Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC) has partnered with Nortel Networks Kidz Online (NNKOL) and the US Department of Labor Job Corps to provide opportunities for at-risk youth to develop high-tech job skills and life-long learning habits.

Technology is the key to this partnership. Students can register through LATTC and access the Internet to participate in college credit/dual enrollment courses. The instruction is centered around the use of high-quality streaming media learning modules, created by NNKOL, that cover topics ranging from Internet use, to web site creation, digital imaging, digital video, and 2D / 3D animation. NNKOL’s 21st Century Communication Skills educational resources feature hundreds of interactive instructional videos and supplemental materials.

NNKOL distributes its resources from an optical network infrastructure capable of delivering 26,000 simultaneous broadband streams. Job Corps will enroll the first 150 students from its Los Angeles Center. These online college classes begin on April 12, 2004. LATTC plans to add new classes each term until the inaugural students complete work towards a certificate in Multimedia Presentations on the Internet. The courses will build students capabilities in multimedia knowledge and skills by progressing from the introductory to advanced professional level.

“When the Job Corps participants develop the skills to become online students, they can learn anytime and anywhere in the future. This is a life-long learning skill that will help them continue their education regardless of where they live, what career they choose or what hours they work,” says Linda Delzeit-McIntyre, director of the LATTC Online Program. “They might start with the new multimedia career preparation classes and gain confidence to continue online courses until they earn a college degree.” LATTC provides a complete AA Liberal Arts degree through its online classes. The students who complete the program will be prepared to design web pages to meet the marketing and communication needs of a business through multimedia presentations on the Internet. They will also be trained to help teachers and trainers develop multimedia instructional materials that can be used in a classroom or placed on the World Wide Web.

LATTC is a minority-serving institution located in downtown Los Angeles specializing in preparing disadvantaged students to enter or re-enter the workforce. LATTC is most noted for its high-tech preparation programs in fashion, culinary arts, construction technology, and automotive technology. Most recently, LATTC has added programs in nuclear medicine, microchip processing, and robotics through new partnerships with USC, UCLA and NASA.

This partnership with NNKOL and Job Corps is one more example of how LATTC continues to grow under the new leadership of President Daniel Castro despite difficult financial constraints facing all community colleges. It is also a showcase for President Bush’s recently announced Jobs for the 21st Century -- a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training and improving high school education. LATTC continues to explore new technologies and how best to develop training programs for students who want to be employed in the emerging fields.