I know that many of you are somewhat intimidated by elements of the computer technology which These Unprecedented Times have made more prevalent and, in some ways, essential.

If, however, you might like to dip into this brave new world, but are confused, befuddled, bewildered, or just plain scared, I’d like to help demystify things for you where I can, if I can. To that end, I thought I might draw up a Beginners’ Guide to various aspects of the tech which might be putting you off and/or frustrating you.

Might this be of use to you? I don’t want to teach anyone how to suck eggs, but if it helps even one person feel more confident it’ll be absolutely worth doing as far as we’re concerned. I know only too well how technology can come to feel like a scary, unpredictable, and untamed monster, ready to bite anyone who approaches. Hopefully I can help you to tame that beast a little…

CAVEAT LECTOR I am NOT a techie. I have no formal training in computers or computer-wrangling. I am an ex-university lecturer, who spent quite a while in other sectors before entering academia, so I have worked with quite a few different systems over the years. That doesn’t, I’m afraid, mean that I always know what to do or how to do it - as the additional grey hairs and wrinkles I’m sure I must have gained whilst designing this website attest. I cannot take responsibility for any computer failure or problems, for reasons which I hope will be obvious. But I won’t suggest anything which is ‘going under the bonnet’ of your computer - not least because I steer clear of that myself. So this really is for beginners, written by someone who may only be one or two steps beyond beginner level.

So. Having made those disclaimers, without further ado… time to tame our first beast…

Rather a lot of you have told us that you have long had problems finding what you need on the WEA website - most recently (and often) how to book on a WEA course, even after we’d published course details with code numbers. It goes without saying that I have nothing to do with WEA’s website. What I have always done, however, is test the details I’ve published on our site without any of Robert’s log-in details, i.e. as if I were you, to ensure that I’ve given you enough information to get where you need to.

I think that I’ve worked out what the sticking point may have been with regard to January’s courses, so we thought that this might be a good first beast to tame.

NB The screenshots below apply just to WEA courses. If you have any problems or confusion with regard to Robert’s freelance courses, just email me. I’ve got control over how those are administered, and can always work around any glitches!

Scroll down through the images. I’ve put explanatory text below each image.

So. Has that helped? Or were those of you who had problems already doing exactly this? Do please let me know in the comments box below. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to come up with a solution if this route didn’t work for you, but I do promise that I’ll try.