Celebrating Essential Skills Day: Digital Literacy is an Essential Skill for ESL Literacy Learners

by Sandi Loschnig

Friday, September 25, 2015 is the sixth annual Essential Skills Day, initiated by ABC Life Literacy Canada to raise awareness about the importance of workplace literacy and essential skills training. The nine essential skills are the foundation for all other skills and learning, helping people to evolve and adapt as their communities and workplaces change. In this article in the Stories from the Field series, we celebrate an innovative program at Bow Valley College that is increasing the digital literacy skills of ESL literacy learners one laptop computer at a time.

What exactly does digital literacy mean?

“Established and internationally accepted definitions of digital literacy are generally built on three principles:

• the skills and knowledge to access and use a variety of digital media software applications and hardware devices, such as a computer, a mobile phone, and Internet technology
• the ability to critically understand digital media content and applications
• the knowledge and capacity to create with digital technology.”

(Media Awareness Network 2010, p. i)

In other words, digital literacy is much more than being able to use a cell phone or watch a video on the internet. It is having the technical skills to use computers and the internet, being able to understand, contextualize, and evaluate media, and finally, being able to create or produce content to effectively communicate to different audiences (e.g., resumes or homework assignments). Digital literacy is the key to being able to participate fully in Canadian society and access opportunities for ongoing learning, employment, and community life.

“By promoting the digital literacy development of learners through the curriculum, teachers are able to contribute to enhancing their potential for participation in digital media. This means enhancing young people’s ability to use digital media in ways that strengthen their skills, knowledge and understanding as learners, and that heighten their capacities for social, cultural, civic and economic participation in everyday life.” (Hague and Williamson 2009, 28)

Using Technology to Learn and Learning to Use Technology: Transforming Teaching and Learning Practices at Bow Valley College

It is the first week of classes in the Bridge program at Bow Valley College. Mohammed, an ESL literacy student, is just starting his first term. He is happy to learn that he will be receiving a laptop computer of his own to use while in the Bridge program. He eagerly signs it out and carefully carries it home excited about exploring this (new to him) tool. Mohammed is one of over 60 learners in Bridge who will be receiving laptops this trimester as part of the program.

The Bridge program serves immigrant youth between the ages of 18 and 24 with interrupted formal education. They are ESL learners and literacy learners, working on improving their skills in reading, writing, learning strategies, and essential skills. The goal of the program is to help learners identify and transition into the next step in their educational or occupational pathways. These may include adult basic education, high school upgrading, secondary education, or workplace training. Bow Valley College’s Vision 2020 document articulates and supports the development of these kinds of seamless learning pathways for lifelong learners.

While the Bridge program is highly original itself as a state-of-the-art transitioning program, a key innovation within the program is the distribution of laptops to each learner and their incorporation into the curriculum.

Daniel Merryfield and Donald Morris, ESL literacy practitioners who teach in the Bridge program, have been instrumental in implementing the laptop program. I recently spoke to them to find out more about how the program works and how it has affected teaching and learning.

Don started the conversation. “With the introduction of laptops in 2013, our approach to teaching has changed. The expectations, the way we present things, the way we work, the way learners manage work, all that has changed. And it continues to change. As the laptop program develops so does our understanding of how to best use laptops in the program.”

Dan described how the laptop program works. “We give the students a laptop the first or second week of the term and they keep it. While the learners have the laptops, they are their responsibility. The main goal of this program is to get our learners comfortable using computers and prepared for academic upgrading or other pathways. Many of our learners come with very little exposure to technology…when I say technology what I mean is using a computer, say a laptop or a tablet. The exposure they’ve had is basically through cell phones and social media so they’re quite comfortable using things like Facebook… And as literacy learners, they are still learning to read and write. If they were given an assignment in the first week of classes that involved writing something, typing it and emailing it, many learners would struggle because they don’t have the literacy or the technology skills to complete this task.”

Bow Valley College utilizes D2L (Desire to Learn), an online teaching and learning platform, as part of its commitment to ‘learning anytime anywhere’. This becomes especially relevant within the laptop program.

