National Adult Literacy Database

This manual, which accompanies a series of 12 interactive videos, grew out of a project that focused on the “soft skills” that are a key to holding down a job. Those are the Essential Skills of oral communication, working with others, and thinking skills.

Each video is based on skill areas that would be required in a retail, customer service, or administrative setting. The user can select the relevant video either on the DVD or via the web address.

For some videos, there are opportunities to pause and discuss possible outcomes for various scenes. For example, one video is set in the kitchen of a coffee shop, where an employee has decided, without consulting her employer, to rearrange tools and food products. The video includes clips of the employer responding in three different ways to the employee’s efforts and provides questions to guide discussion of each response.

The manual can be used before and after viewing the videos. The author notes that the questions in the manual are broader in scope than the ones that appear in the videos.