Jenny,

Thanks for the suggestion about Blackboard as a topic. We keep a running
list of requested topics and one begins to gather a lot of interest, we will
work on producing content for it. You also asked about Office 2007. That one
has garnered a lot of interest, so we're beginning work on it right now. Our
production team is small (that would be me and one other person on the
computer training side), so it is slow moving sometimes. We're going to
knock out Vista first, and then start production on the Office 2007 topics.
It will be mid-2008 before all of those are available, but we'll start
rolling out lessons as they become available, rather than waiting to release
an entire class.

Thanks for your interest in the site. We'll be adding new lessons to the
Everyday Life side and computer training section throughout the year, so
check back often to see what's new!

Thanks,
Kelly
Kelly Potter Markham
Instructional Designer, GCFLearnFree.org
kelly at GCFLearnFree.org

Visit http://www.GCFLearnFree.org today to learn the computer training and
life skills you need to succeed!

The freedom to learn what you want, when you want, absolutely free!



-----Original Message-----
From: focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of focusonbasics-request at nifl.gov
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 12:00 PM
To: focusonbasics at nifl.gov
Subject: FocusOnBasics Digest, Vol 25, Issue 5

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Today's Topics:

   1. [FocusOnBasics 1010]  Additional Information about
      GCFLeanFree.org (Kelly Potter Markham)
   2. [FocusOnBasics 1011]  Educational DVDs of GCFLearnFree.org
      (Kelly Potter Markham)
   3. [FocusOnBasics 1012] Re: Free Online Resource (Houck,  Jenny)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 09:55:37 -0400
From: "Kelly Potter Markham" <kelly at gcflearnfree.org>
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 1010]  Additional Information about
	GCFLeanFree.org
To: <technology at nifl.gov>, <focusonbasics at nifl.gov>,
	<professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Message-ID: <002b01c80757$68feb010$3afc1030$@org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Thanks to everyone who took a look at our site, www.GCFLearnFree.org,
yesterday. Throughout the day, several of you emailed me and let me know
that we were having some issues with our Join Now/Create an Account process.
We just launched our redesigned site on Monday, and while we thought we had
all the "bugs" worked out, a few were discovered yesterday. I think we have
it all fixed and it should work correctly now. If you have any difficulties
with creating a free account, please let me know! 

 

If you have not already taken a look at our new Everyday Life
<http://www.gcflearnfree.org/everydaylife/>  program, I encourage you to do
so. We currently have 17 interactive lessons available, but will be
releasing many, many more topics in the future. Current lessons include
using an ATM, completing a bank deposit form, filling out a job application,
using a bus map, and much more. I highly recommend you complete the short
Tutorial before you begin. The lessons make a lot more sense after
completing the tutorial, and you can understand how low-literacy learners
would be instructed to complete the lessons. You will want to view the
lessons with the sound on your computer turned on. Lessons have audio and
text directions.

 

Some of you may be interested in our Computer Training
<http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/>  section, as well. Here we cover
topics such as Computer Basics, Internet Safety, OpenOffice, and Microsoft
Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and more. Our Computer Training
lessons are primarily text and screenshot-based, so may not be appropriate
for all learners; however, we are moving to a video-based lesson format with
supplemental text. You can take a look at our Publisher 2003 lessons to get
a better idea of how we will develop future topics.

 

If it sounds like our site may be of use to you or your learners, please
take a look at it. It is a completely free resource! And don't worry, when
you create an account with us, we will never share your information with
others or email you unless you opt-in for the newsletter.

 

If you have any feedback, please let me know. We are especially interested
in what literacy professionals think of these initial lessons and any topics
that you think would be worthwhile for us to cover in our next round of
production.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Kelly Potter Markham

Instructional Designer, GCFLearnFree.org

kelly at GCFLearnFree.org

 

Visit http://www.GCFLearnFree.org <http://www.gcflearnfree.org/>  today to
learn the computer training and life skills you need to succeed!

 

The freedom to learn what you want, when you want, absolutely free!

