Each unit explores a different area of the Canadian Workplace. Some units have a single theme, others are sub-divided into related topics.
Each topic includes a sample activity with comprehensive instructor notes. The related benchmarks are also clearly described.
The sample activity could be used as a demonstration task, a showcase for the learning that has occurred.
Your needs assessment will help you and your learners decide which information is relevant to their personal employment goals.
Organizational Culture: The students had a great time doing the materials. They felt that all the activities were very relevant and up-todate.
Working By the Rules: There was a wealth of information in this package. Thank you! My students enjoy group work so I organized the material in stations. Students received a task sheet with 10 activities to complete. Students had two weeks to complete all ten stations. I then looked over their notes and had a classroom discussion with all the feedback students gave regarding the stations. The students really learned a lot about Canada's workplace policies and laws pertaining to employers and employees.
Workplace Tools for Doing Business: It definitely gave me great ideas to implement into my course outline...it reinforced and added new insight into existing curriculum...
Does this sound familiar? We do our learners a disservice when we don't work towards increasing their access to information using available technology.
There are of course barriers: no on-site computers, no Internet hook up, personal fear or an instructor who is computer illiterate to name a few. We acknowledge the barriers but ask instructors to think outside the box. Your local libraries are now connected, there are cyber cafes, or ask friends and family for ideas. If computer skills are now listed as basic or foundational skills, that means these are as necessary for us as educators as they are for learners.
We have included web site addresses in the body of CanadaWorks as well as in the Resource section. That does not mean that you look at them for the first time with your learners. It's like showing a video in a class, or using an article or book. As instructors, we become very familiar with the content before introducing it to the learners. We decide on how to integrate it into our themes and topics. We develop activities to enhance the learning. We develop strategies to check that learning has occurred. It's the same with the Internet. Learners need to acquire skills in media literacy, critical thinking and evaluation so that they can fully participate in a discussion.