Looking to boost your digital skills? Get started on iDEA award!
People in Telford and Wrekin of all ages are being encouraged to take part in a free scheme to help equip them with digital and enterprise skills.
The Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award – known as iDEA - is a free international programme at https://idea.org.uk/, that helps people to develop their digital skills.
Similar to the Duke of Edinburgh Award, it is based on rewarding participants with digital badges for their work to learn new digital skills.
Each badge is worth a number of points, which accumulate into iDEA awards.
People log in to their own personalized iDEA account and choose a badge in one of four categories:
•Citizen – digital awareness, safety and ethics
•Worker – tools and techniques useful in the workplace
•Entrepreneur – how to come up with ideas in the digital world and bring them to life
•Maker – digital creativity and how to create things in a digital world
Within each category, there are a number of online training badges that take around 20 minutes to complete.
Each badge is worth points and people can build up points to the iDEA Bronze Award. Once they have achieved the iDEA Bronze Award, they can claim their iDEA certificate which will be sent from Buckingham Palace.
To take part in iDEA and gain your first badge:
•Visit www.idea.org.uk
•Create an account, then select ‘have a badge code’
•Enter DIGITELFORD50 and redeem.
In time, residents will be able to take new challenges that will help them gain the Silver Award (intermediate level) and the iDEA Gold Award (advanced).
Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Employment, Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “This is a great way to keep children busy, by developing their digital skills and gaining a qualification!
"Even more, anyone else can join in as well, regardless of their digital knowledge or age.
"iDEA programme is fun, free and easy to work through for the whole family, heavily supporting the learning of digital skills at each one’s pace.
It's never too early or too late for anyone to improve their digital awareness and understanding.”
IDEA programme compliments the work being done so far by Telford & Wrekin Council through Telford Online, continuously helping residents to access new technology and online services and to learn new digital skills.
