Photo: Literacy Services of Wisconsin
Remote learning - Literacy Services of Wisconsin
Remote learning: Literacy Services of Wisconsin
Founded in 1965, Literacy Services of Wisconsin has worked with more than 30,000 adults to achieve their goals. Several years ago, I was matched with a student who came to the United States from Cameroon. Our journey was a profound one. In December he passed his test and was sworn in as a U.S citizen. Part of his LSW story is here: facebook.com/watch/?v=1685364698282482.
Holly McCoy, Executive Director for Literacy Services of Wisconsin, spoke about this valuable organization, how it navigated the pandemic and how it remains vital.
What is the LSW mission statement?
Our Mission: Literacy Services of Wisconsin partners with motivated adults to provide access to quality basic education and skills training so they can improve their lives, enrich their families, and strengthen our community.
From my LSW experience, I’ve found the one-to-one in-person learning approach works best.
LSW believes that every learner is unique. As such, their paths to their educational goals may vary depending on their learning styles, disabilities, barriers to employment, life schedules, and personal commitments to programming.
LSW offers programming in the following formats: online learning, one-on-one tutoring, small group instruction, classroom instruction, and workshops. The delivery method often includes multiple overlapping formats. The number of sessions required to complete any of these programs varies depending on the individual’s initial educational level, his or her ability to learn, his or her level of motivation, and the frequency of sessions completed along with the amount of study time and practice invested between sessions.
How did LSW react to the pandemic and how did things evolve?
If 2020 was solely focused on pivoting, advancing, and constantly reacting to the ever-changing unknowns, our 2021 was all about refining our processes and reopening safely. Our concentration this past year was on adjusting and restructuring the organization to ensure consistency and efficiency.
What did LSW learn from those challenges?
Volunteer engagement during the pandemic has been an ongoing challenge. That said, even as we continue to prioritize safety for our volunteers, we still received over 12,000 hours of student support from LSW volunteers during our 2020-21 year! We will continue to navigate volunteer engagement in the upcoming year but are heartened that many volunteers have embraced virtual tutoring and assisting in distance classrooms. Additionally, the pivot to hybrid learning has allowed us to expand our volunteer ranks to friends of literacy who reside outside of Milwaukee but are still able to participate virtually.
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Where is LSW today? Is there a new protocol in place?
We are now living in a hybrid world that requires us to always consider programming in terms of both virtual and in-person opportunities. In many ways, LSW will never be the same, but the student-first mentality has remained a constant throughout all of the changes, and we are a stronger organization for it. LSW’s rich history set a solid foundation for growth, and we are currently scaffolding the lessons we have learned to contribute to the bright future of adult literacy education. Our website has also been updated to allow for online scheduling.
