WITH 8% (4.4 million) of adults in the UK lacking the necessary essential digital skills for everyday life and 54% of working age adults in the UK missing the digital basics around online safety, productivity and more[1], ACL Essex is supporting Get Online Week to help Essex residents become more tech savvy.

Get Online Week is an annual digital inclusion campaign run by the Good Things Foundation[2] and with this ACL Essex is offering residents the opportunity to attend FREE digital workshops covering a wide variety of digital skills, from ‘Navigating Tech as a parent’ to ‘Embracing AI’. There will also be a chance for visitors to test their podcasting skills, learn how to set up a YouTube channel or maybe just find ways to make their everyday tasks a little easier using digital tools.

At ACL Harlow, people can learn how to surf the internet safely, develop Microsoft Excel skills to make budgeting easy, and find out how you can embrace AI.

Lisa Jarentowski, ACL Essex Principal, is keen to encourage people to attend the digital taster courses. She said: “The digital world is rapidly evolving, and many people find the digital landscape challenging to navigate.”

“At ACL we are passionate about supporting Essex residents to get digitally enabled in a way that is meaningful for them, be it support with apps on their own device, learning basic skills in word and excel through to achieving qualifications that can improve their job prospects.”

She added: “We urge residents to come along to our sessions and see that technology is not scary. Our skilled and friendly team will be on-hand on each day to have a chat and help you figure out the next steps in your digital learning journey.”

Digital taster courses will take place at ACL Harlow, The High, Harlow, CM20 1HA on 15, 16 and 17 October. To find out more or sign up to attend an event for Get Online Week 2024, visit www.aclessex.com/get-online-week, or pop into your local centre to sign up.

A variety of digital skills courses are on offer at ACL Essex. To browse the digital courses available at ACL Essex, visit www.aclessex.com/digital-skills, or pop into your local centre to see what digital courses are on offer.