Be Connected

It can help you get the most out of going online, adding new skills and experiences to your life.

Be Connected can help you to:

● Learn the basics to go online;

● Talk to family and friends who live far away more often;

● Keep up-to-date with what’s happening in your community;

● Find old or new friends who share your interests or hobbies;

● Learn how to shop online, safely and securely; and

● Be safe while you are online.

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The Be Connected website is a great place for you to get the skills you need to use a computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone.

You will find a lot of free and easy courses to help you on your journey to become connected.

For those of you with a device already go to this link to set up your free account and see the many free courses you can choose from.

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Beginner Courses:

In the Topic Library there are a number of Be Connected Learning Modules.

For a beginner these courses include The Absolute Basics, which introduces the user to a computer, a laptop, a tablet and a smart phone.

Then they move on to Getting to Know Your Device. This course talks about the keyboard, mouse, touch screen and computer.

The next stage is Getting started online. This course talks about the internet, using email, using search engines and has an introduction to internet safety.

The fourth part of this beginner’s course is Safety First, which shows safe passwords; paying online safely; avoiding scams and tricks; and also downloading and saving documents.

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Intermediate Courses:

For the person who has a basic understanding of a computer and online aspects, such as email there are also Intermediate Courses, which expand their skills.

These include shopping online; socialising online; using Facebook; using a digital camera’ and watching and listening online.

New myGov Course on Be Connected:

A new course which has been recently added to the Be Connected program is the myGov course.

This course helps you set up a myGov account using your active email address and a mobile phone number.

When your myGov account is set up you can log in and link services such as Medicare, My Aged Care, the Australian Tax Office and My Health Record.

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Groups in Benalla:

In Benalla there are three groups that have provided face-to-face Be Connected courses until the recent shutdown of activities because of COVID 19.

These groups included U3A Benalla, which ran five different computer courses including Be Connected.

U3A Benalla was in the Benalla Seniors Centre in Fawckner Dve.

However, because of COVID-19 the Benalla Seniors Centre, which is owned by Benalla Rural City Council, is closed.

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The Benalla Library and Waminda Community House also had Be Connected courses.

Unfortunately all of these groups are not able to offer face-to-face meetings at the moment.

When these groups are able to restart they will be there to assist you on your online journey.

Some of these organisations will be able to offer a limited number of Samsung tablets and Apple iPads on loan, which have been provided by Age Friendly Benalla.

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This means that initially you do not have to purchase a device, and you can try before you buy.

From the 2016 Census 38.4 per cent of Benalla’s population does not have an internet connection at home.

So learning about getting online through the Be Connected course should be of benefit to many Benalla residents who hopefully will then be able obtain an internet connection.

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