Don explained how the two work together. “With D2L, learners are able to access the work that we have in the classroom and everything is very organized for them. It’s easy for them to find the work that they need to do, to submit their homework, to communicate with their classmates, or to communicate with the instructor. It’s a very good platform. In my classroom, the way I use D2L has changed a lot of things. For example, in paragraph writing, the first draft would be done in writing and then I’ll correct it, and give it back to them. Learners use Microsoft Word to do their second draft and send me their file through D2L. I look at their second draft and either give them a printed copy or send it back to them through D2L. Everything we do in the classroom, whether it’s a paper copy or electronic copy, I put up onto D2L so they have easy access to it.”

Dan added, “Teaching and learning responses to D2L have been very positive. It serves as a repository of all our work. We have midterms approaching next week and my learners can access every reading that we’ve done, they can access all the vocabulary words, they can access all the writing assignments as well. They have that copy, that’s always there. And as for teaching, I’ve saved all of the learning materials each trimester, so I can go back three trimesters and see what I did, the readings are all right there. So it’s a great tool for organizing…. It’s an extension of our classroom.”

Bridge has four levels: Intermediate, High Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced Transition. They correspond roughly to Canadian Language Benchmarks 2-6. Learners work through the different levels, moving on to the next when they have achieved competency in a given level. They may repeat levels if necessary. Upon completion of the Advanced Transition level they will have met the requirements to transition to Adult Basic Education or Upgrading. The expectations of what the students can do with technology (laptops and D2L) increase in difficulty as the learners work their way up through the levels of the Bridge program.

Success Stories

Don described some of the successes he has seen coming out of the laptop program. “We see a lot of success stories of our learners who have moved on to Upgrading or into Career programs, or who are actually working now…. We have alumni coming back to the program and saying how much it meant to them in preparation for their education or in their jobs. …Because when they go into a career program, they’re expected to know how to use Microsoft Office, they should know how to use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, applications like that. So with the laptop program, we use technology to learn but we also learn to use technology in the classroom.  You can see a lot of transferable skills. The fact that they are now able to use applications such Microsoft Word or PowerPoint gives them confidence and gives them more opportunities.  I believe, for the younger generation like our learners, technology is a necessary tool. Without it, it’s a definite hindrance to whatever career or educational path they want to take.”

Dan added, “I’ve had students come back to me quite happy, quite pleased because they were able to apply online for a job. If I walk into a store with a resume they’re going to tell me go to the website. For our learners this was an access issue. They were being shut out of certain jobs, and the opportunity to even get into some industries. But now they’re more comfortable being online and they’re more comfortable using a computer. The task of filling out a resume is one skill but the task of filling out a resume online is another skill and it was too much for them. They feel empowered that they can go online, they can put it in their application and for them it’s quite rewarding. We’re talking about literacy and digital literacy for our students.”

“Literacy in the year 2015 includes digital literacy. Quite often people make the assumption, they’re young so they know how to use computers. And when learners don’t have those skills, they feel they’re being shut out from a lot of opportunities. Being able to read and write also means being able to read and write online, there’s a lot more involved in it than just simply pen and paper.” - Dan Merryfield

Access to Technology and the Digital Divide

When we talk about digital literacy and participation in our digital society, it’s important to acknowledge the effects social and economic class have on accessing opportunities. According to a 2010 Statistics Canada report, socioeconomic factors are the most significant barriers to increasing digital literacy among adults, and the digital divide is significant in Canada. It reports that 94% of individuals in the top income bracket (above $85,000 per year) used the internet while only 56% of those in the lowest income bracket (less than $30,000 per year) report internet use (Statistics Canada 2010, cited in Greig and Hughes 2012, 20). Greig and Hughes go on to suggest “one way forward would be to increase and expand publicly funded digital literacy classrooms and spaces that afford those adults in most need open access to the Internet and rich, ongoing opportunities to develop digital literacy skills” (20).

Dan concurs. “One thing we learned as a program is a lot of our learners had difficulty accessing the internet at home due to the cost. It’s just too much money. At one point half my class didn’t have internet service at home due to the cost. When we put things online I always tell my learners that they can access it at BVC or in the Calgary Public Library. A take away from that is that having public WiFi and having free Wifi in institutions like Bow Valley College becomes very critical.”

