Dunn is referring to international survey results released last month that show Nova Scotians aged 16 to 24 ranked lower than average compared to other industrialized countries.
The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies indicates 42 per cent of Canadians struggle with low literacy. That figure ranges from 38 to 55 per cent in Nova Scotia.
"In order for change to happen you have to have a plan," Dunn says. "In order to get somewhere you have to have a map."
Canada is one of the few industrialized countries without a coordinated framework to address literacy from early childhood to adulthood.
While only about 15 per cent of Canadians are illiterate, Dunn says one in four suffers from low literacy.
That means reading, writing and math skills below a Grade 8 level.
James Reese, 69, is a poster child for the pilot program. He's using his iPad to find some old friends — even childhood sweethearts. He's listening to online versions of his favorite blues performers and joining discussion groups about his glaucoma.
Hazel Avery, 86, holds her iPad for the first time. The Connecting to Community program, with funding from the AARP Foundation, teaches low-income seniors how to increase social engagement online. The Washington, D.C., program chose seniors with no previous computer experience.
Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post/Getty Images
The Internet is often considered the realm of the young. But in the U.S., people over 65 are one of the fastest-growing groups to go online, and social media usage among seniors has soared.
A program in Washington, D.C., is designed to bring more seniors online, especially those who are socially isolated.
The Connecting to Community training program is sponsored by the AARP Foundation in partnership with the nonprofit Older Adults Technology Services, Comcast and the D.C. social services organization Family Matters of Greater Washington.
It puts the latest digital tools in the hands of low-income, older Americans to help them combat loneliness and develop social connections through social media and other online offerings.
The Diabetes Essential Skills Kit D.E.S.K. – Learning Modules The D.E.S.K. Learning Modules contains 12 learning modules that address 6 common barriers to a patient's independent diabetes self-management: These 6 barriers are:
These learning modules can be used with learners with different goal paths as they include activities from various contexts including employment and education.
The Diabetes Essential Skills Kit D.E.S.K. – Essential Skills Profiles The D.E.S.K. Essential Skills Profiles contains 15 profiles that reflect the tasks that individuals living with diabetes have to perform on a regular basis. The profiles have been separated into 3 groups:
A University at Buffalo education professor has sided with the environment in the timeless "nurture vs. nature" debate after his research found that a child's ability to read depends mostly on where that child is born, rather than on his or her individual qualities.
Besides showing that the country of origin was a better predictor of reading skills than individual traits, the study also showed that other attributes at the child, school and country levels were all related to reading.
First, girls were more likely than boys to have basic reading skills, Chiu says. Children with greater early-literacy skills, better attitudes about reading or greater self-confidence in their reading ability also were more likely to have strong basic reading skills.
More than 99 percent of fourth-graders in the Netherlands can read, but only 19 percent of fourth-graders in South Africa can read, Chiu notes.
"Investing In People" is intended to reflect Devon Canada's strong commitment to the development of people and their support for programs that create healthy and respectful workplaces. The grant encourages innovative projects and activities that help to build organizational, rather than individual capacity.
The grant may be used for organizational improvement projects for either employees and/or volunteers. Examples of the type of programs include:
• Organizational strategic planning
• Workforce planning
• Development of a benefits and compensation program
• Employee and volunteer training
• Team building and knowledge sharing activities
• Leadership development
In the case of training, applicants must demonstrate the value of the learning opportunity to the organization as a whole and not just to the individual that will participate in the training
Applications must be made online at http://investinginpeople.ca/. The deadline for applications is December 13, 2013. Grants will be awarded in January 2014.
The now-famous 2010 OCLC study, "Perceptions of Libraries" (oclc.org/reports/2010perceptions.en.html), provided us with some context for the concerns of our stakeholders. The study showed that the word most associated with libraries was "books." In fact, 75% of all respondents said that books were the thing they thought of first when they thought of libraries. In an age in which Google and Wikipedia are primary research sources for many and Amazon sells more ebooks than physical books, it is little wonder that our stakeholders would worry about the decline of an institution they primarily associate with paper books.
We surveyed our customers in spring 2012 to assess whether the OCLC study's findings would ring true in our district as well. Among the 25,000 respondents, 65% agreed that "books" was the word they would most closely associate with the library. Focus groups of community leaders took it a step further, informing us that they consider the library a great community resource, but it would be even more valuable if people recognized and understood the vastness of resources available.
http://www.infotoday.com/mls/nov13/Staley--How-To-Prove-a-Librarys-Relevance.shtml
Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP)
Immigration is vital to Canada's population growth and economic prosperity. Yet, while demand for their skills grows, many highly competent newcomers to Canada remain underemployed.
To address this problem, the Government of Canada funded the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) to develop and implement the Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP) which prepares newcomers for economic integration while still in their country of origin. Launched as a pilot project in 2007, CIIP is now a four-year program (2010-2014) that is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).
CIIP provides free pre-departure orientation to Federal Skilled Workers, Provincial Nominees, their spouses and adult dependents, while they are still overseas during the final stages of the immigration process.
CIIP helps immigrants prepare for economic success by providing information, planning and online support through partners in Canada.
CIIP offices are located in China, India, Philippines and the United Kingdom and services are available in additional service delivery locations. Click here to get a complete list of CIIP service delivery locations.
http://www.newcomersuccess.ca/index.php/en/newcomer-resources/focal-point-partners
Who Can Apply?
For more than a decade, Pathways to Education has helped young people in economically disadvantaged communities attain the education they need to succeed in life. Today, the program runs in 13 communities across Canada.
In 2011, Pathways began a pilot program for literacy in six locations: Regent Park and Scarborough in the Greater Toronto Area; Kitchener and Kingston, Ont.; Winnipeg; and Halifax.
John Beebe, Pathways' manager of tutoring initiatives, says after determining the existing program was working well, the question was: How can it be made better? One of the areas identified as worthy of further development was literacy.
"Many of our students face challenges around succeeding in schools because of weak literacy skills," he says. "There are students who can't get their homework done because they lack some of the core skills."
At the start of Pathway's literacy project, organizers found about 70 per cent of the 66 students recruited to participate in Regent Park, Kitchener and Winnipeg were reading below a third-grade level.
"If you're reading at that level, you're still learning how to read," Beebe says.