Norma Lesperance Receives Lois Land Award of Achievement

Sioux Hudson Literacy Council (SHLC) and Good Learning Anywhere (GLA) are proud to announce the 2011 recipient of the Lois Land Award of Achievement.  Congratulations Norma Lesperance of Nipigon, Ontario!

When we are working at a distance with our learners, many outsiders have a hard time understanding what we do at Good Learning Anywhere.  How are we helping learners achieve their goals?  And truthfully, we sometimes wonder what sorts of impacts we are having on learners too.  The results are not always quantifiable and recorded in statistics.  It’s part of the challenge when working at a distance.

However, I would like to introduce you to Norma.   I got to know Norma over a period of almost 4 months.  Norma is a tremendously hard worker.  Norma clearly had her goals in sight and worked very hard at figuring out what she needed to do to reach her goal.  We commend Norma on her focus and we know that Norma will continue to apply what she learned from the Good Learning Anywhere and ENABLE programs.   Here is a short video about the ENABLE program that was produced by Thunderstone Pictures.

When I told Norma that we selected her for this award, she was very excited.  I asked if we could share her success story by means of answering a few questions.  She declined that and decided she would like to reply in a paragraph format.  This is her journey.

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 I first heard about this program through an “ENABLE” project that was offered to a handful of adult learners at Lake Helen Reserve. The on-line course was one part of many that we were required to participate in. As an adult learner these on-line courses made me less afraid of the computer. By this I mean, that I took a college course on-line a few years ago and I can honestly say that I was not prepared to do certain tasks with the computer. I didn’t understand networks, modems, e-mails, attachments; nothing. But now thanks to these courses and the jobs that followed; I am more confident in my computer skills.

When I was in high school the first time around, (in the late seventies, early eighties) I was a shy, gawky teenager, you wouldn’t catch me reading out loud, public speaking, or even standing up in front of a room full of my classmates. The computer had given me the ability to “speak up,” to “express my opinion,” to “participate,” without the fear of being laughed at, ridiculed, or rejected.

 Like I’ve stated before, I’ve become more confident in my computer skills and this meant more job opportunities were becoming available to me. Since I have graduated in October of last year, I have gained employment as a relief secretary, an after-school tutor, then onto the Band Manager’s Assistant for the Red Rock Indian Band. I’m very proud of all my accomplishments and I plan to celebrate my achievements at our Annual Graduation Dinner on June 20^th.

The only advice I can offer others is, “Just do it!”

 If I had one word or sentence to describe my experience with GLA/ENABLE, it would have to say: “AWESOME, TOTALLY AWESOME!”

Norma

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Norma earned her Grade 12 diploma with the help of the ENABLE and Good Learning Anywhere programs.  As a matter of fact, she is having a graduation celebration today at Lake Helen Reserve 53A.  She is also going to take the skills that made her successful and continue to apply them throughout her lifelong learning journey.  Norma has told us that she wants to continue her learning and eventually become a school teacher.

Norma…we can’t wait for that day and who knows, maybe you’ll be teaching online too!

On behalf of Sioux Hudson Literacy Council (SHLC) and Good Learning Anywhere (GLA), we congratulate Norma on her achievements and sincerely hope all her dreams come true.

To learn more about the ENABLE program with Anishinabek Employment and Training Services, please visit their website: www.aets.org.  To learn more about SHLC and GLA, please visit us at www.siouxhudsonliteracy.com or call us at 866-550-0697.

Follow Up: 1st Class – 2011 Canadian Federal Election

This new blog post is a follow-up to our blog announcing the new Centra course we launched called 2011 Canadian Federal Election.

Our first class was on Thursday April 14th, 2011 and the results were fantastic!  If I were to speak in Elections terminology, I can say that we had an 81% turnout rate for this class.  These numbers are actually high for what we are typically used to in a LIVE Centra class.  There are still learners that may go back and listen to the recorded Playback which may in fact increase the turnout rates even more.

There were some interesting observations from this class.  There was approximately 85% of the group that have never voted before.  And I mean never voted for anything.  They have never voted for mayor, their band council, the provincial government or anything at all.  One might think that this is shocking and disappointing but I looked at this as an opportunity and a definite reason why we needed to run this course.

The class was structured in format and outline but flexible because learners were encouraged to use their voices and text chat to discuss their concerns about the upcoming election.  Here is a sample of their concerns from the class:

• TRUST was a big concern for these potential voters – How do they trust that a leader will follow through on their promises?
• Votes don’t seem to count if the person you vote for loses
• Are water issues present on First Nations reserves because not enough people are voting?
• How do I know who I should vote for?

The course was also set up to accommodate different learning styles among Aboriginal learners.  The Aboriginal Approach to Learning encompasses the philosophy of teaching holistically and uses the medicine wheel as it’s symbol.