 

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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 12:46:20 -0400
From: "Kelly Potter Markham" <kelly at gcflearnfree.org>
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 1011]  Educational DVDs of GCFLearnFree.org
To: <focusonbasics at nifl.gov>
Message-ID: <007901c8076f$4279c520$c76d4f60$@org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Temesghen,

 

Thanks for the positive words about the site. You mentioned educational
DVDs. We're actually working on that right now. We've had a lot of interest
from the prison system about it since inmates don't have Internet access.
The idea is that many inmates have been in prison since before ATMs and
debit card machines, so many of our lessons would help with acclimating them
to society. The other lessons would be helpful as well, since there are many
low-literacy learners in the prison system.

 

What is your interest in the DVDs? Do your learners have limited Internet
access? It would be helpful for us to determine what other audiences would
benefit from the DVDs if we decide to produce them and distribute them for
free.

 

Thanks,

Kelly

 

Kelly Potter Markham

Instructional Designer, GCFLearnFree.org

kelly at GCFLearnFree.org

 

Visit http://www.GCFLearnFree.org <http://www.gcflearnfree.org/>  today to
learn the computer training and life skills you need to succeed!

 

The freedom to learn what you want, when you want, absolutely free!

 

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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 11:13:42 -0700
From: "Houck,  Jenny" <JHouck at iel.spokane.edu>
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 1012] Re: Free Online Resource
To: "The Focus on Basics Discussion List" <focusonbasics at nifl.gov>
Message-ID:
	
<0E73093072A5F541A3090981064974A90333AC91 at IEL-EX.iel.spokane.cc.wa.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Kelly,
 
I also checked out the website and found it very useful. Our campus has now
transitioned to Office 2007. When will you have training available for this
update?  Also, I didn't see training available for Blackboard, but it might
be a helpful addition, as many students are pursuing online degrees.  Thanks
for sharing!!
 
Jenny Houck
Computer Lab Instructor 
Institute for Extended Learning
jhouck at iel.spokane.edu <mailto:jhouck at iel.spokane.edu> 

________________________________

From: focusonbasics-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of tbeyene at juno.com
Sent: Thu 10/4/2007 4:21 PM
To: focusonbasics at nifl.gov
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 1009] Re: Free Online Resource



Kelly,

I checked out your free on-line eduction website, and am now registered.  It
is great, very great for beginners.  Keep up the excellent work!!  And thank
you for directing us to your website!  I look forward to the time when you
will come up with educational DVDs of the same contents. 

--Temesghen

-- "Kelly Potter Markham" <kelly at gcflearnfree.org> wrote:
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Good morning,

 

My name is Kelly Potter and I work for a free, online training website,
GCFLearnFree.org. We are a free program b/c we are funded by Goodwill
Industries of Eastern NC. Our goal is to provide learning opportunities for
people so they can acquire the skills they need to be succeed. I've been
reading this discussion list for about a year now, but have never posted
before. I'm excited that now I have some worth posting about! 

 

Since 1999 GCFLearnFree.org has offered free computer training online. This
training includes topics such as Open Office, Computer Basics, Internet
Basics, and Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher. We're
currently in the process of revitalizing our computer training curriculum to
include video lessons along with our text-based lessons.

 

Just this week we launched a new project, which we call Everyday Life. It is
geared toward adult basic education, ESL students, and learners that need to
acquire functional literacy skills. Some of our initial lessons include how
to use an ATM, complete a bank deposit slip, use bus maps, and complete a
job application.  Our interactive lessons are not intended to teach
vocabulary and reading skills, but rather to provide learners with a safe
environment where they can practice new skills without real-world
consequences and the fear of failure. Our goal with these lessons was to
create a  realistic environment that learners would relate to. Some of the
lessons are intentionally easy, and we will be adding lessons in the future
to increase the difficulty level. 

 

So far, we've used local literacy centers as a resource and as a source of
user testing. If you have a moment, please take a look at our Everyday Life
curriculum and let me know what you think. You do have to create an account
on our website to view the lessons; however, it is free and the only
personal information we ask is your email address. We don't share your
information with others and we'll only send you information about the site
if you opt-in for the newsletter. 

 

Please post your thoughts to the list, or you can email me directly at
kelly at gcflearnfree.org. I'm interested in any feedback you have about our
Everyday Life project and hope that it will be a resource you can use with
your learners.

 

Thank you,

Kelly Potter

 

www.GCFLearnFree.org <http://www.gcflearnfree.org/> 

The freedom to learn what you want, when you want, absolutely free!

 

GCFLearnFree.org

321 W. Hargett Street

Raleigh, NC 27601

 

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