Free online IT and web courses (UK residents) (Full Version)

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womble -> Free online IT and web courses (UK residents) (7/7/2006 10:54:25)

Just picked up some info on free online courses for UK residents that's funded by the Learning & Skills Councils - amongst them are some web ones (lets just hope they've moved on from using frames and such like) and an "Essential IT Skills @ Work" one. The IT at work one leads to a Level 2 NVQ, and the webbie ones to a NCFE Certificate.

http://www.vision2learn.net/channels/index.asp



Donkey -> RE: Free online IT and web courses (UK residents) (7/7/2006 12:13:50)

They need to send their web designer on one or two of the courses - that site's a mess. Also 90 warnings on the first page. [;)]



jaybee -> RE: Free online IT and web courses (UK residents) (7/7/2006 12:47:11)

WARNING!!!

I found them about 2 years ago and signed up because I was intrigued how they were going to manage it.

They have to partner with a local college who will act as your tutor/assessor and round here I knew there wasn't one. (If there had been then I'd have been teaching it! and I wasn't)

They finally came back (4 or 5 months later) and admitted they couldn't offer it to me as there were no NVQ assessors available..... but perhaps I would be interested in one of the other courses..... paid for of course.



jaybee -> RE: Free online IT and web courses (UK residents) (7/7/2006 12:55:08)

quote:

Courses are FREE
Courses lead to UK- recognised qualifications
E-learning lessons from the comfort of home or work
Receive expert help from a college tutor online
No classes or lessons to attend – it’s all online study
Freedom to learn at your own pace, in your own time


Please note the

Receive expert help from a college tutor online

Most Colleges already provide their own IT courses with their own assessors and won't want to help out the competition. There may be some who have decided to provide Distance Learning via these people so by all means check but there is absolutely no guarantee which is what annoyed me about their advertising. It makes it sound like it's a foregone conclusion.



womble -> RE: Free online IT and web courses (UK residents) (7/7/2006 14:24:19)

Ahhh....so not "A Good Thing" then? [:-]



jaybee -> RE: Free online IT and web courses (UK residents) (7/7/2006 15:05:17)

Well it might be. Your local College may have an agreement with them so give it a go, but don't rely on getting a course for free.

About 4 years ago the Govt brought in a load of funding for adult learners which meant you could get courses for free. Everyone leapt on it and training centres appeared overnight. I ran 7 of them for Newbury College.

Then the private providers began to see a way of making a quick buck and all sorts of places appeared offering courses but it turned out that many weren't qualified to teach. The way it was structured, they could claim big money just for people enrolling.

So the Govt clamped down and Learn Direct was set up which took most of the stuff on board but if you were qualified and could prove competence then you could continue, as most colleges did.

Now this is when companies such as vision2learn came a cropper, they weren't qualified, had no teaching staff, couldn't get the accreditations that allowed them to claim but, if they could partner with a College that did have all this.....

So they offer to track down the students and provide all the coursework, in return for the College doing the tutoring and assessing. Problem is the cash the Colleges get is not good. In the case I looked into, we'd have been subsidising them as it didn't cover lecturer's salaries.



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