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Personal development as motivation to learn

People are also motivated to learn because learning helps them develop skills useful to their day-to-day lives. The skills gaps which people have told us they need to fill through learning ranges from the need to manage money better, to struggling to use email at home.

A particular example of this is in learning about Information Technology. Because people feel that this is an area which is always evolving and developing, they sense the need to ensure their skills and knowledge are kept up to date, so they are not left behind.

In our research about IT courses, 69% of those who had done an IT course said they had done one 'to keep up to date with modern technology'. Just under half of the questionnaire respondents (43%) said they did an IT course because they felt it was a skill they ought to have.

Personal development comes into play as a motivation when people perceive something as being necessary or useful in their home and work life:

"Modern life and work is IT based and a good knowledge is very necessary. Without the IT skills that I have I would not be able to do my job."

Other people emphasise the general need to keep learning to ensure that they are always on top of what is going on around them, and continuously updating their skills. One woman comments:

"...I don't want to be left behind. No. I need to be learning."

Overall, people want to develop skills which are useful in their everyday lives and keep them up to date, especially in the area of IT. This need can be a motivating factor which encourages them to embark on a course of learning.

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