On The Ladder To Success

Last year Over 7,000 businesses joined the ‘Train to Gain’ programme. This was something designed to provide an impartial brokerage service to business’, which, help them identify the skills training required to help improve their staff’s abilities, and in turn, their company’s standards.

The hotel and restaurant sector expressed the highest interest with around 1,500 employers taking on the training. This was closely followed by the health and social work sector, with 1,100 employers signing up to the programme. Seeing the diversity of people on board this scheme highlights how Far E-learning has come and how it seems to have established itself as the most popular form of training within all types of companies.

There has been some outstanding feedback from companies involved and over 2,600 people have already completed a full Level two qualification which is the equivalent to five good G.C.S.Es. It has also exceeded its first year target by ten per cent with an eighty six per cent satisfaction rating. With results like this it’s impossible to ignore the fact that this type of training is here to stay and that it’s in everybody’s interest to take advantage of it to maximise their business’ potential.

One of the key benefits that has been noted by the Train to Gain program is the fact that employees feel at ease when communicating with the customers. Therefore, the courses are not simply academic qualifications, but training in personal skills. These work alongside each other to help workers feel more confident in their jobs. On the whole I can see a bright future for E-learning as it’s keeping people on the ladder to success.

Forget Baking, Grandma's Online!

The latest Comminucations Market Report from Ofcom has raised some interesting questions in my mind, in regards to how many people of the “Older Generation” use the internet.

I had never thought previously that some of our highest internet users in the UK could be “Silver Surfers.” The Ofcom report states that 16% of over 65’s use the web and spend 42 hours, on average, online. This is more than any other age group.

Clive Shepherd’s blog also suggests that the internet usage levels for children and young women (25-34), along with the over 65’s, are the highest users in the UK.
From an e-Learning point of view, this raises the question of whether there are enough learning resources out there to cater to these specific groups. I have thought about this and have realised that a lot of the over 65’s could be using the internet for shopping (as I am quite sure the young women are) but it is more likely to be for communication purposes. With the ability to use the likes of Email, MSN, and Skype, families can keep in contact from anywhere in the world. What amazes me is how did they learn how to use these applications in the first place?

The “Older Generation” are more resourceful than we think, and with courses such as ECDL and Effective Business Communication available, they have taken learning into their own hands (albeit some advice from their computer savvy children) and have embraced it.