UK IT Training Guide

Training for Individuals

The government has set up a network of online centres throughout the UK for people who have limited or no access to skills in using new technologies.

The centres will help people to develop the skills to use the Internet to access information, send email using a PC, mobile phone, digital television or games console; (please note not all centres will have the same facilities), and explore the opportunities that new technologies offer such as for further learning and updating skills.

The UK online centres are based in communities and will enable everyone in England, who wants it, to have access to the Internet and e-mail near to where they live. It could be in an Internet Café on the High St, in a public library, in a college, in a community centre, a village, a mobile centre, or anywhere available to the public. They have been designed to meet the needs of local people who have low or no ICT skills or access to Information, Communication Technology (ICTs).

You can find out more by ringing learndirect, the government sponsored IT training scheme, on 0800 100 900.

Training for Businesses

Though an essential investment for any company, training is necessarily time consuming and expensive. There are two fast-growing areas of IT training that are quickly overtaking the traditional 'two day course' approach.

Videoconferencing
It could cost a small fortune to send five staff for training, if you consider travel and hotel costs, and the time away from the office. Training through video and data conferencing will resolve most of the problems - and with desktop videoconferencing, staff don't even need to leave the office.

Most of us absorb information effectively by studying a little at a time. Training through a series of hour-long videoconferences could be more productive than a tiring, non-stop, two day course.

Training CD-ROMs
Interactive CD-ROMs allow training to be steered to suit the individual need - and are often more stimulating than the staid company manual option. Hundreds of tailor-made courses on all kinds of technical and professional topics are now available.

By storing a training package on a company network, staff can train at their own, and the company's, convenience.

Below, we list some featured training providers in the UK: