About the Skills and Knowledge Profile Online

Project History and Early Partners

The SKP Online tool is a ''digitized'' self-assessment tool, based on ACTEW's print-based Skills and Knowledge Profile (SKP) workbook. Originally released in March 1999, the print SKP has been used by literacy coaches, employment counsellors, and union educators and as models by joint labour adjustment committees and volunteer assessment programs. Print versions of the workbook are available in PDF format. The accompanying Coaches Manual is also available.

Development for the print-based SKP was originally supported by the National Literacy Secretariat (NLS), the Canadian Labour Force Development Board (CLFDB), the Joint Union-Management Project (JUMP), the New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL) Network based in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP).

The SKP Online

In this online version, users complete a series of web-based modules, guiding them through the process of identifying and validating their prior learning experiences and developing future learning plans. Using the SKP can assist an individual in sorting out his/her skills and knowledge before embarking on writing a resume. The process helps in identifying transferable skills. The differences and distinctions that people use to order their plans and activities can be identified. It can prove useful for individuals who are hoping to find work but are not yet ready to write a resume or who have not had strong attachments to the workforce. It can be used as a personal resource assisting in application processes and job searches. When used in the work place the SKP is a way to share information, facilitate promotion and facilitate the development of work groups or teams.

The SKP and Prior Learning and Assessment Recognition

The SKP is part of a trend in adult education, Prior Learning and Assessment Recognition (PLAR), which recognizes and builds on people's capacity to share their knowledge and skills. As a generic tool, it is our hope that the SKP Online has the potential to fulfill the needs of various work, community and educational institutions as well as recognizing sectors where learning strategies are based largely in the cultural networks of community and workplace rather than formal education.

For example, the SKP Online can go beyond the needs of employable persons. Recording one's skills and knowledge can help identify interests and skills and clarify a career path or direct retired persons to new hobbies or projects. The SKP Online is also a useful tool for working with volunteers by helping place volunteers appropriately; match needs with abilities, and facilitate their process of being recognized for the attributes they bring with them.

Developing the Online Version of the SKP

ACTEW worked with a number of organizations and groups in order to develop the SKP Online: Content for the facts and analysis provided throughout the modules are taken from the research conducted by New Approaches to Lifelong Learning Network. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and composed of more than 50 researchers and collaborators between 1996 and 2001, the NALL Network produced a wealth of empirical data, both qualitative and quantitative, on the subject of informal learning. This research has been used to form the basis of the content of the SKP Online. Meta Strategies, a Canadian consulting firm that develops electronic strategies and Internet applications, designed and developed the database that forms the basis of the online application Several other ACTEW member agencies participated in an advisory group for the project, providing us with feedback on ease of use, plain language requirements for clients, and general support. These agencies include the Fred Victor Centre, a multi-service organization in Toronto's East End that works with homeless, hard-to-house, and others with significant barriers; Sistering's ''On the Path'' Program which addresses the needs of women who face challenges that prevent them from attending traditional job-readiness programs; the YWCA of Greater Toronto; and Working Women Community Centre.