Welcome to CTAD website!

A major EU funded project, From the Margins to the Mainstream is an extension of the Last Mile Development Partnership and has two partners: The Ethnic Minority Foundation and Tribal.

The project provides training and support to Muslim women in various UK locations to improve their Skills for Life, enter the labour market and start working in some capacity. Includes a basic IT package, ESOL materials, and creative skills modules.

Developed for From the Margins to the Mainstream, Make IT Easy: Learning English through IT is an accessible, illustrated pack of CD- and paper-based materials combining the development of English language skills with learning about IT.

The pack contains six modules about different uses of information and communications technology (ICT) – IT for short – e.g. word-processing, using the Internet and e-mail. Each module includes between two and seven topics.

The resources are not intended as self-study materials; rather they are designed to be used with guidance from a ‘tutor’; meaning in this case, anyone who is helping to teach or support learning. This includes volunteers, learning support assistants, facilitators and teachers with different specialisms and different levels of training. Equally, the term ‘learner’ refers to any person engaging in learning IT, literacy and language skills, for instance, students in a formal educational setting, workplace trainees or other learners in an outreach setting.

Topics consist of a double-sided ‘Tips for Tutors’ page, which gives guidance about supporting learners with the topic. Most topics also have an example learner handout, which suggests activities for learners to practise their newly acquired skills. Some learner handouts are available on compact disc (CD) in Word format, so that they can be easily edited and changed to match the learner’s interests and needs, or used to create further similar handouts to supplement and support the learning.

Most of the activities suggested in the ‘Tips for Tutors’ pages are mapped to the ICT Skills for Life curriculum or the literacy and ESOL curricula. They are pitched at Entry 1 (E1) through to Entry 3 (E3). Most learners are likely to be able to work on ICT at E3, even if their language and literacy skills are lower. Curriculum reference codes are included in the ‘Tips for Tutors’.

Where tutors are unfamiliar with, or not required to work to, the National Standards and curricula, they will find that the descriptions of the levels will help to decide a learner’s approximate level and to select appropriate activities. The materials give some ideas for presenting and teaching ICT skills to learners who need to develop their English language and literacy skills as well. Effective use of the resources should be guided by the learner’s needs and interests.