Low-literacy and Social Inequality

About 58 out of 100 Canadian adults aged 16 to 65 have the basic reading skills they need for most everyday reading. However, the other 42 of the 100 working-age adults in Canada have lower literacy than is needed to cope with the increasing information demands of our society. The unequal distribution of strong literacy skills in society is associated with economic and social inequalities. Therefore, improving literacy skills across social class lines and between ethnic groups and the sexes is paramount to achieving greater equality of income and opportunity. Many with low literacy skills are uncomfortable disclosing their low literacy skills and asking for help. Low literacy has a strong social stigma, especially in the workplace. As the impact of technology in the labour market grows, workers without the confidence and learning skills to adapt may be left behind. Adults with low proficiency are just as motivated and interested in education as those with higher proficiency. However, they are much less likely to access education and training opportunities due to financial and time constraints. Also, Canadians with low proficiency and less than high school education have much less access to employer-sponsored training than Canadians with postsecondary education. How are low literacy skills impacting social equality? What steps can we take to reduce this inequality? What steps can we take to raise awareness among employers, educators, policymakers about the need to create more opportunities for growth for low-literacy adults.

Level up - Digital Literacy and Health

Positions available: 1 Navigating the online world to find reliable health care information is challenging for individuals with low digital literacy. We want to develop a digital health literacy workshop which will give our learners the skills they need to find reliable health information online. The skills covered in this workshop will include online safety and privacy, how to navigate the Alberta Health Services website, finding health care professionals online, booking online appointments, and identifying accurate and reliable online source for health information. The scope of this project is to plan and develop materials for this workshop. This will include lesson plans, learner workbooks, and information pamphlets. If time permits you will also assist with the delivery of the workshop.

Level up - Protecting your device workshop

1 position available Many of our learners have questions about how to protect their devices and how to keep them up to date. We want to develop resources that could be used in one-on-one tutoring or small group workshops. The volunteer who takes on this project will be responsible for developing these resources as well as leading the first edition of a "taking care of your device" workshop. This will include creating vocabulary sheets for terms such as "virus" and "malware", plain language information booklets about device maintenance, updates, and anti-virus software, as well as lesson plans to teach the material. They will also implement the materials by leading a workshop for our learners.

Level up - Getting to know Edmonton Online Scavenger Hunt

We are looking to develop and fun and interactive activity that will allow our learners to increase their online search skills. The volunteer who takes on this project will create an online scavenger hunt where participants will use their devices to find information about city services and facilities, history, and transit online. They will also develop and lead a workshop designed at teaching how to use online tools such as search engines and maps to find information and navigate our city. Student will do research on different attractions in the city. You will develop a workbook to teach them about basic search skills and a handout for them to record their finding. Positions available 1 student