From a medicine wheel perspective, the course adapted well to these 4 different learning styles.  Intuitive learners are represented in East quadrant of the medicine wheel.  These learners may have recognized that they needed to learn more about the elections process.  They needed to visually see what this process looks like.  Emotional learners are represented in the South quadrant of the medicine wheel.  These learners could relate to the issues and understand the impacts of not voting.  Mental learners are represented in the West quadrant where they were introduced to the process and steps involved to vote on election day.  Some learners prefer to be more objective and logical with their learning.  Physical learners in the North quadrant learn more by observing and doing.  They were provided with interactive online resources to reinforce what they were learning through self-directed participation.

This class was balanced and respected all four different learning styles.

At the end of class, I also shared with the learners the results of a social media experiment using Twitter. Prior to the class, I contacted all of the MP candidates in Ontario who were on Twitter and introduced them to this course we are offering to learners. I also asked if they had any advice for our learners.  The comments and feedback were priceless.  I shared a few of these with learners and it seemed to bring the class full circle.  The comments and advice from the MP candidates helped the learners feel a part of the election and that their voice counted for something.

In the end, all but one learner expressed that they would be at the polls in their community on May 2^nd!

Moodling in March

Sioux Hudson Literacy Council (SHLC) and the Good Learning Anywhere (GLA) project recently opened 2 Moodle courses in February 2011 – Essential Skills Investigation and Canadian History. Moodle is an independent online platform where learners can take online course at their own pace according to their own schedule. Moodle courses assist in developing independent learning skills for Native stream adult learners.

There is not a LIVE instructor in Moodle courses as there are with e-Channel Centra courses that learners are most familiar with.  Warren Butler was assigned as the Moodle mentor to assist learners in getting logged in, answering questions, responding to posts, providing feedback, providing activities, resources and keeping learners motivated.  In the 2 courses, there were 46 learners registered with a 76% participation rate.

GLA recognizes that Native stream adult literacy learners can learn in different ways.  Some learners are intuitive (visual), while others are emotional and relate to discussions, some are mental learners who are objective and logical and some are physical learners who are hands on.  The Moodle course addressed these needs in a balanced format that brought learners full circle in their learning experience.

The courses included several activities and resources such as: discussion forums, YouTube videos, writing assignments, traditional style quizzes, cartoons, pictures, word searches, screen cast presentations, videos, matching games, surveys, documents for download, using databases and a self-direction and self-management activity for learners to create their own Tree of Life.

These 2 courses are finishing up in the end of March 2011.  The results have been fantastic.  Learners are forming their own opinions and discussions within the courses.  Learners are networking and commenting on each other’s posts.  Learners have shared personal hobbies that reflect the application of Essential Skills.  They have identified which skills they need to continuously improve upon.  They are learning how to share resources among each other to enhance their learning experience.  They are supporting and communicating with each other.  Learners have successfully adapted what they have learned to other aspects in their life at home, work and school.

GLA also realizes that Moodle is not for every learner.  These courses are designed for the adult learner who wants to explore independent learning and acquire the skills to do so.  We also encourage learners to try a Moodle course and see for themselves what it’s all about.

A big thank you needs to go to Nancy Friday and the team at AlphaPlus.  Many of the GLA staff has participated in the Moodle training offered by AlphaPlus.  We certainly would not have been able to put this together without their assistance, guidance and encouragement.  Due to the success of these courses, GLA has future plans to incorporate more Moodle courses in to the GLA curriculum.  Stay tuned!

Lois Land Award for Acheivement

Courtesy Sioux Bulletin

Gratitude….

As Christmas approaches it’s not the title or the topic of a post that you would expect but as I look back at the month past, I realize that November an eye opener to those things we need to be thankful for!

Two experiences this month have once again reminded me why I LOVE working at Good Learning Anywhere and why we do what we do.

The first was my trip to Wasauksing First Nations to be present and to present an award to Ivy Tabobandung. She is someone who constantly inspires me and that I’m proud to call a friend. Ivy is working towards a life-long goal; her dedication and enthusiasm, even as life throws curve balls at her, amazes me. She and many others are the reason we do what we do, and why we strive to do the best with every email, every phone call and every course we teach at GLA.

I also had the opportunity to present at CESBA today – a conference for those working in adult Literacy programs in School Board. I was able to share the hour with 4 other presenters who are doing amazing things with technology in their classrooms and programs! Their enthusiasm and excitement were contagious as they shared their stories! Then it was my turn….

Heart thumping, palms sweaty and mouth dry….I approached the platform. I’m always excited to tell the GLA story and the things that we do – but how would this large group of experienced LBS Managers receive what we do???
As usual, a few slides into the presentation I was sailing – speaking a 100 miles a minute and trying to fit in all the amazing things we do at GLA in FIFTEEN minutes! At the end of it the comments and the feedback was – what your group does is AMAZING…and I have to agree….it is.

We have the opportunity to connect with individuals all across Ontario on a daily basis…and we work with learners, practitioners and colleagues that push us to be our best and challenge us to be better…to do more…to try something new…

Thank you to Ivy and to CESBA for reminding me….