CC-BY-NC-SA 2025 New Language Solutions Avenue Program Standards for Technology-Enhanced Language Learning, version 1.2 VIGNETTE 2: KERRY HOWARD TIES ONLINE: DELIVERING LINC IN THE DIGITAL AGE Avenue Program Standards for Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL)1: The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) – Calgary The staff at The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) in Calgary, Alberta, have helped to make the organization a Canadian leader in integrated immigrant support services. Established in 1988, TIES today operates at three locations chosen because they are home to large immigrant populations. Its Forest Lawn, Whitehorn, and Westwinds centres each offer a mix of language instruction, employment training, mental health support, and settlement assistance. Originally serving no more than a few hundred students each year, enrolment has climbed to about 2,400, including 220 learners enrolled in LINC Home Study. With a waitlist of more than 2,000 clients, TIES is actively exploring ways to expand its space and make increased use of technologyenhanced learning to keep up with the urgent need for language instruction. Kerry has been at the centre of technological innovation at TIES since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classroom learning worldwide. Before 2020, technology played only a limited role in language instruction. Today, all TIES classrooms are equipped with smart boards, webcams, laptop computers, and a wide range of applications that support a dynamic, hybrid approach to learning. The breadth of programming at TIES is impressive. Language learners can choose from LINC, Drop-In ESL, Literacy and Basic English, and computer-assisted language learning, as well as online options such as LINC Home Study, and LINC Blended. Also on offer are employment-focused English programs such as English for Employment: Job Search (EEJS), Real world Instruction for Successful English (RISE), and Workplace Online Retention Class (WORC), a free, online English language course that helps newcomers improve workplace communication and soft skills through approximately 30 hours of self-guided lessons and homework. Employment programs such as Employment Skills Training (EST), Empowering Youth through Employment (EYE), Job Readiness for Newcomers and Admin Ready: Administrative Skills for Success provide practical skills in clerical work, computers, and accounting, alongside specialized training for sectors such as security, warehouse support, and childcare. Settlement supports services include information and orientation, settlement counselling, financial literacy, emotional wellness, and referral services. One of TIES’ greatest strengths lies in housing these services together. Language learners benefit from having childcare, health referrals, career counselling, and employment training under the same roof as their language classes. Coordinators from different programs regularly visit classrooms to introduce students to the full range of supports available. For newcomers, this one-stop approach eliminates extra barriers, making it easier to focus on learning English while also gaining the skills and stability they need to succeed in Canada. 1New Language Solutions has developed three standards to guide the effective integration of technology in Canadian settlement language programs: the Avenue Instructor Standards (seven standards), the Avenue Program Standards (five standards), and the Avenue Learner Standards (four standards). These frameworks equip ESL instructors, learners, and program administrators with clear objectives, practical examples, and self-assessment tools to help implement TechnologyEnhanced Language Learning (TELL) in blended learning environments. By prioritizing TELL strategies, the standards empower educators to create dynamic, learner-centered experiences. Ultimately, the standards aim to elevate program quality while enriching outcomes for newcomers navigating linguistic and cultural integration. 32
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