IT training needed in new broadband era

12:30 5th May 2009

More IT training is needed to help businesses grow and people understand how to use the increasing options available to them as high-speed broadband services are rolled out across the country, it has been claimed.

Julie Readman, interim chief executive of the South Yorkshire programme to increase access to internet services, Digital Region, has claimed many people do not currently have the skills to make the most of a roll-out of super-fast broadband technology.

"A large percentage of the population are IT illiterate and afraid of using the internet," she told the Yorkshire Post.

Ms Readman added the technology could also be set to revolutionise the way teaching is delivered in the classroom, as well as allowing pupils to learn from home via the internet.

She suggested: "Disabled people who can't get to a class could stay at home and take part in an interactive lesson without missing a single thing."

Such a move would also require greater IT training for teachers to ensure that they are able to deliver lessons over the internet effectively.

The government has announced proposals to ensure every home and business in the country has access broadband speeds of at least two megabits per second by 2012.

Meanwhile, ministers are expected to back proposals that would put IT at the heart of the primary school curriculum, in a move that would require greater IT training for teachers.