Online Course: Learning to Achieve Workforce Preparation Strategies

Submitted by Jessie Stadd on Fri, 02/19/2016 - 10:30
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The Learning to Achieve Workforce Preparation Strategies online course asks users to consider the questions below. Please post your responses to some or all here for discussion. We also invite you to read the responses of fellow teachers, as well as to ask questions or comment where you would like to know more.

  • Have you used any of the ideas presented in your classroom instruction?
  • What other strategies, activities, and methods have you used to help adults with LD develop skills that will support success at each phase of the employment process?
  • Which ones seem to be most effective? How do you know?
  • Have you used the services of your local One-Stop?
  • Which One-Stop services seem to be the most effective in helping your students?
  • Do you have other ideas for assisting learners with LD in accessing One-Stop services? 
  • What concepts and ideas discussed in this course were new to you?
  • Which ideas stood out as most important for you and your practice in supporting adults with LD in your classroom?
  • What are some specific strategies from this course that you feel you can readily incorporate into your instruction?
  • What are some workforce-related resources to which you can refer your students? 

Comments

I have not used the one-stop per se but our adult education program has a workforce development representative present 2 days a week to assist students. I find the staffed resource room would be very valuable to students who do not have access to things like a fax; however, the one stop is not conveniently located for people in my town who have trouble even getting to school because of transportation. 

I have not used a One Stop with my students, but I think it is certainly a great tool.  I really believe it will be beneficial to use.

Our adult education program has an orientation class for newly enrolled students every Friday morning.  During this 3-hour session students are introduced to not only program policies and procedures, but also are given the opportunity to learn about our WAGE Program, SNAP Employment & Training, GED, ESL, Distance Learning Study Platforms, Managed vs. Open classes, Accessibility Options, Career Clusters, Career Pathways, and all students who are enrolled are given the ONET Interest Assessment.  Our lead instructor conducts most of the orientation, however our WAGE Coordinator, SNAP E & T Coordinator, and Site Coordinator/ADA Specialist, also present and offer guidance and motivation to our students.   

The One-Stop in our area is at the Department of Workforce, located not far from our Adult Ed Center.   We have two employees housed at the one-stop who conduct intakes, interviews, TABE Assessments, and ONET Assessments in an office located in the same building with CAPPD and DWS (TANFF and TEA).  

 Hello All, 

One-Stop and Adult Education have similar barriers. Retention is our biggest barrier. Students must have a great support system. Not everyone has that at home.

Thanks,

Marquita

  • Have you used any of the ideas presented in your classroom instruction? I have in previous jobs.
  • What other strategies, activities, and methods have you used to help adults with LD develop skills that will support success at each phase of the employment process? A pre-assessment is helpful. Also meeting with the student and family members to ensure they have additional support from family or other important people in their lives. Also asking the student what they need.
  • Which ones seem to be the most effective? Anything that involves the student.
  • How do you know? I can see progress in the training. For example, when the student follows through with assignments.
  • Have you used the services of your local one-stop? I have not. I did locate them in my area. The biggest concern would be transportation. Many are not accessible via public transportation
  • Do you have any ideas, other than those presented, for assisting learners with LD in accessing one-stop services? perhaps vouchers for transportation would be beneficial.

Like I've mentioned before on these posts, I've not had the opportunity to implement alot of these ideas in the past because I've traditionally taught the standard GED skills for the GED test. This course, and several others I've taken through LINCS has opened up many new thoughts and ideas about the workplace and the role of adult education in the training of our students for jobs and careers. I'm impressed with the amount of resources offered by LINCS. My GED classes are traditionally quite small compared to larger urban classes, however , we have students with all the issues addressed in the courses. So pardon the brevity of my message, but I'll be reading other posts to see what others are doing.

Integrating the careers pathways approach to students' interests and aptitudes to match talents and interests to selected career has been utilized before. We have also used a site where students can see the average expenses and calculate their needed income. It will allow them to explore careers and see the expected salary. This is helpful to the students as they prepare to enter the workforce and understand reality. Our career coaches assist students in transitioning into the workforce and assist with resumes, etc. 

The resources provided are very helpful, especially "My Next Move" and "Career One Stop". I believe it will be a valuable resource to share with our students. I am eager to share the resources with the students and believe their careers will be impacted by the strategies shared.

One way of providing strategies to assist adults with learning disabilities develop skills would be to provide resources and materials for students to preview about various careers while allowing for community members to present hands on examples, answer questions, and provide feedback about their careers.

I have not used a One Stop with my students. This information and the resources provided is a great way to assist students in obtaining helpful ideas to assist them in seeking and acquiring gainful and meaningful employment.

