Hoping to gain students who don't have the time to physically attend classes, Queensborough Community College's Department of Continuing Education recently partnered with Gatlin Education Services to provide non-credit, online career training courses in the field of healthcare, business and construction.
These online classes, now accessible at www.gatlineducation.com/qcc.cuny, can help individuals in any stage of their lives, whether they're interested in switching career paths, obtaining advanced training and certificates, or a first-time job seeker in need of specific training.
The programs blend various types of instruction in a unique format that proves logical, comprehensive and effective educationally. The typical course combines online content with traditional textbook materials and instructor-facilitated lessons. While the classes are self-paced, personal instructors are available to guide every student. Each course has open enrollment and takes an average of 90 days to complete.
Web-based instruction has grown in popularity recently; Gatlin's enrollments with their partner institutions have increased by more than 80 percent in the last year.
“Between juggling a job, a home, a family and a social life, there isn't always a lot of time left to attend an on-campus class,” said Stephen Gatlin, founder of the Fort Worth-based Gatlin Education Services. “Online training offers the convenience of working from your personal computer and at your own pace. It's an available tool right now as evidenced by the growing number of people utilizing it, and is the way of the future.”
“Right now, this is very new to us,” said Barbara Nasewicz, Queensborough's program coordinator of the Department of Continuing Education. “We just started with students registering this month, and we're hoping this is going to be a benefit to a lot of students in the area. We know that a lot of people can't participate in the regular traditional classroom so we wanted to offer them another opportunity.”