One final aspect of access needs to be emphasized. Traditionally, learners attend a computer class once or twice a week and have access to computer labs in between classes. It can be difficult for ESL literacy learners to access technology independently. There is a world of difference between learning how to use technology in a lab once or twice a week, and actually putting a laptop computer into learners’ hands for them to have and to work on for the duration of the program. The laptop program not only provides the hardware, but also provides the instructional support needed to increase learners’ digital literacy skills within the context of learning language and numeracy skills.

Something to Consider in Implementing a Laptop Program

Don shared an important learning from the program. “I think we realized that in order to introduce a program like this, you need a larger community behind you. And what that means is you’re going to need the financial support to pay for these laptops and as the program is growing, to buy additional laptops. You also need IT support, because you can’t expect the instructors to be IT specialists. We also have people who help distribute the laptops at the beginning of the term and collect them [at the end]. We learned that you need a big team and a lot of support behind you in order to make this program a successful one.”

Dan agreed. “We’re very fortunate that Bow Valley College is the size that it is and that we have the IT infrastructure like D2L. We also have an IT team to support us…. I think a smaller school or smaller provider would have to invest a sizeable amount to have the hardware, enough WIFI, and the IT support.”

Some Final Words

Don concluded by saying, “I think where we are in the Bridge program, having this laptop program, we are in some respects on the forefront of what’s happening in technology for young adult learners…. I also think our main purpose is to share what we’re doing…and how successful it is and how useful it is and we hope by doing things like webinars and communicating with a larger audience, that it will spread.”

It is clear that digital literacy is an essential skill in the 21st century. ESL literacy practitioners Donald Morris and Daniel Merryfield, and their colleagues in the Centre for Excellence in Immigrant and Intercultural Advancement, successfully demonstrate the many benefits of introducing laptop computers into the curriculum. The laptop program used in conjunction with the D2L learning platform provides an effective and innovative way to help young adult immigrant learners prepare for life in a digital world.

“…the computer is not a toy; it is the site of wealth, power and influence, now and in the future. Women and indigenous people and those with few resources cannot afford to be marginalised or excluded from this new medium. To do so will risk becoming information poor. It will not be to count; to be locked out of full participation in society in the same way that illiterate people have been disenfranchised in a print world.” (Spender 1995, quoted by Moriarty 2011, 15)

Daniel Merryfield and Donald Morris, ESL literacy practitioners
 who teach in the Bridge program at Bow Valley College.

References

Greig, Christopher, and Janette Hughes. 2012. Adult Learners and Digital Media: Exploring the Use of Digital Media with Adult Literacy Learners. Toronto: AlphaPlus. Retrieved from http://alphaplus.ca/en/web-tools/online-publications-a-reportsgroup1/adult-learners-and-digital-media-2012.html

Hague, Cassie, and Ben Williamson. 2009. Digital Participation, Digital Literacy, aAnd School Subjects: A Review of the Policies, Literature and Evidence. Bristol, UK: Futurelab. Retrieved from http://www.futurelab.org.uk/sites/default/files/Digital_Participation_review.pdf

Media Awareness Network. 2010. Digital Literacy in Canada: From Inclusion to Transformation. A Submission to the Digital Economy Strategy Consultation. Ottawa, ON: MediaSmarts. Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/pdfs/publication-report/full/digitalliteracypaper.pdf

Moriarty, Maria. 2011. Finding Our Way: Digital Technologies and E-Learning for Adult Literacy Students, Educators and Programs Literature Scan: 2005-2011. Toronto: AlphaPlus. Retrieved from http://alphaplus.ca/en/literacy-research/332-finding-our-way.html

"Why test? How test?” In The Context Of The Mathematics 30-1 Diploma exam — Michael Gaschnitz

In this article, I explore two criteria that could be employed as guides when developing exams for grade 12 courses. Firstly, our exams could be designed to mimic diploma exams’ norms and items as closely as possible. Secondly, we could disregard the diploma exams and design our exams based entirely on the Program of Studies—since we are legally obligated to follow the Program, and nothing besides. As well, there are many other ways to benchmark exams that I am not considering in this article.

Option 1: Design tests to duplicate the diploma exam’s norms and items as closely as possible.

Consider my graphical analysis of the province-wide results on the January 2015 Mathematics 30-1 diploma exam:




Each star represents 100 test-takers.


