Delaware adult literacy volunteers can now train online

During the past five years, more than 2,000 volunteer literacy tutors have been trained using I2O throughout New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Literacy Delaware tutors will now be trained online to teach adult learners rather than attending face-to-face training.

In the past, volunteer tutors were trained face-to-face in a traditional small classroom setting. This training method required volunteers to attend a three-hour training session once a week for five to six consecutive weeks before being matched with an adult learner. Program administrators often had waiting lists of adults who wanted instruction, but they struggled with recruiting volunteers who could meet the rigid tutor training time requirements.

Cynthia Shermeyer, executive director of Literacy Delaware, said, “Tutors want to get started tutoring immediately without first going through hours and hours of training. I2O gives tutors the information they need quickly without overwhelming them; it pulls out the important parts of tutor training so they can get going right away.”

“The training paradigm is changing from on-site to online. We are very much looking forward to working with Literacy Delaware in training their tutors,” said Mark Moscowitz, publisher, Think60. “The goal is to develop successful tutors to maximize the educational gain of Delaware’s adult learners.”

Removing the time constriction of face-to-face training by moving to an online platform means volunteers can take the tutor training on their own schedules. They can be matched with an adult learner in less time, which reduces waiting lists and lag time before instruction can begin. The sooner adult learners can be paired with a tutor, the sooner they can start improving their English language, literacy and math skills; get and keep better jobs; help their children with homework; and become more active citizens.

Literacy Delaware’s trained volunteer tutors provide targeted instruction to adults with low literacy or English language skills. Literacy Delaware assists adult learners to realize their potential as confident, self-sufficient and productive employees, family members and contributors to their communities.

For more information, go to www.literacydelaware.org and www.think60.net.