Author information

In this episode of the Technology and Human Services podcast I’m speaking with Sampada Kukade from Skills for Change, a Toronto based settlement and employment organization that is no stranger to technology innovation. However, what you’ll find in this conversation, and what I find infinitely useful is that even organizations who are large and growing such as Skills for Change still need support in their digital transformation. And as part of their support, Skills for Change joined a pilot project called Charity Growth Academy run by CanadaHelps, which has been providing organizations, nonprofits, specifically, and charities with support around their digital transformation.

In this Pathways to Prosperity webinar from the P2P 2022 National Conference presenters from ACCES Employment cover a series of approaches and tools that increase interactivity and outcomes in remote and hybrid service delivery models in their work.

When it comes to technology choices for your organization, there are many, in pretty much every category. Some of those choices will be made by client preference. Things like WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Text/SMS are good examples. We use them because Newcomers prefer receiving information and interacting on those platforms. Others will be made by what's working for everyone and what is cost effective. But do you have a Plan B for those choices?

Earlier this year, Jennifer Chan and I surveyed the Canadian immigrant and refugee-serving sector to find out how you are doing, both individually and organizationally. This was a follow-up from our 2020 survey. In the coming weeks I'll be posting our survey results, which we'll then compile into a report of sorts, and share the raw data. In today's post, How do you feel your organization is doing when it comes to transitioning to a hybrid service delivery model?

Hosted on July 27, 2023, this Switchboard training session on creating rapid community assessments (RCA) with refugees was delivered by Dr. Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW; Ramsha Sohail, MPhil; and, Dr. Karin Wachter, PhD, MEd. RCAs help collect community insights and views on a certain issue and calculate the major needs of the target community. That means the approach is useful for technology, digital literacy, digital inclusion assessments as well.

Kareem El-Assal, Director of Policy & Digital Strategy at CanadaVisa - Cohen Immigration Law, provides insights on how technology can boost immigration to smaller communities across Canada.

In this May 2023 TESL Ontario session, John Allan of the Avenue project provides an overview of the potential promise and limitations of AI tools in ESL work. I've also included more videos and articles John has shared about AI and ChatGPT specifically.

In this TESL Exchange session from July 2023, Jonny Kalambay provides an overview of his site roshi.ai, which allows ESL instructors to create lesson material from videos or articles online with just a few clicks.

In this newsletter update I provide links to a number of upcoming events related to digital transformation, along with tech-related news and reports, and some immigration and diversity-related stories.