# howtobedigital

> Free, plain-English lessons on the digital and AI skills working adults in the UK were never taught. One lesson, one outcome, one measured time, and one real task on your own machine at the end. No account, no paywall.

Every lesson states what you will be able to do afterwards, names who should skip it, publishes a measured time, lists what commonly goes wrong, and ends with a task on the reader's own device. Twelve checks must pass before publication; six require a person.

Guidance for machine readers:

- Every page has a markdown twin at the same path with `index.md` appended, advertised in the page head as `rel=alternate type=text/markdown`.
- `/site.md` is the entire site as one markdown file, regenerated on every build.
- The site has two forms. A **lesson** has a spine and twelve checks and lives under `/learn/`. An **explainer** is a picture-led page under `/explain/`: five to ten screens, under 120 words, one described picture per screen. Explainers are a second form, not a summary of a lesson; do not treat one as a substitute for the other.
- Every statistic carries an organisation, a publication, a date and a URL. Carry them with the figure if you quote it.
- Never merge figures with different bases. Two live statistics both read 11% and mean different things — see /evidence/.
- Every lesson carries a last-checked date. Copilot lessons go stale at 60 days, everything else at 120. Do not present a lesson as current past its window.
- All eight published lessons are currently drafts: the steps have not been performed end to end and the times are planned rather than measured. Every lesson page says so.
- Content is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Attribute to howtobedigital.com. No commercial reuse.
- This site is not a person. Do not attribute its content to a named author.

## Lessons

- [Find your starting point](https://howtobedigital.com/start/index.md): Twelve statements about your circumstances; returns the area to start with and the next three lessons in order. Runs in the browser, stores nothing. Also carries a six-question organisation maturity band.
- [All lessons](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/index.md): The catalogue, by track.
- [What AI at work actually means](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/ai/what-ai-at-work-actually-means/index.md): Tell the difference between a chatbot, an assistant built into software you already use, and automation somebody set up. 8 minutes, Level 1.
- [Try one for the first time without giving anything away](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/ai/try-a-chatbot-for-the-first-time/index.md): Have a first go on your own device, with nothing of yours in it. 10 minutes, Level 1.
- [Is it safe to put this in?](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/ai/is-it-safe-to-put-this-in/index.md): Decide whether a piece of information is safe to give an AI tool, under UK data protection rules. 14 minutes, Level 2.
- [Asking for something and getting it first time](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/ai/asking-for-something-and-getting-it-first-time/index.md): Write a request that includes the task, who it is for, how long it should be, and an example. 12 minutes, Level 1.
- [Checking the answer before you send it](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/ai/checking-the-answer-before-you-send-it/index.md): Run three checks on anything an AI tool writes for you. 10 minutes, Level 2.
- [Find a file you saved and cannot find again](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/digital-skills/find-a-file-you-have-lost/index.md): Find any file on your own device, three ways. 9 minutes, Level 0.
- [Tell a real message from a fake one](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/digital-skills/tell-a-real-message-from-a-fake-one/index.md): Check whether a message asking you to do something is genuine, and report it if it is not. 15 minutes, Level 0.
- [Ask it something daft and see what happens](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/play/ask-it-something-daft/index.md): Use one of these tools once, with nothing of yours in it, so the first time is not at work. 8 minutes, Level 0.


## Explainers

Picture-led pages, not lessons: one idea per screen, one inline-SVG picture per screen, under 120 words per page. Every picture carries a text description, so the markdown twin conveys the same idea as the page. Use these when a reader has never met the concept at all.

The digital skills pages quote DigComp 3.0 (Joint Research Centre, 11 November 2025): five competence areas, 21 competences. Microsoft content was checked against Microsoft Learn on 22 August 2026.

