AUSTIN, Texas—The IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin has initiated a Spanish-language version of its successful EnterTech™ e-Learning program designed to provide critical job and life skills to displaced or disadvantaged people in predominantly Latino communities.
The Spanish version of EnterTech will be tested at Universidad Valle del Bravo Reynosa in Reynosa, Mexico, with the pilot planned for late fall 2002 at The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College.
The EnterTech program, created by the IC2 Institute’s E-Learning and Training Labs, simulates realistic life experiences and “on-the-job” training skills within a workplace setting. The 45-hour, instructor-led curriculum consists of computer simulations (70 percent) and group activities (30 percent) to accommodate a large learner population with vastly diverse experiences and learning styles.
“Given the growing significance of Latinos to the workforces of the United States and Mexican workers here in Mexico, it was imperative that the IC2 Institute establish a Spanish-language version of this job and life skills program to ensure that every individual who wants to work has the tools necessary to succeed,” said Bertha Gastelum Cardenas,, rectora ejecutiva, Universidad Valle del Bravo.
Since its inception, EnterTech has served more than 1,000 learners and has been implemented by community colleges, community-based organizations, high schools and workforce centers to assist transition-ready welfare and public assistance recipients, teen parents, at-risk youth, juvenile and adult offenders, dislocated workers, incumbent workers and unemployed or underemployed workers. Cities that have used EnterTech to create a larger pool of skilled applicants for employers and to increase career opportunities and living wages for those in need include Austin, Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso, Harlingen, Hillsboro, Kilgore, Kyle, McAllen, Mineral Wells, Round Rock, San Marcos and Waco.
For more information contact: Sherry Holdridge, IC2 Institute, 512-482-0273, or Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.
