Basic Literacy online course for basic skills teachers

General Information
Target audience:
Basic Skills Teachers / Tutors /Adult Literacy Instructors /
Adult Educators from Malta
Course date:
Tuesday 14 February 2023 – Tuesday 4 April 2023
Course status:
Certificate of Completion:
Participants completing the course will be awarded in the following ways:
1) Digital Certificate on Completing the Course: Basic Literacy
Criterion 1: accessed each of the content pages in the MOOC.
Those who meet this criterion will receive a digital certificate automatically at the end of the course. The certificate will certify that the participant has completed the course and engaged with all elements of the course thematics / content.
2) EBSN Badge on Professional Development Series: Basic Literacy
(Only for those completed criterion 1 and received Certificate of Completion)
Criterion 2: completed knowledge checks (quizzes) and submission of at least 1 meaningful and relevant post in the forum discussions every week (corresponding to the thematic questions of the week, altogether minimum 4 entries within the course course).
This will prove that the participant reflected on the course content from the perspective of their own practice and were able to apply newly gained knowledge and insights in their own context.

The Professional Development Series is an initiative of the European Basic Skills Network to support adult educators and teachers as well as other personnel in basic skills education and training to develop their skills and methods to effectively help people progress on their upskilling pathways. Within the project supported by the ERASMUS+ Program, a series of OERs and MOOCs are being developed. It is also an ambition of the partnership to establish Microcredentials which are awarded to those completing MOOCs and will also be recognized by different educational institutions as well as national or regional authorities taking an active role in further education and professionalization of adult basic skills teachers.
“Basic Literacy” is one of the courses which is being implemented and tested with adult education professionals from Malta as participants, in a period of 8 weeks by the Directorate for Research, Lifelong Learning and Employability (DRLLE), Malta.
Course objectives
This course has specifically been designed to assist you in understanding the basic skills challenge to enhance your teaching practices when working with adults with basic skills. It will introduce you to factors leading to impaired basic skills and equip you with knowledge of personal development and upskilling pathways in your teaching context. It has been developed as part of the PDS project by EBSN in tandem with South East Technological University.
Course results
By the end of this MOOC, you will be able to:
- Understand Basic Literacy
- Identify Personal Development Pathways
- Identify resources for basic literacy skills
- Implement best teaching practices for basic literacy
Course format
The MOOC will be implemented as an 8-week long 4-unit online course (2 weeks for each unit, with a workload of app. 6-7 hours/unit; a total of 25 hours equivalent to around 1 ECTS), self-instructed study with self-checks as well as moderated thematic forum discussions and 3 live webinars via Zoom with a tutor. The webinars will take place at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the course.
The MOOC on Basic Literacy will include an ample variety of learning resources brought together from an international setting, presenting the best teaching strategies and practices. The presentations, videos, and other resources are becoming available every two weeks.
Key themes of the course
Unit 1: Understanding basic literacy
Unit 2: Personal development upskilling pathways
Unit 3: Learning resources for adult basic skills
Unit 4: Best practice teaching for basic skills
Assignments & Assessment
During this course, you will come across several Knowledge Checks which are short quiz questions to check your understanding of various topics. Please try your best to answer these and revise the relevant section if you come into difficulties. In addition to this, you will be asked to reflect on your teaching practices using the newly gained knowledge.
Each unit will have a workload of between 6-7 hours.
Detailed course objectives
Unit 1: Understanding basic literacy
Unit’s objectives:
- Understand what basic literacy is.
- Understand the factors which lead to impaired basic literacy.
- Recognise a person with literacy difficulties and apply strategies to deal with it.
- Be acquainted with the European landscape on basic literacy challenges.
- Reflect on basic literacy challenges in your context.
Unit 2: Personal development upskilling pathways
Unit’s objectives:
- Understand what adult learning is and why it matters.
- Recognize the major steps of low-skilled learners on their Upskilling Pathways.
- Analyse and debate your country’s overall situation in adult learning and upskilling opportunities.
- Reflect on your teaching practice from the perspective of Upskilling Pathways.
Unit 3: Learning resources for adult basic skills
Unit’s objectives:
- Understand basic skills frameworks and their use in skills assessment and development.
- Identify and assess your learners’ basic skill needs in situations relevant to their everyday life with the help of a basic skills framework.
- Locate learning resources relevant to basic skill development.
- Become familiar with and apply a simple method to evaluate learning materials.
Unit 4: Best practice teaching for basic skills
Unit’s objectives:
- Get acquainted with and relate to European best practices in adult basic skill development from your context.
- Understand good teaching perspectives theory and analyze your teaching practice accordingly.
- Examine your digital skills with the help of an online self-assessment tool.
- Source relevant literacy tutor training and blog resources and examine their relevance for your teaching practice.