Informal learning

We all acquire skills and knowledge in different ways and many people describe their ICT skills as self-taught. The classroom may be important for some of the more complex tasks we need to get to grips with, but most of us rely on informal learning to fill gaps as and when we need help.

Help from people around you

The first place to turn is the person sitting next to you, the people in your team, your network of volunteers, friends, family or colleagues from other organisations. You're looking for someone who has been in the same situation before and knows how to get out of it, or knows where to go for help.

This can be helpful when you're using standard packages, such as a word processor or spreadsheet, which are familiar to lots of different people. People in a busy office will be used to hearing regular questions such as "How do I save this file on the server?" or "How do I insert a new table?"

Remember that there is a limit to how much time colleagues, friends or family can offer and that it is important to find other solutions before reaching that limit. At this point you may requiremore structured training options or one-to-one support from a trained trainer.

At some point the questions being asked could be formalised into a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) which could be included in induction materials and reviewed every six months or so.

It is also helpful to use team meetings to review recent problems, raise general issues and seek solutions. Or you could arrange structured team based training, to tackle problems that relate to the way things are managed, or address responsibilities that aren’t clear.

Email lists and online forums

Access to ad hoc advice and support can be enhanced greatly by ICT, especially through the use of email discussion lists, bulletin boards and other online forums.

Email provides a very convenient way of asking for help, whether directly to another individual or to a wider network of people who have signed up to an email list or other kind of online forum. An email discussion list can be focused on specific technology issues, such as digital video, or be a general support network for people working in the same environment.

The first stage to using an email discussion list is to sign up as a member. There are many lists already set up which you could hear about from colleagues or contacts in your area. Some will be very local, others may be national or international in their scope.

The important feature of this kind of email forum is that it is a two-way discussion; it is not the same as having a long list of email addresses on your own computer and sending out a message to everyone you know. Everyone signed up to the list receives every message sent to the list, and everyone can see any replies posted back to the list. This means that knowledge quickly spreads beyond the people engaged in the conversation, and that others can contribute their own part of thediscussion.

Some lists generate a lot of messages, especially those populated by people who use the internet in their work. These people will probably be confident email users and could generate as many as 100 email messages a day on a discussion list.

Luckily, a discussion list shared by everyday computer users is not likely to have more than five to ten messages a day. You can choose whether or not to read these messages and dip in and out without having to contribute to the discussion. You can also sign up to a digest, that delivers allthe messages from a given period in one message, making it easy to review them all in one go.

Examples of emaillists

• CharityWeb Forum
  Over 600 members, mainly staff and volunteers involved in building websites for not for profit organisations
• UK Circuit Riders
  Email-based network of over 360 people providing ICT support to the voluntary and community sector. Mainly technical discussion but the members happily answer basic queries