It was the humourist Linda Smith who said, “I love Waitrose – it’s that little bit more expensive.�

It seems that until the recent credit crunch, we consumers bought into the view that �Price is an indicator of quality�, or “Let’s be honest, cheap equals crap�. The media re-enforced the view – think of the mouth-watering M&S ads, with “This is not ordinary food, this is….� On the other hand, the food shops low cost ranges were acknowledged by the penny pinchers but most of us didn’t give a second glance.

In Computer courses, expensive companies (surely they’re superior - if you have the money - why else would so many people use them?) convinced us that colleges exist who’ll do it less expensively but be warned, you get what you pay for…. .

Then the world takes a couple of turns, the economy is in tatters, and suddenly value takes priority! Discerning shoppers abandon Waitrose, and instead choose Aldi and Lidl. City bankers and their fat cat payouts are frowned upon, and we all think again about our spending habits.

Have we been fooled by companies charging more? Dig a little further into the British Computer training market, and maybe the big boys with their fancy prices are not all they seem. Just because industry’s crying out for greater numbers of skilled IT professionals, is it essential to fork out over five thousand pounds to get qualified, or are we just paying to prop up dinosaurs? It’s a bit much that many computer training providers aren’t using fully interactive methods - supplying students with pen and paper methods. Should we really have to pour over books when all information can be downloaded onto discs? Do we really have to drive to training centres, paying even more for our hotel bills to get teaching we could have online? Anytime Interactive training should be available for me when and where it works best for me – at my convenience, but not at my cost.

With newer, easier training options on offer at a fraction of the cost of these prices, maybe it’s time we woke up to the fact that with regard to electronic learning, value means lower cost for higher quality. We’re moving on in Computer training – in the words used by supermarkets, it’s slashed prices for best ever products. In this uncertain world of today, bring it on.

(C) Scott Edwards - www.learninglolly.com. Scott Edwards has been involved in the IT and Training Industry for 30 years.

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