Quids in! is working with Learn My Way, a website of free online courses for beginners, helping people develop digital skills.
Learn My Way, delivered by the Good Things Foundation, takes a practical approach, homing in on the things we might want to do online, whether that’s banking, shopping or applying for benefits. Then it walks us through the steps to ensure we understand enough to put the web tools to use.
The Good Thing Foundation’s annual ‘Get Online Week’ digital campaign takes place the 14th-20th of October. Their goal? To help tens of thousands of people get online in just one week.
To help with their goal, Quids in! reveals eight ways getting online can help boost our bank balance:
- Make Money Work
An obvious starting point for being better off by being online is a short course that looks at different things we can do to save money. It covers steps like swapping energy suppliers and service providers, comparing spending to income, direct debits and our savings options. It looks at ways to find debt advice and specialist support - Online and Mobile Banking
According to Lloyds Banking Group, seven in ten people who bank online say it helps them avoid overdraft fees. This course walks through the basics of what is on offer by the main banks and how the apps and online processes work. It also looks at how to register and what we’ll need to hand before we start, like ID. Unsure about online banking for security reasons? Check out the course on online safety - Universal Credit
This is quite specific to benefit claimants but it’s always worth knowing how the system works and where to find help. This includes advice on managing money while claiming too, so it’s more than just the technical details - Finding a Job
There are three courses around applying for jobs online, a guided tour of the national careers service website, and CV and interview advice. We’re also going to need to know how to use a form, verify our ID and understand what happens with our personal details. If we’re shaky on these, we might start with the Online Basics course - Shopping
Heading out shopping is something we all took for granted until recently. This course takes us through how to find all we need via the internet. It covers our consumer rights and ways to ensure payments are secure and our details are safe - Creating Spreadsheets
This might not be top of many people’s lists of reasons for getting online but a spreadsheet is a really useful tool. Think of a shopping list with prices against each item. A spreadsheet can tot them up to give us a total and keeps track if we swap an item out for something cheaper. This course helps us turn lists into a budget, which in turn protects us against debt - Online Safety
One of the major reasons people refuse to get online is because of the horror stories we hear about fraud. While we have to be alert, the pros really do outweigh the cons – or else we let the criminals win. The government says being safe must be built into the help given to people getting online. This Learn My Way course covers making sure our devices cannot be hacked, strong passwords and managing unwanted emails. It also talks through other safety concerns – forewarned is forearmed - Starting with the Online Basics
This makes a very good place to start for those who are brand new to the internet. We can learn how to set up emails and just explore how to navigate the world wide web (ie, the internet). It covers filling in online forms, without which we cannot even open a Facebook account, do a benefits check or request information.
The website is super-easy to find our way around and the courses are so useful, it doesn’t even feel like learning. The best way to see what LearnMyWay offers is to visit its home page at learnmyway.com.
It’s no surprise that one of LearnMyWay’s most popular courses right now is on video calling. Video calls have been a lifesaver for many using them to stay connected with loved ones during the Coronavirus lockdown. It doesn’t directly affect our finances but support services are likely to start offering this new version of face-to-face advice. This will save us travelling and sitting around in waiting rooms!
Image: Kristina Holovach / Shutterstock
Updated September 2024
