The Shipley Communities Online project has offered a number of people opportunities to enhance their employment and training prospects. There are two successes in particular that would not have been possible if it had not been for the fact that Online learning works as it does. The success of the first student gave the second student both the encouragement and the enthusiasm to see that this type of learning offered a much easier way into education. There are two reasons why the first student finds learning online more suitable than going to college; firstly, as she is in employment online learning gives her the flexibility of attending at various times; secondly, she is shy and reluctant to enter a large classroom. She has already completed her CLAIT and gone on to study her IBT2. She hopes to use these skills in her future employment.

The second student has suffered from numerous social problems, which he is currently dealing with successfully. The computers offered him a more positive outlook on life and the strength to deal with his other problems. He would not have had the confidence to enter into learning anywhere else, but with encouragement from staff at the Centre and the knowledge that others have been successful in this type of learning this student is now using the computer on a more or less daily basis. The problems that this person has encountered have been reduced and there is now some light at the end of the tunnel, something else to focus upon and some future ahead of him. He is no longer as negative thinking as he used to be but extremely positive. It has been a real turning point for him.

Both these successes have only been possible due to the individual style of learning that the computer offers.