Information and Referral Guide

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This document was produced in collaboration with:

Arlene Cronin, ACE Distance Delivery, College Sector Committee e-Channel program

Célinie Russell, F@D pour adultes de l’Ontario, Francophone e-Channel program

Deanne Bradley-Coelho, Deaf Online e-Channel program

Heather Robinet, The LearningHUB, Anglophone Stream e-Channel program

Linda Wright, Good Learning Anywhere, Aboriginal Stream e-Channel program

Susan McKee, Avon Maitland District School Board

Section 1:Overview and Background of e-Channel

e-Channel is a Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD) formerly MTCU-funded delivery initiative that provides online learning for Ontario adults, including those with barriers to participating in on-site programming. E-Channel programming enables adults to participate in Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programming including postsecondary admissions, OALCF level 3. Learners on five identified goal paths (Independence, Employment, Secondary School Credit, Apprenticeship and Postsecondary) use self-directed and supported technologies to achieve their goals.

E-Channel was launched as an initiative in 2007 after the success of its distance and flexible learning pilot project in 2003. Initially, project funding was provided to three organizations, serving the Anglophone, Francophone and Aboriginal streams. In 2008, the College Sector Committee was funded to deliver ACE Distance, the online version of OALCF level 3. In late 2010, George Brown College received funding to pilot the development of an e-Channel program for the Deaf Stream. In the spring of 2011, the Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes (COFA) was given the mandate to become the delivery organization for the e-Channel program for the Francophone Stream. In the 2010-11 Business Planning cycle, the funding for the e-Channel literacy initiative was changed from project status to become part of the program delivery of the funded e-Channel providers.

This Information and Referral Guide was developed as a result of research and development funding received in 2010-11 by the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) from MTCU. Representatives of each of the four e-Channel delivery organizations and the George Brown pilot program formed the project advisory committee which participated in the creation of this guide. Separate from this document is a Best Practices Manual for the e-Channel providers. The Best Practices Manual is designed to be a supplement to the policies already in place at e-Channel agencies. Specific e-Channel policies that currently exist can be found on the individual e-Channel provider websites (see the Information and Referral chart in this document) or upon request.

Section 2: Funded e-Channel Service Delivery Organizations

There are currently five organizations funded to deliver the e-Channel program in Ontario. These delivery organizations are also referred to as e-leads:

ACE (Academic and Career Entrance/Access Carrières Études) Distance Delivery – The e-Channel program coordinated by the College Sector Committee (CSC) for Adult Upgrading. The CSC is the e-Channel lead for OALCF Level 3 (postsecondary admission) programming. http://www.acedistancedelivery.ca. Contact person is Arlene Cronin, arlene.ace@gmail.com.

Le service de formation à distance (F@D) pour adultes de l’Ontario – The e-Channel program coordinated by Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes (COFA) which is the e-Channel lead for the Francophone Stream. www.sefad.ca. Contact person is Philippe Landry, plandry@sefad.ca.

Good Learning Anywhere (GLA) – The e-Channel program offered by Sioux Hudson Literacy Council which is the e-Channel lead for the Aboriginal Stream. www.goodlearninganywhere.com. Contacts are Sue Wright, sue@siouxhudsonliteracy.com and Linda Wright, linda@siouxhudsonliteracy.com or info@goodlearninganywhere.com.

The LearningHUB – The e-Channel program offered by the Avon Maitland District School Board which is the e-Channel lead for the Anglophone Stream. www.learninghub.ca. Contact person is Courtney Brown, courtney.brown@ed.amdsb.ca, or info.learninghub@gmail.com.

Deaf Learn Now – The e-Channel program offered by George Brown College which is the e-Channel lead for the Deaf Stream. www.deaflearnnow.ca. Contacts are Sonia Proulx-Prusin and Vanessa Dunn or deaflearnnow@georgebrown.ca.

In 2010, George Brown College received funding for a pilot project for the development of an e-Channel program for the Deaf Stream. The Deaf Learn Now program is now taking referrals. For more information about the program contact Sonia Proulx-Prusin, or Vanessa Dunn, info@deaflearnnow.ca – or visit www.deaflearnnow.ca.

In addition, MAESD also funds Contact North| Contact Nord, www.contactnorth.ca, to provide bilingual (English and French) technical support and services to the e-Channel delivery organizations. These services include: providing a learning technologies infrastructure and training service for online course delivery, practitioner training, and organization’s meetings from the www.e-channel.ca entry point, and the OALCF e-Channel Repository. It promotes the e-Channel program via its online learning centers, websites, and Facebook. (See Appendix B for more details) Contact person is Sarah Gauvreau, sarahg@contactnorth.ca.