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Making ICT easy for all
Thousands of people who think the internet isn’t for them are getting online the easy way – thanks to myguide and UK online centres.
The myguide website – www.myguide.gov.uk – offers free, easy-to-use email and web-search tools from a simple, banner-free website. It also includes basic ICT courses – from how to use a keyboard and mouse to keeping safe online, using government e-services, social networking and even online job-hunting.
myguide allows people to personalise and save settings, change colours, font size and even choose to use a built-in ‘hear it’ function which reads the text on screen. Because it’s for absolute beginners, it’s also designed to be supported, so people’s first steps onto the internet are supervised and so positive they’ll want to keep on using it.
Equal access
myguide is now the main tool used by UK online centres across England to help web-novices get to grips with the internet. Managing Director of UK online centres is Helen Milner. She explains: “Those not taking part in the digital revolution for whatever reason are being increasingly left behind. There are often complex factors at work in exclusion – age, culture, disability, income, education or even attitude. Overcoming those barriers is key to creating a fairer and more equal society, and that’s the goal UK online centres and myguide are working towards.”
Frank Foley, 60 from Birmingham, is one of myguide’s biggest fans. He adds: “With computers and the internet I used to feel like I was in a foreign country with no map. With myguide I feel like suddenly I’ve been given a map! I didn’t even know www meant ‘world side web’ let alone what a website or an email actually was! If someone like me can understand it, anyone can.”
For many UK online centres, myguide is now the main platform they use to introduce new customers to computers and the internet. Often the free email account is enough to get people through the door, and the support and encouragement they receive enough to make them stay to find out more. For a few centres, it’s proving particularly useful in breaking down learning barriers for more vulnerable customers.
Overcoming barriers
One centre using myguide regularly is the Newcastle Clubhouse in Fenham, who work with people enduring long term mental ill-health. The Clubhouse helps people to rebuild their lives by offering an environment in which to regain confidence, self esteem, a sense of purpose and belonging.
Caroline Lillie is a tutor at the Clubhouse specialising in lifelong learning, and myguide is now integral to her work. She says: “Adults enduring mental ill-health are one of the most underrepresented groups in education. They often have complex needs and face multiple barriers to their learning. I use myguide in my classes from day one, helping people set up their email account as part of their induction process. Because it’s so easy to use, it allows people to be quite independent online quite quickly. That sense of achievement is really important. “I’d particularly recommend myguide for use with learners who have been outside of education for a long time and are lacking in confidence. When you suffer from mental ill-health, your world really can shrink very fast. In the Newcastle Clubhouse, myguide is opening it back up again.”
Those outside the UK online centres network can tap into its expertise and even directly into myguide for use with different client groups or customers. If you would like to harness either or, please don’t hesitate to contact us on ukonlinecentres@ufi.com, or visit us at www.ukonlinecentres.com, or www.myguide.gov.uk.