Our WIOA partner has been a great help to our adult education students.  He has worked with us to find jobs for many of our teen-age students.  They are able to work while studying for the GED test.  Several students had full-time employment once they completed the GED.

Through the years I have worked with LD students they are unaware of the resources available to them to help them achieve their goals. In addition, it is important for students to learn that failure is the path to success. Providing resources through the various local agencies help the students expand their goal list and move forward to the success from those opportunities that are there for their use.

I have used some of the teaching lessons.  So far this a very interesting chapter.  We do not test for LD but sometimes a teacher gets someone that needs special instructions.

Working in ESOL students makes one aware of how people struggle to learn English. In our program we don't test for LD.  We have students in GED that have learning needs & the teacher plan lessons for them to help them get the gist of the lesson.  Its very hard to have an LD child because their are barriers such as the parent don't know what to do to get help.  They may not know English & keep the child at home. Therefor, high school is hard for these students but there are resources that can help them to get training like MHMR & vocational schools.

Working in ESOL students makes one aware of how people struggle to learn English. In our program we don't test for LD.  We have students in GED that have learning needs & the teacher plan lessons for them to help them get the gist of the lesson.  Its very hard to have an LD child because their are barriers such as the parent don't know what to do to get help.  They may not know English & keep the child at home. Therefor, high school is hard for these students but there are resources that can help them to get training like MHMR & vocational schools.

I have work in ESOL for adults  and have never used services using one stop such as job search, help with  applications online & writing a resume..  I plan to refer students to these sources.

Working in ESOL students makes one aware of how people struggle to learn English. In our program we don't test for LD.  We have students in GED that have learning needs & the teacher plan lessons for them to help them get the gist of the lesson.  Its very hard to have an LD child because their are barriers such as the parent don't know what to do to get help.  They may not know English & keep the child at home. Therefor, high school is hard for these students but there are resources that can help them to get training like MHMR & vocational schools.

I do incorporate the 16 Cluster Survey in my GED?ABE class and discuss with the student the areas that tend to be areas that the student would find most self-rewarding.  Often they reflect what the student is interested in or currently working in a similar area.  I find it interesting the limited exposure that most students have about "jobs" that are available in every day life.  I talk about all of the opportunities that exist for employment and working that are available to them but for whatever reason, they do not believe that those opportunities exist for them.

Integrated career vocabulary is regularly blended into lessons due to capitalizing on the adult learner's interest to provide motivation for continued academic studies.  The use of Burlington English to explore careers starting with wordlists and progressing to Career Courses provides the foundation for high quality relevant lessons.  The level of student engagement indicates both of these strategies are effective.

Having never used a One Stop the text presented was very informative.  When planning to meet digital literacy objectives, students could complete "Online Quests" by using the careeronestop.org site to answer prepared questions that guide the student to explore the site as to how to use the map to locate the One Stop, determine what transportation is available, and review what other services are provided.  When looking over the local One Stop, several barriers were noted including no child care available and few youth services.

The Vocab Rehabilitation (VR) location withn the system I work is unknown to me.  More colleagual discussions are to follow.  

Making the career link available to enable adult learners to be more independent is of greatest importance to me.

The idea of creating an "Online Quest" using the Dept. of Labor's resource, careeronestop.org within the Digital Literacy objectives would be a great strategy to implement. 

Adult Education is a large demographic accompanied by unemployment with no employment experience, the value of employment and what field they plan on continuing their career in would be a start in discussion. Education and development of skills are directly linked to lower employment rates. Discussion with them concerning the compatibility of education with positive employment/career goals is essential.

I would like to integrate Internet search activity for my “Pathways to a Medical Coding Career” class for lessons on AHIMA & AAPC Certifications, Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), Job Outlook and the Tasks, Duties and Educational Requirements for a Medical Coder.

For AHIMA & AAPC the topic for search will be the different certifications they will offer and the full forms for the different acronyms. For Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) students must find out what is CHEA and why is it important to do a certification/degree/diploma from an institution which has CHEA. For job outlook, tasks, duties and educational requirements, students must visit bls.gov and onetonline.org and find out the relevant information.

The purpose of the search is to give student an overall view for a medical coding career and to practice their digital skill by visiting different websites and find out relevant information.  They should only look for the information which they asked for. That will they not waste time reading all the information as website have tons of valuable resources and information. Students should also take help of the short cut by using ‘Control/Command’ + ‘F’ button or/and look for just the headings and sub-headings for the relevant topics. They should cite their findings and mention the ’Source’ where they found the information from. They will get feedback will be provided and will be given additional help if they need.  

Our local One-Stop provides services both in person and online which I think is a plus! Being able to have access no matter where you are makes a big difference to our student population. Mynextmove is new to me and I will be utilizing that resource as well! This class has been the very informative.

