The GED Academy is part of a new breed of educational software. Through their innovative passGED study program, The GED Academy brings a virtual classroom to life on students’ computer screens–a classroom peopled with fellow students who struggle with real-life problems. “Elizabeth Strong is similar to a lot of GED students,” says Michael Ormsby, the Academy’s president. “She never worried much about not having a high school degree when she was younger. But now her sons have grown, and she wants to do more than work at a grocery store.”
Elizabeth has worked at a grocery store most of her life. “It’s just a job,” she says. “I never really thought about wanting to do something.” Now that her children are grown, Elizabeth realizes how much her life revolved around them. “I like doing things around the house. Crafts, you know, and taking care of the kids. Now I want to do something more, though. I’ve got a great family and a great life, but I do feel like I missed out on something by not graduating high school.”
The GED Academy believes that human interest and entertainment are essential to education. “Learning is a process that takes place inside the student’s mind. Engaging students–involving them in the lives and stories of others–creates learning.” Elizabeth’s motherly point of view adds to the classroom environment, but she is sometimes insecure about herself and her abilities, something a lot of GED students can relate to.
“It’s not that I don’t think I can get my GED,” Elizabeth says, “especially after starting at The GED Academy. But I never thought of myself as a book-learning person. I guess I didn’t realize before how much I could do. You don’t always see what’s possible.”
Elizabeth is characteristic of many GED students who want to get a diploma after years away from school. “Elizabeth is a little unsure of herself,” Ormsby comments. “She wants to understand things in simple, concrete terms, and listening to her thought processes helps other students also understand.” For more information about Elizabeth and the passGED study program, visit: www.passged.com
