How we choose learning resources for Make It Click

Our decision to build Make It Click as it is now – a collection of learning resources from trusted sources – was based on research.

We spoke to learners, digital coaches and employers to learn how we could develop a new platform that would really help people. They told us that, while people are keen to build on the skills they already have, for many it’s a case of not knowing where to start. We set about trying to solve that problem.

Who is Make It Click for?

If you’ve been exploring Make It Click or even trying some of the resources, you’ll notice that it’s not for absolute beginners. If you or someone you know needs to learn basic computer and internet skills, you can send them to our Learn My Way platform, which is made for the job.

Instead, Make It Click is for a much wider audience. Again, from our research and years of experience at Good Things Foundation, we know that many people lack some digital skills, either through circumstance, lack of access, or choice. With Make It Click, we want to help people find great content that will see them gain a broader range of digital skills.

Basically, whether you’re ready to move on from those basic skills or just want to try something new, Make It Click is for you.

How we choose learning resources

One of the reasons people often feel overwhelmed by the prospect of building their skills is that there is so much choice! There are many websites, learning platforms, and apps out there, not to mention YouTube, which is full of educational videos. However, many of them charge a fee for access and how do you know what’s… good?

When we began searching for resources to feature on Make It Click, we decided to set what we called our ‘design principles’. These are simple guidelines that we follow when assessing whether a course, guide, or tool should be included on the site.

And here they are:

• Resources should be free to use – they must be available to everyone
• Resources should be simple, appealing, and engaging – you can start learning or using them easily
• Resources should help you get things done – they should be practical and have real-life benefits
• Resources should feature no or very discreet advertising – learning content should be clear with no distractions
• Resources should use plain English where possible – content should be clear and easy for most people to read.

Seems like a fairly short list, right? In reality, following these guidelines really makes it more challenging to find suitable content for Make It Click. But we think they are important and that they make our recommended resources open and accessible to as many people as possible.

Suggest a resource?

Most of the resources you can find on Make It Click were chosen by our team here at Good Things Foundation. However, more and more are coming from suggestions sent to us by people who have used the site and gone on to find other great content they’ve found useful.

Have you spotted a course you think would be right for Make It Click? Maybe there’s an app that everyone should know about? If you have a resource to suggest, please email info@makeitclick.com and we will take a look as soon as we can.

More to come

We are adding new learning resources to Make It Click all the time, including recently entire subjects on Photos and Working from home. Our approach is to test and learn, so please do send your feedback to the email address above.

You can also follow Make It Click on Twitter and subscribe to our free newsletter to get new resources sent straight to your inbox.