When Nicola Holmes started working as a tutor at the Chirk Library learning centre, it was to offer free computer taster sessions to the Chirk and Ceiriog Valley residents.
A year on and the library now houses a thriving learndirect learning centre, with four dozen learners accessing a whole range of learndirect courses - and it's growing day by day.
learndirect brought a new style of learning to Chirk and the surrounding area, which in turn required new depths of knowledge from tutors so they could cope with learners' queries:
'learndirect courses all take place online. They're geared towards the individual, so you make progress at your own pace. Although I felt confident enough to answer queries on computer issues, I felt I knew too little about the learndirect learning material itself.'
Nicola was unperturbed. She just grasped the nettle in both hands and took a learndirect course herself:
'I already had an HNC in Business and Information Technology, so I was familiar with all the material the course was supplying. But when people started coming up with questions I couldn't answer, I knew I was lacking something. I realised that if I was going to be supporting people using the learndirect material, I needed to know more about it myself.'
Nicola was so used to diagnosing other people's learning needs. This time she diagnosed her own and prescribed the Introduction to Office Computer Skills:
'It's an excellent package that covers everything from word processing and spreadsheets to databases and an introduction to the technical side of computers. It gave me an insight into the learndirect learners' experience - and it refreshed the skills I'd already learned at college.'
One of the benefits of learndirect, whatever your level and previous experience, is that learndirect courses can be learned in 'bite-sized chunks', so Nicola could fit in her own learning whenever there was a lull at work:
'I did the whole course during work time - whenever I had an hour or so to spare between appointments I logged on the computer and cracked on with it.'
Nicola's delighted with the difference the course has made to her:
'I've become much more confident in myself. I felt it was important to experience what the learner goes through when they take a learndirect course. Now that I've seen learndirect through the learners' eyes, I know the sort of issues that might arise and can explain them much more clearly. And I'm more sympathetic towards the problems they may encounter. What's more, that's had a knock-on effect, because learners have much more confidence in me.'
