Intermediate Unit offers classes online
Sitting in a classroom at a certain time for so many days may not always be the most convenient way for some people to get the education they need. With convenience in mind, Intermediate Unit 1’s Adult Learning Center in Uniontown is getting ready to offer adults a chance to study when they can to prepare for the General Educational Development (GED) test, improve their job skills or even brush up on basic math, reading and writing skills.
Adult Learning Center teacher Carol Del Pinto, who will be the virtual teacher that checks students’ work and offers feedback, said GED Connections: Learning at a Distance and Workplace Essential Skills will be available “all the time” wherever the potential student has access to the Internet. Those who do not have the Internet at home, Del Pinto said, can go to places cooperating with the programs, like the local CareerLink or a public library.
The Adult Learning Center is an outlet for people in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties for the new distance learning programs available beginning Sunday from 26 sites in Pennsylvania through funding by the state Department of Education’s Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education. This pilot effort in a 13-state consortium called Project Ideal is offered at no cost to the student.
“We’re trying to get to the individual who may not have been able to access traditional classes because of health, child-care or work,” Del Pinto said.
She said a Pennsylvania study in 1994 concluded that only 3 percent of the people in need of literacy-related services were being reached, leaving 97 percent without access.
GED Connections includes training in all areas of the GED, to prepare students for taking the test at a GED testing center. The student completes online activities and assignments that the virtual teacher reviews and returns. Videos and workbooks also may be part of the instruction. Workplace Essential Skills, meant to improve job skills, was available for about two years, but this is the first time it is available online and it includes videos, workbooks and Internet activities. The online lessons are delivered through the Public Broadcasting System Web site www.pbs.org/literacy.
A third related program, already in use, is called TV 411. It, too, incorporates videos, workbooks and the Internet with the help of an instructor. The CareerLink in Waynesburg is getting ready to start a new class of TV 411 students Dec. 9.
Del Pinto said TV 411 is a starting point for the student who wants to earn a GED or improve job skills but may not be ready for GED Connections or Workplace Essential Skills.
Del Pinto said the progression of the fast-paced and motivational lessons for these programs is self-directed.
“You set a goal and you put as much into it as you want,” she said. “Someone who wants to get their GED in the next month would put a lot into it.”
A student may get started at any time, even though Del Pinto is recruiting now. A face-to-face orientation is the first step, and Del Pinto said that initial meeting gives her an opportunity to assess the person’s skills and determine if they need some help using a computer.
An adult teacher 10 years, Del Pinto said this is her first distance-education experience. She said it takes some dedication on the individual’s part to take online classes, and a goal is to find out the effectiveness of this type of learning.
For more information, call Del Pinto at 724-437-2245 or dial the toll-free number 800-328-6481, ext. 279.