Skills Council course teaches 'How to use your mobile phone'

NEWS A Learning and Skills Council initiative is teaching adults how to use their mobile phones as part of a drive to increase awareness of the benefits of modern technology. The course is already attracting criticism from some quarters as questions are raised about whether this is a worthwhile use of taxpayers money, but a spokesman for the LSC claims this is about far more than teaching people to text their friends. Among the objectives of the course is making people aware of the many practical uses of a mobile phone - including the part mobile phones have to play in developing businesses and overcoming voter apathy. "The course will address issues like SMS voting in general elections and m-commerce," said the spokesman. "Ultimately, if you don't change things then nothing's going to get better. We want to reach people who are 40 or 50-plus and show them how a mobile phone which they perhaps leave in a drawer can actually help them organise and run their life." "It's about communication and how important this is to so many of us," he added. The course will show people, through case studies, how mobile phones have been used to thwart robbers and save people's lives. Addressing the question of money, the spokesman told silicon.com the mobile phone course will cost the LSC less than £100 to run. What do you think about this course? Email your opinions to editorial@silicon.com