U.S. Wired for Education: Skills Training for America’s Unemployed

With national unemployment at 9.3percent, One Stopcenters, sponsored across the country by the U.S. Department of Laborto serve the unemployed, face the issue of offering services andtraining to larger numbers of customers despite reduced budgets.Electronic Based Training (EBT) helps overcome this issue.

US Wired for Education of Albany, New York, designed Metrix Learning as a technology platform to provide a powerful, cost-effective service supporting the One Stop system. Metrix Learning gives job seekers 90-day access to thousands of learning resources from content providers, such as SkillSoft, Kenexa and Medcom-Trainex. Users are able to choose from those resources in order to upgrade their skills or learn new skills. The Metrix Learning solution integrates online course delivery with skill assessments, setting job goals using O*NET, customized and managed learning plans, and connection to local job opportunities.

Metrix Learning began in 2008. So far,One Stop customers have consumed over 218,000 hours of training underlicenses that Metrix provides. At present, One Stops in California,Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and the Virgin Islands are usingthe platform.

SacramentoEmployment & Training Agency (SETA) piloted Metrix. In 30days, 106 SETA customers completed 954 hours of training. Onecustomer who utilized the Six Sigma Green Belt content offered bySkillSoft reported that she passed the certification exam on herfirst attempt. The cost of this electronic delivery was $260, versusa classroom cost of $2,500. The customer expressed her satisfactionwith the SkillSoft mentoring staff by mentioning how “verysupportive and responsive” they were throughout her process. FourOne Stops participated in the pilot, and after the pilot SETA decidedto use Metrix in all 14 One Stops.

TheDepartment of Public Social Services (DPSS) in Riverside,California also participated in a pilot in which welfare clientsreceived licenses to use Metrix Learning. In 30 days, 25 customersconsumed 651 hours of training; two of the customers found employmentby the end of the pilot. One of the administrators of the programselected seven SkillSoft courses and took each course herself beforeassigning them to clients to be sure they could benefit from thecontent. One user noted that, “Metrix has tremendously boosted myself esteem and made me more aware of the things that I can do. Thankyou so much for this opportunity.”

US Wired for Education participates ina unique partnership, ALLbanyOnline, which has come together to offer free services to Albany,NY-area citizens. Citizens can receive reading literacy assistance,digital literacy training, job-skill updating, free Internet inselect areas, and the opportunity to get a low cost computer. Thegoal is to directly impact the job readiness of unemployed citizens.Funding for the partnership comes from the federal government, sothis program can be replicated in any city in America, particularlythose with high unemployment, high poverty levels, and budget issues.As part of the program, US Wired for Education facilitates apartnership between libraries, One Stops, and community-basedorganizations. In April, the organization will also begin a similarendeavor for the Queens Library by delivering Metrix Learningsolutions in Jamaica, Long Island City, and Far Rockaway. MetrixLearning will be available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.Additional SkillSoft courses will be available in 15 more languages.As a measure of the size of this initiative, note that the QueensLibrary is the sixth busiest library in the world and has 62 branchlocations. Additionally, the borough of Queens has the largestpercentage of foreign-born citizens among New York boroughs. 

Metrix Learning is a powerful, flexibleplatform that fully embraces the breadth of SkillSoft content. Theapplications are limitless. For example, most state governments arelooking for alternatives to spending $35,000 a year per prisoner onincarceration. To help reduce recidivism, Metrix Learning isbeginning an innovative program with the AltamontProgram Inc. for citizens recently released from incarceration.Participant literacy and job skills will be enhanced in programsdelivered in Albany, Brooklyn, and Syracuse.

Metrix Learning pilots are currentlyongoing in Los Angeles County, San Francisco, Lancaster, Pennsylvania(to be used by various populations such as business services, jobclub, recently incarcerated, welfare, and youth), and Fort Worth,Texas. Pilots will also be starting by early April, 2011 in FortLauderdale and other locations in Florida, and in Massachusetts.

For more information pleasevisit www.metrixlearning.com orcontact Brian Lee at [email protected] orvia phone at 518.462.1780