Note the dramatic difference in the number of students who received F for their school-awarded mark (about 400) compared to the number of students who received F for their diploma examination mark (about 2500). One interpretation is that teachers across the province are awarding marks in a manner consistent with competency-based learning, whereas the province is designing the Mathematics 30-1 diploma exam to some extent as a fair competition. In my opinion Alberta Education develops many items that are artificially difficult. For example, several items tested four separate sub-items. If a student answers any one of the sub-items incorrectly, the student loses the entire mark that is at stake. By testing four different things in one item, Alberta Ed is emphasizing a more content-based learning model. This is not necessarily a wrong thing to do. It all depends on what one is trying to accomplish and why. If the diploma exams were not a fair competition then perhaps the universities would need to employ SATs or ACTs to select students. Alberta’s post-secondaries accept diploma exams as valid measurements of students’ aptitudes. Therefore, perhaps diploma exams are the assessment model that should be mimicked.

Criticism of Option 1

Duplicating the provincial results in our department would place our students on Procrustean beds by locking our assessments onto a normative scale instead of assessing competencies directly. Some diploma exam items introduce difficulty for the sake of difficulty so that grades are suppressed. Alberta Ed needs the Math 30–1 diploma exam to be, to a significant degree, a competition, and not entirely a competency-based assessment, so that students are placed in appropriate post-secondary programs. (They could simply scale the marks with no loss in validity, but doing so would not be politically palatable.)


Consider these curious stats I data mined from the January 2015 Mathematics 30-1 diploma exam School Report:

• The average score on questions designated as Standard of Excellence was 65%.
• The average score on questions designated as Acceptable Standard was 66%. Incredibly, these two classes of items (Standard of Excellence and Acceptable Standard) have, on average, about the same level of difficulty
• Numerical-resonponse item 6: 46% of Alberta students answered this item correctly. This item is at the lowest cognitive level, “Procedure,” and is at the Acceptable Standard level. This is one of the most difficult items on the test.
• Multiple-choice item 16: 87% of Alberta students answered this item correctly. This item is at the highest cognitive level, “Problem Solving,” and is at the Standard of Excellence. This is one of the easiest items on the test.

How can we successfully emulate the diploma exams when their items are often classified in a seemingly contradictory fashion?

I have often heard that difficulty is independent of cognitive levels or the standards. This leads me to ask: What, then, is the purpose of difficulty? It’s not mentioned in the curriculum. My only conclusion is that difficulty is being used to make diploma exams a competition (presumably, a fair one).


I see the Math 30-1 diploma exam as partly an arms race: as teachers become better at teaching the course material and students become better at answering the trickier questions by finding calculator-based workarounds and by using other heuristics, the diploma exam needs to be made progressively more difficult to keep marks down. This happened with Pure Math 30. See: http://acfonthesamepage.blogspot.ca/2014/09/provincial-assessment-for-mathematics.html.


Option 2: Build tests directly from specification in the Program of Studies

Another option is to develop test blueprints based on a fair interpretation of the achievement indicators precisely as they are stated—i.e., develop exam items that meet the defined standard (acceptable or excellent), but are not more difficult than they need to be (no artificial difficulty just for the sake of beating marks down). This method diminishes emphasis on the competitive aspects of testing and places more emphasis on competency; gives the benefit of the doubt to our students since it is more likely to test math skills than IQ; and is more consistent with a UDL-based assessment philosophy. (CAST’s definition of UDL: “UDL is intended to increase access to learning by reducing physical, cognitive, intellectual, and organizational barriers to learning, as well as other obstacles.”) We could stop trying to second-guess the ever-morphing diploma exam. Equivalency exams could be designed according to Alberta Ed’s own standards rather than to mimic the diploma exam’s difficulty and item styles. Moreover, the equivalency exam and diploma exam are now weighted at 30% instead of 50%. Therefore, perhaps more effort should be employed in diversifying assessments beyond just tests rather than chasing the all–multiple-choice diploma exams.

Criticism of Option 2

Perhaps Option 2 is excessively soft-hearted and insufficiently hard-headed. One purpose of assessment is to gather evidence that can be used when exhorting teachers and students to strive for ever increasing excellence. How can anyone achieve excellence without first surmounting significant difficulty? Moreover, extraordinary efforts and resources are invested to ensure that diploma exams are highly valid.


Conclusion

A blend of the two options is possible, and there are many other valid ways and reasons to assess. I don’t have all the answers to the initial questions, but I hope I have provided some valid explorations of them.


