Free online IT course

lucylouwoo

Hi all,

I am looking to do a online IT course as don't have time and childcare to go to a centre to do one and want to improve my job prospects.

I am just wondering if any of you guys knew of any free one's (or cheap one's!!!!), that are avaliable right now???

Many thanks

sjane2008

learn direct will be best at advising you on this, there are local centres you just advise them on your post code etc. xx

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alison.com - includes ECDL (although not the testing) and is free.

lucylouwoo

Thanks to both of you, I have looked at alison.com but I would still have to go into a centre to do the tests, where as I can go with learn direct and pay roughly £30 each section but do it all online.
Might stick with learn direct unless anyone can come up with any other ideas????

munchki

my hubby has just started through www.gcflearnfree.org
he says it has been great thus far and it works for him as he travels all the time and works at night from his hotel room!

Hope this helps

The_Fool

http://www.vision2learn.com/

http://www.evaluateit.co.uk/small_business/free_online_training_courses.html

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lucylouwoo wrote: »

Thanks to both of you, I have looked at alison.com but I would still have to go into a centre to do the tests, where as I can go with learn direct and pay roughly £30 each section but do it all online.
Might stick with learn direct unless anyone can come up with any other ideas????

What's the difference between going to a LearnDirect Centre to sit a test for (whatever) qualification, and going to an approved BCS test Centre (which may well also be a LearnDirect Test Centre) to sit an ECDL test? There is no prescribed way of doing ECDL other than the tests need to be done at an accredited test centre under specified test conditions - and every other qualification for a reputable tested scheme will have a similar requirement. I doubt the LearnDirect testing option will involve you sitting at home doing an online test as they would have no way of verifying who was taking the test, what sources of help you had etc.

LearnDirect just sell courses. ECDL is one of them. You don't say what qualification you are comparing ECDL to. ECDL is well known and well-respected by employers especially inthe public sector.

To find an ECDL test centre, go to https://www.ecdl.co.uk and click the Find a Centre link on the left hand side. The Find A Centre link will enable you to search for "Test Only" if you want to do that.

As for costs, do you have a Level 2 qualification - if not you should be getting things free. If you are paying, an ECDL logbook (the registration for the course is) £25. Tests are normally £10 each. There's 7 modules for ECDL plus an eighth (Unit E) which you'll probably need to do as its a requirement for the Test Centre to pull down money from the Learning and Skills Council. Assuming you don't need to resit a test, that makes it £105.

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The_Fool wrote: »

http://www.vision2learn.com/

The OP might want to search the forums for other people's experiences of vision2learn - I think it's fair to sum it up as "Sub-optimal".

The_Fool wrote: »

http://www.evaluateit.co.uk/small_business/free_online_training_courses.html

Links don't work. Anyone pulling down LSC funding nowadays for IT will be pushed towards the ITQ (basically the NVQ for IT).

lucylouwoo

I have looked into them properly and am doing the allison course.
The ECDL is the sort of course I am looking for so am going for that one.

Thanks for the help, I am going to do the course then go into the centre for testing so hopefully I shall have my qualification in no time and get out my rubbish job!!!!

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lucylouwoo wrote: »

I have looked into them properly and am doing the allison course.
The ECDL is the sort of course I am looking for so am going for that one.

Good stuff - I hope it helps!

You'll probably find books on ECDL in the local library (or which can be transferred to your branch for a nominal fee). Your personal preferences may be different to mine, but the Heinemann/Prentice Hall books might be worth borrowing.

Make sure you cover syllabus v4 or preferably v4.5 as the older syllabus 3 had a few additions to it.

Also check what version of MS Office you are learning on and what you will be tested on - Office 2000-2003 no problem, but Office 2007 does things a little differently.

Other places that might help:

Web sites for providers of the automated tests (there is a manual version of ECDL testing but most centres keep that for students with specific assessment needs for reasons of practicality). For example, a company that used to be known as "Electric Paper" have demos at http://www.thirdforce.com/demos/default.aspx. There's a list of providers via http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.7076

http://www.cctglobal.com/downsamp.php - these are evaluations of materials designed for potentail purchasers at course providers. Obviously as samples, they are not complete, but they might help.

http://www.teach-ict.com/ is a bit clunky and limited but quite useful.

Good luck!