Our local One-Stop provides services both in person and online which I think is a plus! Being able to have access no matter where you are makes a big difference to our student population. Mynextmove is new to me and I will be utilizing that resource as well! This class has been the very informative.

I think that One-Stop services work well for students because they have easier access to what they need from multiple outlets. Having pamphlets, brochures, and other advertisements available for students to see as well as informed staff to guide them is the best way to assist out learners in moving into the workforce.

We sometimes use gcfglobal.org, the Goodwill Community Foundation website learning activities with students who are challenged by technology in workforce preparation. Our local community college and state rehabilitation service centers offer a variety of career training choices and other valuable services.

I have not heard of one-stop before this module. I am in an M.Ed graduate program in Human Resource and Workforce Development and have been teaching ABE classes in a community college setting. I have just now taken on a new role to start teaching career and workforce development to our GED and ELL students. It is a challenge to get some students to attend the minimum 3 hours we require in person a week and GED and ELL teachers need that time for instruction in their areas. I am hoping to help our program find a way to link workforce development topics with relevant GED and ELL instruction so the students gain knowledge in how to pass exams but also gain relevant career readiness skills at the same time.

We have been incorporating job skills into all our ABE/ASE and ESL classes by having presentations from our Workforce & Community Education department and WIOA.  We also have contacts at the Batavia One Stop to help us with job placement.  It's been mutually beneficial as all these partners also refer people to us.

It is difficult for my students to use the One Stop closest to my college.  It is 25 miles away and, most often, students have no transportation.  Until we get a satellite office within the college's district, it will be very difficult to get students to go there.  However, we keep referring them to the agency in the hopes they will get the services they need and we cannot provide.

I think this presentation was very informative and enlightening. I would like to incorporate some of the suggestions into my class presentations. I have used some of the suggestions in the past, and they are proven to work, such incorporation real life scenarios. 

I think the things learned about in this course can be very useful for my students. The hardest thing for them is to see how education is useful for them. That is why I try to find out what they want to do when they are released from incarceration, so I can show them how exactly education can benefit them.

Many years ago, I taught Career Orientation to Middle and Junior high students.  I am familiar with several of the websites, but I was not familiar with mynextmove.org.  I was also unaware of the "OneStop" website.  However, their career counselors do come to our adult education center and present their program in a bi-lingual format.

We use skills such as matching the skills and interests of the client with the career opportunities that match. Explore information on those skills and communicating with the local workforce center for job opportunities.

Although I have not had a class yet, I have had incidences with my adult son who has been diagnosed with learning disabilities while in high school. He has had several entry level jobs and usually worked part time. He has trouble following directions and with problem solving, so I am sure it has been a struggle at times during work. I helped prepare him for his first job by going over some basics and I helped him know what to expect on interviews and helped him do his first resumes. 

I have used my local one stop facility. I have used it mainly to look for jobs but I know there are other benifits to going there. It would be good for learning about resumes also. There are computers with programs to help build a resume and also people there who can help. 

I was familiar with the one stop career service but was not aware of what those facilities were called. I would thing that all the areas they help with would be an important part of helping people find jobs based on their skills. They are able to go from that point, to realizing how they can add those skills into a resume, look for jobs based on that, and then practice interviewing and writing a resume. 

I like the concepts of 'awareness of self' and 'awareness of opportunity'.Too often individuals are not conscious of their own innate abilities or strengths; nor are they aware of the employment avenues they can explore.  Self-assessments like the Strong Interest Inventory can help provide students with an "objective" view of themselves. The mynextmove website is new to me. I think it is a great resource to incorporate into instructional activities, and open up the students' view of available opportunities.  While some students may be aware of the existence of the AJCs they may not be aware of the range of services the AJCs offer; nor of the services specific to LD.  Exploring the role of AJCs and the services they offer, then assigning a visit to the AJC as a targeted class assignment - in which they will share their experiences in class - can be a useful exercise in helping students feel comfortable with accessing the resources that are available to them via the AJCs.

We do utilize and refer students for additional services to the One Stop here at our Adult Education Center.  There are several agencies housed at our One Stop for example; ARS, WAPDD, DBS, DWS, and DHS, and they also have mini job fairs where different local agencies come and talk to all clients. I work with the court system and the population that I work with is always on the search for employment or a new career change. 

The best resources are to refer back to the TABE scores of the students. The focus for them to be successful is to make sure that the following is been targeted and addressed in class or in a combination of the entire agency as everyone plays a different role in the learning process of the student. The areas that must be addressed are; reading, writing, mathematics, teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. Then concentrate on the 16 career clusters.