Aunty Beeb to hold Net classes

The BBC is flexing its muscles as a public service broadcaster to educate UK Net virgins about the joys of the Wibbly Wobbly Web. As part of a major six part campaign starting next month, the BBC has teamed up with supermarkets, soccer clubs and pubs to offer free "crash courses" on how to use the Net. The WebWise Challenge follows on from the successful Computers Don't Bite campaign which the Beeb says inspired more than 200,000 people to use computers for the first time. "This is a brilliant chance to find out what all the fuss is about," said Philippa Forrester, the woman most geeks said they would like to introduce to their PCs. "Many people are mystified by the Internet. It's certainly pretty scary at first inspection, but it needn't be with a bit of help. "That's what WebWise is all about. There are plenty of reasons to find out more about the Internet, whether it's shopping for your groceries online, ordering a football or theatre ticket, or using email for a good old-fashioned gossip! It's also tremendous fun as well as a valuable source of information," she said. The campaign will be supported by a range of television and radio programmes as well as a CD-Rom and Web site. ®