Today’s post comes courtesy of Nick Duffy, ThirdForce UK Public Sales Executive

I caught a news report recently on the increase in proposed increase in Tuition Fees and a number of potential higher education hopefuls were being asked their opinion on this. Many said that it would put them off even applying for a place, where others said they felt employers were not so concerned with candidates having formally documented and recognised qualifications.

Not so for the IT industry. Recently I attended a vendor sponsored event for education providers and the word on everyone’s lips there was ‘IT Certifications’. It seems that many further & higher education institutions cannot cope with the level of interest and demand they are seeing from potential students.

But what are they lacking? In the current challenging economic environment, many centres are under-staffed with those staff being split across several classes and locations. Budgets are tight, and the need for good quality resources to aid learners in passing certifications first time round has never been more important.  Achievement is key, attainment is everything. Learners have to pass in order for you to draw down your funding and gain the valuable UCAS points.

Now is the time to embrace the new technologies on hand to help.

It’s been proven that most companies employing IT staff will be looking for industry recognised qualifications. To an employer, an individual with a specialised skill or documented certification will be a much more attractive proposition than someone without any documented attainment in such an area.

Many institutions contact us considering new ways to help improve their deliveries, and the question we always get asked is ‘What is the benefit of E-Learning?’ and what can we do to help introduce it as a viable option to meet these challenges.

• Improve the delivery of your programme by implementing a consistent standard across all learner groups
• ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ learning allow the most remote placed students to benefit from training
• Provides an additional qualification to compliment an existing course that qualifies for UCAS points

The addition of practical training exercises such as MindLeaders-ThirdForce’s ‘Tech Labs’ allow learners the ability to practice the skills taught in real life situations simulated via our virtual labs, which traditional classroom methods would not allow. Teachers and students said using software hands on is invaluable to them preparing for their certifications.