Saturday, April 3, 2004 | 6:58 a.m.
For more information on the GlobalEnglish course or on how to enroll, call 651-2629.
The Community College of Southern Nevada launched a new pilot program last week that expands its GlobalEnglish program, an online tutorial that gives students unlimited access to individualized lessons 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The computerized, interactive lessons utilize voice-activation software to help students learn how to speak, read, write and understand English. With the use of a special headset, students can access the English tutorials in one of nine different languages from any computer with an Internet connection.
The program, which costs $125 for three months or $450 for a year, allows students to work at their own pace and their own level, said Debra Solt, who oversees the program as administrator of CCSN's Leslie and Joan Dunn Advanced Technology Center near Green Valley High School in Henderson. Students can also choose to focus on a specific area such as workplace or conversational English.
"Most students are here for a very specific purpose, and that is to communicate and get a job," Solt said.
Approximately 100 students have already gone through the program, Solt said, which previously only allowed students to sign up for a full year of study. The majority of students are Hispanic and are typically middle-aged adults trying to find work, but the program has enrolled students of all ages and from several different countries, Solt said. Students currently enrolled are from Asia, Central and South America, as well as from countries such as Ethiopia and Russia.
Solt said the college extended the program to allow students to sign up for three months at a time after she and other program administrators found the cost for a full year was too much for many interested students, and that many only needed three months of intensive study to be conversant enough to apply for a job. Under the three-month plan, students can re-enroll as needed to continue their lessons.
GlobalEnglish is a private company that typically trains foreign business executives to work in the United States. The program provides up to 700 hours of instruction and includes activities that mimic possible business dealings in a variety of industries. Students receive continual feedback on how they are progressing in each skill.
The program differs from other online courses available because students can access live, personal tutors at any time of day if they have questions or, if they are working from one of the community college labs, get immediate aid from a lab monitor, Solt said.
"We can give students the kind of support they need to facilitate their goals," Solt said.
The $125 three-month cost includes the online services, lab access and support services of the community college, Solt said. Approximately $35 of the fee goes to the college.
Non-native speakers go through an orientation program with community college staff at Advanced Technology Center in Henderson and then can either access the program through lab computers at any community college or work from home, Solt said.
The program's computerized lessons also teach many students how to use a computer.
"Many of these students have never touched technology before," Solt said. "We never tell them that they are learning how to use the computer, but that's a bonus."
The program's one-on-one tutorials take away the "intimidation factor" of having to speak in front of a class, Solt said.
It also allows students to work when convenient to them.
"There are so many more students that need access to language, but it is not delivered at time students can take the class," Solt said.
Caroline Bradasch, GlobalEnglish administrator at the Green Valley center, said she has seen students' confidence soar as they work their way through the program.
"It's been good for them," Bradasch said. "I've seen them go through the program for three or four months and they slowly increase in confidence until they can actually speak to me in very clear, coherent sentences."
Solt was in meetings Monday to hopefully launch a similar program to teach workplace Spanish to English speakers. Students would participate in an online group course at the same time as other participants, but would then complete class assignments through computerized, interactive lessons.
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