Essential Skills Online: A Consortium Approach | Project # 5332978

As part of a national partnership with Fanshawe College and the Canadian Virtual College Consortium, Bow Valley College has developed an Essential Skills training curriculum that will integrate online and hard copy materials, to teach Essential Skills in a sector specific context. Sectors include: Health Care, Automotive Service and Repair, Oil & Gas and Trades (entrance to apprenticeship).

The first field test in spring 2010 indicated that improvements were needed to the online Learning Management System so that the curriculum, designed to be flexible to meet the needs of a broad range of learners, could achieve the intended objectives. Improved content navigation and web based electronic capture are only two of several components improved within the redesigned LMS.

TOWES is looking for Pilot Project Partners to field test this REDESIGNED product. If your organization is interested in being a part of this project please see the attached Request for Pilot Project Partners. Field testing begins August 2010.

If you are interested in previewing the redesigned Learning Management System please contact TOWES.

Please contact TOWES if you have any questions.    

To view the RFP Letter, click RFP Letter -ESD Phase II                  

(403) 410-3200 or towes@bowvalleycollege.ca

Looking for an Essential Skills Assessment related to your industry?

Take a look at the TOWES Sector Series Assessments which target the following sectors:

• Manufacturing
• Office and Administration
• Aerospace
• Health Care
• Entrance into Apprenticeship.

These tests were developed using extensive research on the Reading Text, Document Use and Numeracy requirements of the occupations in the above industries. Each test targets the Essential Skills levels required by those occupations, and the documents used in the problem sets have been selected from the industry. The Sector Series assessments help show employers, sector councils, training departments and test takers how TOWES is relevant to their industry. As with any TOWES test, the test taker does not need any specific background knowledge of the sector to complete the assessment. The sector series assessment is a great option to keep in mind for clients with a career goal.

Also, don’t forget about the TOWES General Series assessments. The “G-Series” are by far our most popular assessments, and prove to be a great option for use in situations where clients may not have a career choice in mind, and is also good for testing large groups of varying ability.

Do you have questions about using TOWES to assess Essential Skills? Contact Us.

New Year, New Projects

2010 is proving to be a busy year for TOWES and the TOWES staff.

In the first month we have been on the road to visit our distributors and partners, participate in project meetings and deliver training sessions.

TOWES is also busy with a couple new pilot projects, which are being conducted in Alberta and across the country:

Essential Skills Direct (ESD) - We have 13 project partners on board to field test this new Essential Skills training tool; that means almost 300 participants across Canada will be involved.

Essential Skills Online for Licensed Practical Nurses (ESO-LPN) – TOWES is excited to launch the field test for ESO for LPN, an online Essential Skills too developed specifically for IPNDIEN (Integrated Practical Nurse Diploma for Internationally Educated Nurses).  Developed as a support tool for internationally educated nurses, ESN for LPN features several enhancements that consider Essential Skills instruction for ESL learners. If you are interested in learning more about this project or participating in the field testing, please contact Meghan at: 403.410.3198.

Stay tuned to the TOWES Times, as we will be announcing some new exciting projects that we have coming up for 2010 — including changes to our website.

Tell us about the new Essential Skills projects you have on the go!

TOWES the Season!

2009 has been a busy year here at TOWES, and 2010 is shaping up to be another action packed year!

Some of the new initiatives that TOWES will be rolling out in 2010 include:

• field tests of new online Essential Skills tools: Essential Skills Direct (ESD), and Essential Skills Online (ESO) for LPNs
• launch of new projects: web platform for online tools, Learning to Read (LtR) and TOWES Online
• online TOWES Test Administrator training
• updates to the TOWES website

Contact us, follow the TOWES Times or visit our website to learn more about what is coming in 2010!

Happy Holidays from all of us at TOWES!