i want to do an ECDL course, i have been looking around this morning as the cost of doing them at the college where i work is ridiculous tbh. i stumbled across a website called alison.com which offers free IT courses online.

i just wanted to know if anybody had used them before or had an knowledge of them as it sounds really good, but i know you got to be careful these days when signing up for computer training as there are alot of scammers around

i was looking at doing this course

http://alison.com/courses/ICDL-ECDL+2003

is there really free ICT courses out there?

I was lucky did all mine while in my last job, plus teaching it made it so much easier to sink in, Scott I have loads of practice papers & stuff if your interested.

Wish I could get back into teaching it but no jobs available due to funding cuts.

Not sure about whats available online, not looked lately.
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tell me about funding cuts. you would think the council would want to improve its workers skills to enable them to do the job more effectively? but i was told today if i want to do an ECDL course in the actual college i work in my staff discount would be around 30% lol. funding cuts my arse

Suppose different areas vary, I never paid for any of the courses that i've done, lucky me! All the students I taught that needed it for work had it paid by their employers, if they want you to have these skills then they should foot the bill.
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Cant you get help with it Scottie? I know that we can get £200 a year towards doing courses from here: http://www.ilascotland.org.uk/ILA+Homepage.htm. Isnt there something like that in England then??

Im starting a course tomorrow actually doing an HNC in Business and I can get money towards it from the ILA but im not as my work is paying the full fees and I work for a council

spoke to my manager this afternoon and she is gonna look into funding. our council isnt usually that generous when it comes to staff training though cazz. i will get my ECDL one way or another

Isnt there any type of funding like the link i posted in England then Scottie??

i havent seen any cazz. but i know i can do the training for free online, its just the exams i would need to pay for, if i did it all off my own back.

will see what my manager comes back with next week, she might surprise me

Might be something of interest here....havent read it all so not sure:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/index.htm

ok ta babe, i will bookmark it to read in the morning, if i tyry to read it now it will go straight over my head

Do you really need an ECDL course Scottie?

From what I can see your computer skills are really good, as part of my college course I had to provide teaching support for a ECDL class and the stuff they were covering was really basic. I think the course would be below the level your at and perhaps you should look at other courses to...
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It's always times like these,
When I think of you And I wonder,
If you ever think of me?

probably not mate but i dont have any actual ICT qualifications, despite using microsoft products for the last 13 years of my life, i never actually bothered to take any certified courses, but now i want something that is a recognized industry standard so i can have it on my CV for future jobs.

i suspect alot of the content in the ECDL course would be really easy for me, but i want something to show that i have those skills, you know?

I can always do that after, i will look into it, i think maybe the time has come for me to update my qualifications, so there is alot to think about really.

thanks chet