learner numbers is still a top issue for programs.

Service Delivery

This module is an overview of the Information and Referral service for practitioners in LBS agencies’ delivery of service.

Create and foster a culture of service delivery in an organization by providing information on the many offerings of LBS service providers’ literacy training opportunities and their importance to learners, clients, volunteers, and referring organizations.

Succession Planning

This resource is a tool kit with a wealth of tools for agencies to use as they consider the future human resource requirements of their agency.

This project aims to help learn about the value of succession planning and being proactive in implementing a succession plan to allow even very small LBS agencies to continue to serve learners through staff replacement due to retirement, transition or unforeseen circumstances.

Orientation for New LBS Managers

This self-directed, self-study module gives an overview of how LBS-funded agencies in Ontario operate and the job of an LBS program manager or coordinator. 

This orientation is intended to be a starting point to become familiar with the various aspects of your job, before the orientation meeting with Regional Network support organization staff. 

Copyright Policy

All print and web-based materials produced by Community Literacy of Ontario are the copyright property of CLO. All rights are reserved.

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