Regards,
Michael
Previous blog postings

September 8 is International Literacy Day!

Today we celebrate UNESCO International Literacy Day (ILD) with our latest Stories From the Field article ‘ESL Literacy Learners Engaging with their Communities’.

This new series of articles is a collaboration between the Centre for Excellence in Foundational Learning (CEFL) and the Centre for Excellence in Immigrant and Intercultural Advancement (CEIIA).

UNESCO has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts since its foundation in 1946.

The UNESCO declaration states:

Literacy is a human right and the basis for lifelong learning. It empowers individuals, families and communities and improves their quality of life. Because of its “multiplier effect”, literacy helps eradicate poverty, reduce child mortality, curb population growth, achieve gender equality and ensure sustainable development, peace and democracy.

In today’s rapidly-changing, knowledge based societies where social and political participation takes place both physically and virtually, acquisition of basic literacy skills and the advancement and application of such skills throughout life is crucial.

UNESCO’s policy today is to support the promotion of literacy and literate environments as an integral part of lifelong learning and to keep literacy high on national and international agenda. Through its worldwide literacy programmes, advocacy work and knowledge base, the Organisation works with countries and partners to realize the vision of a literate world for all. 

UNESCO’s overall approach to literacy for all encompasses the following: building strong foundations through early childhood care and education; providing quality basic education for all children; scaling-up literacy programmes for youth and adults who lack basic literacy skills; and developing literate environments. (http://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy-all)

Stories from the Field

ESL Literacy Learners Engaging with their Communities 

Celebrating International Literacy Day, Sept. 8, 2015

By: Sandi Loschnig

Since 1966, UNESCO has celebrated International Literacy Day to remind the international community that “literacy is a fundamental human right and the foundation for lifelong learning. It is fully essential to social and human development in its ability to transform lives. For individuals, families, and societies alike, it is an instrument of empowerment to improve one’s heath, one’s income, and one’s relationship to the world” (UNESCO 2015a).

This year’s theme is Literacy and Sustainable Societies. “Literacy is a key driver for sustainable development. Literacy skills are the prerequisite for the learning of a broader set of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, required for creating sustainable societies”(UNESCO 2015b).

The ESL literacy programming at Bow Valley College aims to provide learners with interrupted formal education (LIFE) with both the literacy and the life skills they need to be successful in their lives within a variety of contexts: home, further education, employment and the community at large.

One innovative program in particular is focused on developing these important ‘soft skills’ – helping ESL literacy learners build their self-confidence and increase their engagement with their community. The Bridge Leadership Program is targeted at youth between 18 and 25 years of age. The learners work on building their skills in areas such as checking in and checking out, active listening, managing anxiety and nervousness, giving and receiving feedback, clarifying information and messages, initiating social contact and conversation, and refusing requests (Westwood and Pearson 2005, 3).

I spoke to Kelty Christensen, Learner Engagement Officer at the Centre for Excellence in Immigrant and Intercultural Advancement at Bow Valley College, to learn more.

She explained how the program evolved. “Prior to coming into the position there was a Leadership program in existence whereby students would engage in different school and class activities to enhance leadership skills. I realized that there was a definite desire for students to be involved and to learn more practical hands-on skills that would support them not only in their schooling but within their community and work life. The leadership program grew out of that need. The Bridge Leadership program has evolved over time. The intent is to increase learners’ communication skills and their levels of self-confidence in public speaking, and by building these skills have more success within their school setting, their life and their community. I found that they had the most success and the most impact when those skills could be applied to real life situations. As I worked with this group of immigrant youth, I realized that they were intimidated by their lack of English, and yet still really wanted to get involved in their communities. They didn’t know how to get started, and they didn’t know how to gain skills to promote their success. There are many barriers that prevent learners from doing that, prevent them from understanding how to get involved, and how to learn those skills. They wanted to engage in leadership activities and improve their communication skills, which is why they gravitated towards this leadership program. It runs each semester for approximately 12 weeks. The program varies each semester and allows different learners from the Bridge program to have the opportunity to become involved.”

The demand for the leadership program has steadily increased as the numbers of learners in the Bridge Program has increased. Currently, 24 learners enter the program each trimester. Participants meet once a week to go over different topics and learn interpersonal and communication skills using a sociocultural competency training model.

