Smartphone Basics - Arnold Library - Adult Learning

Are you feeling overwhelmed or frustrated by your mobile phone?
In this welcoming, patient, and supportive learning environment, you will gain the practical skills needed to navigate your device.
You will learn how to unlock the potential of your phone, moving from basic home screen navigation to safely downloading helpful everyday apps. By joining this course, you will transform your smartphone from a source of confusion into a powerful, tool for communication, organisation, and daily convenience.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand and carry out basic smartphone navigation

• Confidently initiate phone calls, send standard text messages, and use internet based messaging apps like WhatsApp.

• Know where to safely download apps from

Entry requirements:

No prior technical knowledge is required; this course is designed for absolute beginners.

What to bring:

No specialist equipment is required. You can bring a pen or pencil to make notes in your pad. Please bring your phone if you have one, maybe a charger and any logon or password details you have.

Funding and Fees

If you receive certain benefits, you may be able to take the course for free.
If money is stopping you from enrolling, please visit our funding page to see what help is available.

Living in England

To book and join one of our courses, you must live in England permanently and either:

• Live outside the devolved areas listed below, or

Live inside the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) area (Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire).

You cannot enrol if you live in these devolved areas:

• Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)

• Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

• North East Combined Authority

• South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority

• Tees Valley Combined Authority

• West Midlands Combined Authority

• West of England Combined Authority

• West Yorkshire Combined Authority

• Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority

• York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority

• Hull and East Yorkshire

• Greater Lincolnshire

• Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority

• Cornwall Council

• Lancashire Combined County Authority

• Buckinghamshire Council

Residency Requirements (Additional Information)

If you live in the UK on a visa, we’ll need evidence of your visa to confirm funding. You can upload this when applying, and you’ll need to complete a short questionnaire.

Some exceptions include:

• Your visa must last until after your course ends.

• Asylum seekers must have lived in the UK for at least 6 months while their claim is being processed.

• You are supported by your local authority under Section 23C or 23CA of the Children Act 1989, or under the Care Act 2014.

Anyone who does not meet the funding criteria would need to pay full course fees.