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Free Computer Training for Adults or High-School Students

The United States Commerce Department has just launched DigitalLiteracy.gov, a new Web site that provides schools and other community institutions with a variety of resources and tools for teaching computer and Internet skills, which are increasingly necessary for success in today’s economy. The site allows any visitor to find free training on a range of digital literacy topics, at different skill levels, including searching and applying for jobs online.

“In a globalized, 21st century economy, when you don’t have regular access to high-speed Internet – and the skills to use it – your education, business and employment opportunities are narrowed,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke said at the site’s introductory press conference. “The tools we are unveiling today will help more Americans gain valuable job skills and augment the Recovery Act investments we are making to expand broadband access and adoption nationwide.”

In partnership with nine federal agencies, the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) created DigitalLiteracy.gov to provide teachers, librarians, workforce trainers, and others a central location to share digital literacy content and best practices.

NTIA is also partnering with the American Library Association and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to promote the use of the portal by the nation’s more than 16,600 public libraries where, in 2009, over 30 million job-seekers used computers to search and apply for jobs. In launching DigitalLiteracy.gov, NTIA is building on knowledge gained from managing its broadband grants program in order to provide digital literacy resources to all Americans.

“In Maryland and across the nation, people are hungry for good jobs and economic opportunity,” said U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, which funds the U.S. Department of Commerce. “Here at Coppin State University, and across America, with DigitalLiteracy.gov, we aren’t just talking about the innovation economy. We’re training people to be a part of it. We’re teaching how to use computer skills to get and keep a good job.”

 

Article by Daniel B. Kline, EducationWorld Contributing Editor
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