Free
Materials
For
cost-effective information and assistance with employee
training, look for free materials on the Internet or at your
local library. In addition to being low-cost, materials
and information on the Internet are accessible at all times.
Access a
free Internet-based Classroom Assistant with
conferencing, personal messaging, document sharing, scheduling
and link/resource sharing. A fully dynamic site, the ICA is
customized at two different levels:
1.) the user and 2.) the class. Anyone can set up a class in
minutes and allow others to join:
URL: http://www.nicenet.org
eGroups
is a free email group service that allows you to create and join
email groups. You
can archive messages and schedule meetings or groups chats:
URL: http://egroups.com
The
Literacy Volunteers library is a resource with
over 3,600 items to help tutors and students in the Rochester,
NY area:
URL: http://www.literacyrochester.org/resources.htm
The National Center
for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) works
in the field of adult basic education and provides teaching
materials for classroom activities that teachers can do
with adult students to build literacy skills and knowledge in a
particular content area.
URL: http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~ncsall/teach.html
The
Workforce Education LAB (Learning Activities Bank) is
an free interactive resource of work-related basic skills
lessons for use by instructors in the workplace or in
traditional adult education programs and by adult learnings.
Instructors can use learning activities developed by others or
submit their own to the LAB.
URL: http://slincs.coe.utk.edu/gtelab/default.html
This article
discusses how to set up a training function inside a
small company that has never had one before. Included are steps
to establish a network; align it with the business strategy;
create early wins; invest in it; and assess the impact.
URL: http://www.workforce.com/archive/article/23/37/96.php
Deciding how much to
allocate per person for training is a difficult but
important issue. This article suggests that a good approach is
to assess areas where changing performance will yield the most
value and then implement strategies to achieve that goal.
URL: http://www.workforce.com/archive/article/23/22/44.php
A new report from
WINs on hiring, retaining and advancing front-line workers serves
as an HR guide for small and mid-sized employers. The report,
based on real company experiences, is available for free from
the Jobs for the Future web site, under Workforce Development.
URL: http://www.jff.org/jff
The National
Adult Literacy Database Inc. (NALD), a Canadian
not-for-profit, provides an up-to-date and easily accessible
database of adult literacy programs, resources, services and
activities across Canada. It also links with other services and
databases in North America and overseas.
URL: http://www.nald.ca/
The Canadian
Adult Literacy Research Directory is a comprehensive
database containing Canadian research in adult literacy from
1994, as well as research in progress.
URL: http://www.nald.ca/crd/
Abilities Builder
computer programs use a unique method to improve retention of
subject materials and improve basic academic skills in reading,
spelling, writing and math. The materials are suitable for both
children and adults, regardless of age and ability. Visit the
site and try the free versions.
URL: www.tis-co.com
A new report from the League
for Innovation, "Basic Education Online: Providing
High-Quality Courses as Open Educational Resources" shows ways
in which the internet can be used to facilitate universal basic
education through open-content courses. (abstract)
URL:
http://www.league.org/publication/abstracts/learning/lelabs200510.html
The Online Navigator
of the United States Chamber of Commerce
provides access to resources for
hiring new employees or training and educating existing staff.
It helps employers connect to available resources at low or no
cost.
URL:
http://www.uschamber.com/cwp/navigator/default.htm
The FreePatentsOnline
search engine allows advanced search techniques such as word
stemming, proximity searching relevancy ranking and search term
weighing to help you find exactly what you are looking for.
Other features permit organizing, annotation and sharing of
documents.
URL:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/
The Sloan
Center on Innovative Training and Workforce Development has
developed a Training Manual: "Online Learning Programs
for Low Wage Workers within the One-Stop Delivery System".
URL:
http://itwd.rutgers.edu/research/TrainingManual.pdf
GCFLearnFree.org,
formerly GCF Global Learning, offers a variety of free online
computer, technology, and life skills training programs with
support from GCF Community Foundation.
URL:
http://www.GCFLearnFree.org
Communicating at Work
is a free web resource for immigrant adults. Interactive
features, dialogues, scenarios and quizzes are designed to help
adult learners improve their communication skills with
supervisors, co-workers and customers.
URL:
http://aaca-boston.org/caw/
Workforce
Literacy: Equipping your Workforce for the 21st Century,
a booklet for business people, makes the case for
investing in workers' basic education and outlines how
basic education planning and provision can pay off for
employers.
URL:
http://www.proliteracy.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=40
Literacy in the Workplace: a
series of five fact sheets cover the issue of literacy as
a right and proven advantages for workers, employers and
governments as well as best practices in measuring
success.
URL:
http://www.nald.ca/library/research/cupe/factsheets/factsheets.pdf
Building Basics:
ESOL Toolkit for General Construction, Landscaping,
Painting and Plumbing was created by the Virginia
Adult Learning Resource Center to address the needs of
non-native speakers of English in the construction trades.
The lessons directly incorporate the vocabulary and
knowledge base specific to jobs in contracting.
URL:
http://www.valrc.org/publications/buildingbasics/
Mortgage and financial calculators
are available as free resources for consumers,
professionals and researchers from MortgageLoan. Access
over 100 different financial calculators, as well as the
20 most common mortgage calculators.
URL:
http://www.mortgageloan.com/calculator
GED Prep Info provides
information and advice on GED testing, requirements and
preparation.
URL:
http://www.gedprepinfo.com
Basic Skills and Communication for
Construction Workers provides guidelines improving
basic skills (both numeracy and literacy). Training
materials are related to tasks and duties included in
actual jobs in the construction area.
URL:
http://www.basic-skills-for-work.org/opencms/opencms/system/galleries/download/BS-public/BSCurriculumConstruction_en.pdf
GED Career Bridge to Hospitality
Curriculum is a career-focused GED instruction guide
based on WIN's GED Learning in the Workplace Curricula
Guide for Hospitality, presented in a teacher-friendly
format.
URL:
http://www.valrc.org/publications/hospitality/
For
problems or questions regarding this web site contact campbell@conferenceboard.ca.
Last updated: July 6, 2010. |