Learn Time's Info Center
§ KeyTrain Package for Parapro's
Paraprofessionals can prepare for the WorkKeys assesments with the KeyTrain Parapro Training Package available here. The package includes a single user software license for Applied Math, Reading for Information, and Writing. $50 plus $7 shipping.
§ Product Links
KeyTrain’s Web Site - KeyTrain - best Instructional Solution for WorkKeys available anywhere at any price. Demo Available.
Mastery Group South - Interactive OSHA safety training.
§ Other Links
Sites we find interesting
How Stuff Works! - I love this site. When you really want to know.
Refdesk A great site with tons of links...to anything you can imagine.
§ New Things
Friday, February 27, 2004
Michigan WorkKeys
We promise to get off this...eventually. The snow was falling but interest was rising. Wayne County Community College in Detroit, Michigan has selected KeyTrain to use to help prepare parapro’s from Detroit Public Schools to take the WorkKeys Assessments. More and more schools systems are doing the same. Don’t forget that we have a special KeyTrain package for either parapro training or Work Ready Certificate training. This applies to states like Michigan, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi and many more. Michigan School Districts, ISD’s, Michigan Works! sites, etc, can call us for references. You won’t be disappointed. Individuals can call us to purchase this $50 package and pay with VISA/MC.
Chicago WorkKeys Story...here's the scoop.
This is just a quick little post to tell the Chicago story. Way back in the fall of 2003 Chicago Public Schools decided to evaluate instructional materials for the WorkKeys Employment System from ACT. They decided that they wanted to deliver the instructional material via the Internet and on top of that, they wanted to host the instructional material on their own web servers. Now, this is no small task and most folks don’t even have a clue what they are getting into. Questions abound...or they should. 1. Do I have the bandwidth to service 10, 20, 40 or more schools with 20, 30 or more students simultaneously accessing the curriculum. 2. Is(are) my server(s) capable of handling the load? 3. How does the application get to my server(s). 4. What about data entry? 5. What about data importing? 6. What about support? 7. Can the publisher do this, do they have a record of success? Chicago decided on a pilot program for 12 schools. Six would use KeyTrain and six would use another product. Programmers and support personnel would be given access to a CPS server for the install. KeyTrain took just over a day for the install and data import. The other took three and one half weeks and was still not totally successful. Next step was a training/overview session for teachers involved from the 12 schools. It was a good session for one half of the group and a disaster for the other half. I leave it to you to figure out which. By the end of the day, all the schools were clamoring for KeyTrain. To wrap up this story, KeyTrain was awarded the contract for 40+ high schools. It just goes to show you...cheaper is not necessarily better...you get what you pay for.
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Lifelong Learning
This morning I read an interesting article about lifelong learning...well sort of. It was a story about three people in their seventies that were still in some form of education program. Highly commendable. I try to tell young people all of the time to shift their thinking in that way. Learning doesn’t end with high school, or college. It has truly become a lifelong process, so you better be thinking that way. And now to make my favorite connection...since it is a lifelong process, what better tool to help with that than the WorkKeys Employment System from ACT. Virtually everyone (almost) changes careers and jobs many times during their lives. WorkKeys can be a big asset. You can quickly look at a particular job and see what skills are needed, and assess the skills you possess and then use a tool like KeyTrain to build the skills you need to get the job. Duh?? How easy is that?
Is that a Demo??
Have you looked at the demos out there for WorkKeys Instructional Solutions? Some are pretty lame...at least that is the feedback from third parties who have seen them. Amazing. I hate to see old style programs in a world of Windows XP...I feel almost the same way about the some of these demos. Ouch. They are painful. I can imagine that students, who are typically critical of anything, really dislike the program. Take a look for yourself. Compare KeyTrain to all the others. You’ll see what I mean. It’s no contest...KeyTrain beats them hands down. No wonder people constantly report poor results with other WorkKeys products. Students just don’t move WorkKeys levels. It’s also no wonder they have resorted to almost giving it away. The old adage is true...you get what you pay for. Hey...I have some old DOS software that I can make you a great deal on… more later.
