Make It Click featured in UK Government’s new Skills Toolkit
For the last 16 months, I’ve been working with the team at Good Things Foundation on a website called Make It Click. The project is funded by Google.org and the site features a collection of free learning resources picked from around the web. And now, in the middle of a global pandemic, the UK government has made Make It Click a key part of its brand new Skills Toolkit.
Build your digital skills
The idea behind Make It Click is to offer curated learning content that people can trust. If you want to build their digital skills and improve your career prospects but don’t know where to start, you should head to Make It Click. It’s about giving people a nudge in the right direction and encouraging independent learning.
I was part of the initial (and tiny) team that carried out the research that led to the concept behind Make It Click. Since then, I’ve been part of every iteration as the project has grown. I have written all of the content for the site, curated all of the learning resources, and carried out various bits of user testing and service design. So quite a lot!
Of course, since the coronavirus crisis took hold, millions of people have found themselves living and working online. I’m willing to bet that even the most digitally-savvy amongst us have had to learn something new in the last few weeks, even it’s how to run a virtual pub quiz.
Responding to the crisis
We’ve done two things with Make It Click to try and respond quickly.
First, the Good Things team have done a brilliant job (seriously, they are amazing) at supporting its network of Online Centres around the country. These Centres typically work face-to-face with people who have little to no digital skills, and their job has been made incredibly difficult.
New working from home Subject area on Make It Click
Over on the Make It Click website, we have added an entirely new subject area called ‘Working from home’. It features a whole host of courses, tools and other content to help people adapt to working, teaching and coping with remote life. It’s been very popular, as you might imagine.
Finally, we’ve started sending the Make It Click newsletter every week as more and more people subscribe. It’s a great way for us send people links to the latest resources without them having to constantly check in and remember to visit the site. Again – we’ve seen a real increase in subscribers in the last few weeks.
Part of the Skills Toolset
It’s so fantastic to see the UK government putting together the new Skills Toolkit because there is no doubt that millions of people need to improve their digital skills right now. To have Make It Click as a key part of the Toolkit is also rather marvellous.
We’re adding more content and features over the coming weeks. I’m currently working on a series of screencasts, a seven-day email course and new subject areas for the site.
Go learn something new
Fancy learning some new digital skills yourself? There are more than 130 resources on Make It Click and we’re adding stuff all the time. I’m sure there will be something that takes your fancy. And if you think it might be useful to a friend or family member, feel free to pass it on. Check out the Skills Toolkit while you’re at it.
