TODAY - Microsoft Elevate America Conference Call

In response to Governor Beshear’s launch of Microsoft Elevate America on Wednesday, January 27, Kentucky Adult Education has scheduled a conference call to discuss the program and its opportunities for our students.  The conference call will be held today at 2:00 p.m. (EST).  We encourage you to join Jim Thompson and Marilyn Lyons to learn more details of this exciting new program.  Flyers and posters have been mailed to you for use in advertising this initiative in your county.  The attached PowerPoint contains information that will be presented during today’s call.  To access the conference call, dial (877) 746-4263.  You will be asked for a participant code.  Your code is 0297339#. 

Microsoft is committed to strengthening the U.S. economy and increasing global competitiveness by improving access to education and workforce readiness skills required for 21st century jobs. Elevate America will help governments across the U.S. accelerate the workforce readiness of individuals through a selection of the most relevant training and certification programs offered by Microsoft.

As part of the Elevate America effort, Microsoft is providing one million Microsoft Learning vouchers for no cost to access Microsoft eLearning courses and select Microsoft certification exams as part of their work to help train 2 million people over the next three years. Kentucky will be receiving 20,250 technology training vouchers (e-learning and certification exam vouchers) in early 2010.

The training is delivered over the Web through e-learning, so eligible participants who have a computer and Internet connection at home can take the training there. Eligible participants who do not have computer and Internet access at home may be able to use the computers at designated agencies/organizations.

Through the intake and orientation process, you can determine if the person will be best served in your program or should be referred to one of the other partnering agencies. If eligible for KYAE services, the hours spent in e-learning in your program can count as part of the student’s attendance hours. The Instruction Targeted for TABE Success (ITTS) would be a good tool to use with these students for academic instruction.

If you have questions about this initiative, please contact Jim Thompson at Jim.Thompson@ky.gov or (502) 573-5114, ext. 112.