Purpose

In 2017, AlphaPlus approached LinkedIn Learning to explore opportunities to deploy its online learning platform for staff working in the least-resourced employment and training programs in Ontario that are funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), namely Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programs in school boards and community-based organizations.

Several opportunities converged to make this an ideal moment to undertake an assessment of the effectiveness of LinkedIn Learning as a targeted solution. First of all, Employment Ontario (EO) practitioners are more engaged in online learning than ever before and small-scale studies of adult educators have shown high acceptance of on-demand, 24/7 e-learning platforms. Second, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD – now MTCU) had recently purchased licences allowing faculty, staff and students in every college and university across the province access to the courses available on the Lynda.com platform. It is worth examining whether purchasing more seat licences – for LBS staff in school boards and community-based organizations – is worth the investment by MTCU. Third, our informal survey of LBS staff in school boards and community-based organizations indicates that this group of EO practitioners faces significant barriers to accessing training and ongoing professional development.

The LinkedIn Learning platform could also address the gap in knowledge about how to offer relevant, responsive capacity-building training to a group of educators whose needs are diverse and whose time is extremely limited. There is potential to benefit all of the people who work in LBS programs in school boards and community-based organizations across the province, as well as all of the learners who attend these programs. Our recent survey revealed that there are 466 (full-time equivalent) educators and 380 (full-time equivalent) administrative staff in these LBS programs. We know that by supporting the work of these staff within the LBS sector this project could also benefit the more than 27,500 learners who attend the programs in which these LBS practitioners work.