Learner guides for digital literacy

I attended the launch of SQA’s new learner guides for digital literacy yesterday, which was held in the Wheatley Group offices in Glasgow. Some time ago, SQA signed up to the Scottish Government’s Digital Participation Charter and, as part of that initiative, we pledged to produce a range of learner guides to cover basic skills in computing. The guides are now available. There are 19 guides in total, covering such things as applying for a job, buying a train ticket, and shopping online. The guides are designed for the absolute beginner.

Almost one of five (18%) of people in Scotland don’t have access to the Internet. These people are generally older (over 55), poorer and live in social housing. Lacking Internet skills makes their problems worse and leads to “digital exclusion”. Ninety percent of jobs, today, require (at the very least) basic digital skills.

These short courses are not certificated (although learners can aim for an SQA digital badge if they wish) but there are lots of qualifications that can be taken after completing this training such as Computer Basics or the NPA in Digital Literacy or the Digital Passport suite of awards.

Scotland has two digital skills problems – at the two extremes of the spectrum. We have too many people lacking basic digital skills and too few people with software development skills. We hope that this initiative helps the former and our new PDA in Software Development will help with the latter.

Contact Liz for more information about the guides, contact Emma about qualifications in basic skills and contact Helen for more information about advanced qualifications. Contact Hilary if you want to know more about SQA’s digital literacy initiative.

Bobby Published 31/03/2016