Accountability is a growing issue in the adult literacy community. Funders demand it and literacy agencies and practitioners work to define, inform, and implement accountability. . .

Accountability is a growing issue in the adult literacy community. Funders demand it and literacy agencies and practitioners work to define, inform, and implement accountability practices. Dr. Linda Shohet, of The Centre for Literacy of Quebec, presented a workshop called Connecting the Dots: Accountability and Adult Literacy: Findings to Date – findings from a two-year project that examined accountability policies and practices in the adult literacy field in every province and territory. Also speaking to accountability, the Canadian Council on Learning partnered with the Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre and the Aboriginal literacy community to present Redefining How Success is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning.

The Work and Learning Knowledge Centre and the Adult Learning Knowledge Centre co-presented the results of the roundtable discussion titled Reaching for the Tipping Point in Literacy. The roundtable brought together employers, literacy experts, government, and academics to develop strategies to promote literacy because, in spite of public policy attention, literacy has not yet become a widespread concern. Additionally, the Canadian Council on Learning presented Understanding Health Literacy, offering a national view of the effect of literacy on health issues. This workshop outlined the steps being taken in Canada to address concerns about the impact of low literacy on patient care.

Many local literacy organizations are looking for better ways to partner with local businesses, organizations and agencies. Gay Douglas, in the workshop Adult Learning Partnerships: Building Pathways for. . .

Many local literacy organizations are looking for better ways to partner with local businesses, organizations and agencies. Gay Douglas, in the workshop Adult Learning Partnerships: Building Pathways for Success showed participants how to explore and develop partnerships to best use community resources and serve the interests of adult literacy learners. Douglas based her presentation on results from the Niagara Pathways Project. The Ottawa Public Library and the Ottawa Community Coalition for Literacy presented information on the Libraries and Literacy – Working Together project. This project is an excellent example of how literacy and other community agencies can work together to build a learning and literate community.

The world wide web and its new social networking technologies present increasing numbers and varieties of opportunities for literacy practitioners and adult literacy learners to connect in an entirely different kind of community. . .

The world wide web and its new social networking technologies present increasing numbers and varieties of opportunities for literacy practitioners and adult literacy learners to connect in an entirely different kind of community – the online forum. Trudy Kennell and Maria Moriarty, in two different workshops, familiarized participants with how new social networking applications can be used as powerful connecting tools. In the session Web Tools and Adult Literacy: Blogs – participants were offered tips on how to set up blogs and how to use them in literacy programs. In another workshop on Web Tools and Adult Literacy, De.licio.us – a social bookmarking tool – was demystified and participants learned how this tool and others like it are used to encourage browsers to share experiences online.