The need for basic online skills

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Dr Denise Taylor

18 August 2013

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It’s estimated that by 2015 90% of all jobs in the UK will require ICT skills.

However, today a staggering 16 million people in the UK aged 15 and over don’t even have basic online skills.

You may think the majority of people falling within this category are older people but there are also a large number in the 16-24 year old age bracket who may have access via their smart phones but don’t have a PC which makes applying for jobs online very difficult.

Being online is helpful for making household purchases, comparing utilities, online banking, finding information and can help in finding a job and research before applying for a job.

Get Connected is a six month initiative from BBC Learning aimed to inspire people to learn and improve basic online skills.  BBC WebWise (link no longer live)  has launched a series of online resources explaining how to get basic online skills – from how to fill in online forms to how to get broadband and how to use a search engine.

You may be internet savvy but you probably know someone who isn’t. Not everyone has access to a personal CV.

You may like to tell people that you can access the internet without a home computer. If they visit one of the Post Office’s 11,800 branches to ask about Go Connected  and provide postcode details they will be given a free list of  5 venues  near to where they live where they can get help on how to do things online.

Get Connected focuses on a different theme each month. In June Maggie Philbin highlighted how households can save money by getting basic online skills.

On Monday 19th August Denise Taylor of Amazing People will discuss using the internet for applying for jobs online. Denise will be talking to many different BBC Radio Stations on the need for online skills to help with job search. Want to listen in – follow Denise on Twitter for times.

In June 2009, 2.4 million people were unemployed (and actively seeking employment). Of these, it is estimated that 52% had never accessed the internet, that’s 1.3 million adults.

As part of the initiative, BBC WebWise has developed a series of new easy-to-follow guides (films and text) giving a clear guide to getting basic online skills. They  cover the basics from ‘How to fill in online forms’ to ‘How to get broadband’ as well as ‘Watching and listening online’ and ‘Internet Safety’.

On Monday 19th August Denise Taylor of Amazing People will discuss using the internet for applying for jobs online. Denise will be talking to many different BBC Radio Stations on the need for online skills to help with job search. Want to listen in – follow Denise on Twitter for times.

Any questions, do comment below, tweet or come over to Face Book.

photo credit: Ѕolo via photopin cc

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