Economic Empowerment for Low-Income Workers Through Broadband Training
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Panelists (from left): Chris Gaston, C. Vanessa Spinner, Heather McKay, Eileen Appelbaum
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Making online learning more available and accessible to low-income working adults was the focus of a Capitol Hill briefing on May 18th that APT co-sponsored with the Alliance for Digital Equality and the Communications Workers of America. The event was the occasion for the release of a new report - "Online Learning for Low Skill Adults" - by the Rutgers University Center for Women and Work and Speed Matters, a public policy initiative of CWA. The report finds there's no question that "education is the key to moving lower-skilled adults into jobs that pay wages that meet family needs and enable families to be self sufficient." Yet many educational credential programs don't take into account the barriers to education and training faced by many of these adults.
The author, Heather McKay, who directs the Sloan Center on Innovative Training and Workforce Development at Rutgers, noted that rigid course schedules combined with child care and family responsibilities, irregular work hours, lack of access to transportation and classes that are not locally available exclude many low-skill adults who want to improve their economic status from enrollment. Research shows that "online learning offers a viable solution" to these barriers and provides access to the education and skills training required to secure economic self-sufficiency and move beyond entry-level jobs.
According to Eileen Appelbaum, Director of the Center for Women and Work, "educational content that makes full use of the visual, audio and interactive capabilities of the web to place the learner in a fully contextualized work environment can only be delivered by high speed Internet." For the United States to remain competitive in the global economy American workers must possess the skills demanded in the knowledge economy. Education and training are widely understood to be key both to meeting this demand for skills and to moving low-skill adults and unemployed workers into jobs that pay wages that meet family needs. Yet many educational programs do not take into account the multiple constraints faced by adults who may not have had a successful experience in school or who may hold jobs and/or have care responsibilities that limit their ability to attend classes. Traditional post-secondary degree courses and job training programs with inflexible schedules do not always accommodate the time constraints of people with full-time jobs and family responsibilities. Self-paced, broadband-enabled learning via the Internet makes it possible for adults to participate in education and skills training and to gain the skills that are essential for entry and advancement in the knowledge economy. She concluded by "emphasizing the importance of making high speed broadband universally available – not least of all because of its importance for the utilization of web-based innovations that enable more individuals to access the skills training needed to become economically self-sufficient at a fraction of the cost of traditional classroom-based training." (See Eileen Appelbaum's complete remarks)
Legislation to address these issues, which has been introduced by Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ), was explained by his Legislative Director Christopher Gaston. The Online Job Training Act of 2009 (H.R. 145) would amend the Workforce Investment Act to provide grants to states to establish or improve workforce training programs on the Internet. It would also authorize $1 million for the creation of a national center for excellence in online job training to coordinate with state and local workforce investment boards as they develop technology-driven methods for education and job training.
The findings of the report were validated by C. Vanessa Spinner, Special Assistant to the Provost for Community College Expansion and Workforce Development at the University of the District of Columbia. She explained the challenges and benefits of implementing a pilot online training program with the unique experience serving a city that has sharp socio-economic divisions.
Moderating the briefing was Maynard Scarborough, Executive Director of the Alliance for Digital Equality, which works to bridge the digital divide and empower communities.
Also participating were Karyne Jones, President and CEO of the National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc. (NCBA) who chairs APT's Program Committee and Debbie Goldman, Telecommunications Policy Director and Research Economist for CWA. APT works for public policy that ensures access to advanced telecommunications technologies for all Americans. CWA is a leading voice for the build-out of high speed broadband and access for all Americans.
The report, Online Learning for Low Skill Adults, is available here.
