The name is absent

- to communicate more effectively with professionals, notably on health or
education matters;

- to communicate more effectively within family or personal relationships;

- to make themselves available to others, e.g. as a problem-solving resource;
- actively to offer help to friends, neighbours or family;

- to perform more effectively in their different social roles, i.e. generally to
raise their levels of social competence and contribution;

- to take on new roles and responsibilities in the family and community.

Collective

It is hard to think of a single field where confidence is not mentioned as a key benefit
of learning. This list could be enormously elaborated. To take just one example, the
quality of basic political life is enhanced by the ability of citizens not only to
articulate their views and listen to those of others, but also to have the courage to
acknowledge that it is possible for them to change their own views in response to the
arguments of others.

We should also recognise that confidence is not only a benefit for those who have
previously not been successful, in education or elsewhere. It is most common to find
it reported as a gain by those who had never experienced success in the classroom and
manage to overcome their inhibitions, often to a dramatic extent. But even those who
have already achieved much can still have their confidence further boosted, to very
positive effect. The case of Irene illustrates this strikingly; she was already a
successful woman with a good career and a record of scholastic success (though no
degree) when at the age of 50 she took part in a trauma course in the company of 23
highly qualified professionals. Outdoing them gave her enormous impetus, which has
carried on into her retirement, enabling her to play a very active role at several levels
in the community. So restoring or enhancing confidence is something that occurs at
many levels, even if its effect is most obvious at the most basic level.

Learning about computers illustrates several of these points. Our evidence contains
many examples of people learning IT skills, usually at quite basic levels. The learning
has a direct effect in improving skill levels, and sometimes also qualifications. These
may lead in turn to employment, or to access to information about employment; or, in
a slightly more extended process, to the confidence that enables the learner to
consider applying for a job. But in a striking number of cases the strongest effect of
learning to handle a computer is to improve the learner’s overall confidence, leading
not to a job but to better family relationships, to greater willingness to engage socially
or to better communication with professionals. It can be seen quite clearly as
generating greater social inclusion at a number of levels concurrently.

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