Comments on: AB3: Conversation 2

By: Candace, Nicole, Debra, Sarah, David, Suzanne, and Brent

Candace, Nicole, Debra, Sarah, David, Suzanne, and Brent — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 19:20:27 +0000

Please delete

By: Candace, Nicole, Debra, Sarah, David, Suzanne, and Brent

Candace, Nicole, Debra, Sarah, David, Suzanne, and Brent — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 19:18:56 +0000

-Government needs to have a commitment to plain language because when navigating government documents it is extremely difficult for many individuals to access the information and documents that they need to
-Efforts get made to increase plain language resources, however as management changes, website changes happen, the efforts get lost
-Although overall education levels may be rising within some populations, there are many individuals who cannot access resources
-Many major points of government access are automated, at least in the preliminary inquiry, so the need for plain language resources is even more necessary
-Critical framework right now is the Living Literacy Framework
-It is important to embed literacy components within training programs, and more efforts need to be made to have this happen
-Alberta is very work focused, so much of the efforts are targeted at workforce: “Learn to Earn”
-It’s about skills for employment, but it’s also about quality of life
-Employment is one way to achieve quality of life, but it is not the only way
-The pathway to getting good writing skills is not just about getting employed, it is about serving a personal purpose be it personal sense of achievement, engage in community (citizenship)
-Writing is process and repetition
-If you can improve writing through process and repetition, these skills transfer into life, work, etc.
-Can we think of other purposes of writing that would improve their skills
-There are people who have left jobs because a lack of confidence
-People fear failure because of lack of skills, even though they may be employed
-There is a bigger picture at play: We are moving into the “knowledge economy,” so even if employment is not the sole focus, writing is still necessary
-Consistently hear, if I hire a new graduate, they don’t know how to write
-High stakes learning is a huge issue in relation to pairing employment to learning
-It is problematic that people have fear around learning yet their employment opportunities are tied to quick, drive-through learning opportunities in some instances
-Influence of modern age communication (i.e. social media)
-Pressure learners experience to get a better job, learn more, balance family, etc.
-Other factors influence learning-racism/discrimination, poverty
-Many instances where diverse learning communities support co-learning
-Need to have a community of learning
-Collaborative learning is how we learn best
-How could we incorporate an increased sense of safety in learning and a community of learning in some of these higher stakes instances? Can we reduce some of the risks associated with learning (particularly in relation to employment) with/by increasing collaborative learning environments
-The concept of risk has come up in the first two Alberta Writes conferences
-The GOA states 40% of Albertans “struggle with their ability to understand and use information from texts.” Who makes up this 40%? It is important to understand where these stats come from and what this group’s needs are
-Writing is contextual, so you need to respond to someone’s learning needs appropriately in a way that is relatable
-Life situation impacts our ability to expand our learning, strategies, and skills
-You can find a new delivery model but you need to respond to the learner’s needs
-Need long-term programming!
-So often programs are short term and learners don’t have the opportunity to develop skills, especially in relation to skills that take time to develop (i.e. Writing)
-Writing: There is no magic bullet, it is one of the longest skills it takes to acquire
-Some of the more successful schools in this province adopt a community learning model
-A whole person, whole learning model is important
-Successful learning makes space for what is happening in that person’s life: family, life, work, etc.
-GOA is working on an integrated service delivery model, trying to reduce some of the one-stop shopping programming that is so hazardous. It is not a band-aid solution for everyone because everyone’s situations are different
-GOA was only introduced to the integrated service delivery model recently
-However, it is important to ensure effective delivery of new models
-It is so critical to have everyone invested in the same ideas
-The model looks like it is more expensive, but the long-term effects are not actually more expensive
-Longitudinal studies are needed to understand how successful programs and learners are because in a small snapshot the failure is emphasized however over a longer period of time would show that success is complex and often takes time, needing to set up supports within a program and within one’s own life for learning
-We could all work together to track things better
-We need to get more sophisticated in how we track data in order to have a more accurate understanding of the learning process

By: Kaesy

Kaesy — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:32:04 +0000

Key for success might be having workers participate in a task (writing tech docs, curricula, etc.) and not just participating in training.

A more complete model that allows information gathering, tapping into worker knowledge, allowing worker to build materials, use the materials and change the materials yields many positive results.

By: Paul Brinkhurst

Paul Brinkhurst — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:31:42 +0000

ALPHA TABLE
It was mentioned that the journeymen were initially quite traditional in their views of things like tests, ‘class’ layout etc and how their appreciation of learning environment and modes also changed.

Discussed whether test accommodation was provided. Test past mark was 90% and were quite traditional. More accommodation re the use of filed assessments.

We were told that changes to the modules were made at the actual moment a problem was found during instruction.

By: David

David — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:31:06 +0000

group discussion
lessons learned for other groups to use (were they captured?)
Importance of images and how technology is making this possible
the idea of “poaching” ideas across employers and departments to focus on effectiveness for the employees and workplace
Dissemination of this information and communicating the gains (loop of gains promoting more gains)
it is an unusual employer that would allow this process and it is important that this process be ‘risk free’ for the employee to this to be a free, positive, collaborative process
***people are interested in being part of a task (not a writing workshop or essential skills course

By: Trish, Belle, Carol, Candace, Lorene

Trish, Belle, Carol, Candace, Lorene — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:25:03 +0000

How can employers encourage employees to write? Encourage their workers to write down what they do, how they train people, what they need to know or say to train others.
If people think their writing is being judged they will be more resistant. There could be sensitivity around having their writing critiqued.
If someone “owns” a module, get a few different workers to critique it. Collaboration around writing , but also have collaboration in other aspects of their work. Part of the culture in the workplace.
The SME and the writer worked together. The writer was careful to respect the SME’s knowledge.
The employer allowed the process of side by side work and a new approach to developing training to occur. They had to listen and adjust to extended time lines.
The feedback was that the new training was more effective with the new apprentices.
What did learning new writing skills feel like? Pretty damn good.

By: Kaesy

Kaesy — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:23:39 +0000

Writing of modules also affects how the tests are written. There needs to be a common linkage from the module to the trades assessment/tests. The linkage can’t be un- or underdescribed neither. It needs to be very clear.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:23:23 +0000

Challenges employers face in developing employee writing skills?

-identifying risk & reward:
risks: fatalities, liability, survival in marketplace
rewards: employee skill increase across skills and training asset in product
-see it as an investment in employees, ownership in process at Enmax will improve retention
-Incentives?
-writing is embedded as a skill in accomplishing other goals such as training, safety, productivity
-in high schools design a learning activity pairing academic stream with shop classes to write up a process, showing both value of writing across contexts
-authentic audience – shop instructor uses document in following classes
-learning from teaching, for teaching, student as teacher
-writing skills take years to develop in traditional instruction vs. intensive immersion like at Enmax – accelerated process
-corporations can look at cross-functional teams to invest in relative increments of training to reduce costs
-businesses need to make decision to commit, and this will likely be made on a business case for rewards

By: David

David — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:23:17 +0000

image and text
succession planning can benefit (nine box method)
Graphics are another important thing to consider (ie. charts, illustration)
these can be frameworks for texts – can streamline process

By: Paul Brinkhurst

Paul Brinkhurst — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:22:13 +0000

Who is capturing the lessons learned for the curriculum dev commuity?