The course culminates in a community engagement piece that varies each semester. Kelty explained: “During the course, we focus on presentation skills, communication skills, confidence building, and intercultural competency. These are the kinds of skills that the learners can use in multiple facets of their lives. At the end of the 12-week period they participate in a community engagement opportunity – engaging not only within our College community, but within the greater Calgary community. The program helps the learners gain self-confidence so that they can turn around and access community volunteering opportunities on their own. They reflect on their experience and how it has changed them, and how they can take the skills they’ve learned forward.”

Learners choose organizations based on their passion and interest. One past community engagement project  included working with Operation Christmas Child[1]; the learners volunteered in the warehouse, filling and checking the shoeboxes before shipment. In another project, the learners organized and participated in a learner-led orientation for all of the English Language Learning students when they moved from the classrooms at Rocky Mountain Plaza to the newly expanded Bow Valley College. Working in groups of three, the leadership program participants provided tours of the North and South campuses for over 600 students to orient them to their new location.

Over the past six years, leadership program participants have worked with the Mustard Seed, the Calgary Drop-In Centre, the Calgary Food Bank, the Calgary Children’s Festival, Brown Bagging for Children and the Royal Bank Pennies for Water campaign. “Often, after learners leave the program, they get involved in volunteering in other capacities, either through Propellus[2] or other volunteer organizations,” Kelty added.

Kelty shared a success story from the leadership program. “I had one learner who had a very strong stutter. It was so strong that his ability to articulate himself was a word by word effort. He did not let this stand in his way. He pushed himself to take on challenging speaking roles and constantly put himself outside of his comfort zone. The class was very supportive of him and gave great feedback. I think that the leadership program gave him the tools to help him in increasing his self-confidence, and he began to understand that something that might prevent people from taking on new challenges was not going to hold him back. He was very involved and inspired other learners within the program to take on roles, which was very impressive and spoke to his natural leadership. He has moved into High School upgrading, but he remains connected to College community through the Intercultural Centre’s ICan Volunteer Program. His ability to navigate the challenge of moving from the Bridge program level of leadership to the College-wide level of leadership and engagement tells me that we’re doing something right.”

A final word

Literacy-level learners “may be beginning learners but they are not beginning thinkers” (Brod 1999, 5). They are thoughtful about their connections to the world, and, like all of us, want to make a valuable contribution to their communities. Innovative courses like the Bridge Leadership program, using techniques such as cultural mapping and experiential learning, help learners improve their communication skills, which results in an increase in self-confidence and self-advocacy skills. Importantly, these newly learned attitudes, skills, and values are transferrable into other settings: family, further education, work and the larger community, and contribute to the creation of a sustainable society.

Leadership was very interesting to me. I learned from leadership. I didn’t have any confidence to stand in front of an audience. But when I was in leadership…first time [I spoke] I was feeling very kind of scared. Second time I was kind of a little bit scared. Third time I was feeling I can talk, doesn’t matter how many people are there…. After leadership, I was feeling that I can ask anything I want, and volunteering, oh my goodness, it was very, very good for me. (personal interview with Venantie Nyibabashumba, a learner in the Leadership program)

References

Brod, Shirley. 1999. What Non-Readers or Beginning Readers Need to Know: Performance-Based ESL Adult Literacy. Denver: Spring Institute for International Studies.

UNESCO. 2015a. “Literacy.” Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/literacy/

UNESCO. 2015b. “Literacy and Sustainable Societies.” Retrieved from UNESCO website http://www.unesco.org/new/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/literacy-day/

Westwood, Diane, and Hilary Pearson. 2005. “Grace Under Fire” Sociocultural Competencies: Key Communication Skills for Career and Employment Success. Instructor Manual and Student Manual. Vancouver: Vancouver Community College.

[1] Operation Christmas Child is a program of Samaritan’s Purse®. Volunteers fill shoeboxes with hygiene items, school supplies and toys. The shoeboxes are then shipped around the world to children in need. http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/rss/operation-christmas-child/resources/about-this-project.aspx#.VdXjQPlViko

[2] Propellus is a non-profit organization that helps strengthen other community organizations through networking, collaboration, mentorship and shared experience. They also help connect volunteers to organizations. http://propellus.org/about-2/