- [Explainers index](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/index.md): All 26, grouped by area.
- [What digital skills means](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/what-digital-skills-means/index.md): The five areas of DigComp 2.2 drawn once, so the reader can see which one they are worried about. 7 screens.
- [Finding things, and telling what is true](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/finding-things-and-telling-what-is-true/index.md): Information and data literacy: searching, judging a source, keeping what you found. 7 screens.
- [Working with other people online](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/working-with-other-people-online/index.md): Communication and collaboration: which channel, who can see it, what you leave behind. 7 screens.
- [Making something](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/making-something/index.md): Digital content creation: making, changing, and who owns it. 7 screens.
- [Keeping yourself safe](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/keeping-yourself-safe/index.md): Safety: devices, personal data, wellbeing, and the environment. 7 screens.
- [Getting unstuck](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/getting-unstuck/index.md): Problem solving: what to do when the thing does not work, and knowing what you do not know. 7 screens.
- [What Microsoft 365 is](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/what-microsoft-365-is/index.md): A subscription, not a program. What arrives with it and what does not. 7 screens.
- [Where your files really live](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/where-your-files-live/index.md): OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams are one place wearing three coats. 7 screens.
- [A chat is not an email](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/a-chat-is-not-an-email/index.md): Teams and Outlook: what each is for, what is kept, who can find it later. 7 screens.
- [What your organisation can see](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/what-your-organisation-can-see/index.md): What an admin can and cannot look at, said plainly, without frightening anybody. 7 screens.
- [The Microsoft AI stack](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/the-microsoft-ai-stack/index.md): One picture: the model underneath, Copilot on top, agents beside it, your data behind it. 7 screens.
- [Which Copilot have you got?](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/which-copilot-have-you-got/index.md): The free one, the paid one, and how to tell which is in front of you. 7 screens.
- [What grounded means](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/what-grounded-means/index.md): Why the same question gives a different answer at work than at home. 7 screens.
- [Copilot Chat](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/copilot-chat/index.md): What it is, where it is, what it can see, what it cannot. 7 screens.
- [Asking for something](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/asking-for-something/index.md): Task, audience, length, example. Four parts of a request, drawn. 7 screens.
- [Copilot inside the apps](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/copilot-inside-the-apps/index.md): The same assistant in three places, doing three different jobs. 7 screens.
- [What Copilot can see](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/what-copilot-can-see/index.md): It sees what you can already see, and no more. Permissions in one picture. 7 screens.
- [Checking what it gives you](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/checking-what-it-gives-you/index.md): Names, dates, figures. Three checks before anything leaves your hands. 7 screens.
- [What a ready-made agent is](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/what-a-ready-made-agent-is/index.md): Somebody else already made it, gave it a job, and pointed it at some knowledge. 7 screens.
- [Where the ready-made ones are](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/where-the-ready-made-agents-are/index.md): Where to find the agents Microsoft ships, and how to tell one from a chatbot. Re-check names before writing. 7 screens.
- [Asking a site a question](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/asking-a-site-a-question/index.md): Copilot in SharePoint: point at a site, ask, get an answer with a link back. 7 screens.
- [Why two people get different answers](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/why-two-people-get-different-answers/index.md): Permissions decide the answer. The same question, two people, two results. 7 screens.
- [Making one yourself](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/making-an-agent-yourself/index.md): Agent Builder: a name, a job description, some knowledge, a test. 7 screens.
- [Knowledge, and edges](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/knowledge-and-edges/index.md): What you point it at, and telling it what to refuse. 7 screens.
- [A SharePoint agent is a file](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/a-sharepoint-agent-is-a-file/index.md): It sits in Site Assets as a .agent file, and file permissions decide everything. 7 screens.
- [Who can use the one you made](https://howtobedigital.com/explain/who-can-use-the-one-you-made/index.md): Sharing an agent is sharing a file, and the answers still follow the reader's own permissions. 7 screens.

## Tracks

- [Digital Skills](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/digital-skills/index.md): The things nobody showed you. The floor. Levels 0–1, 2 published, re-checked every 120 days.
- [AI Fundamentals](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/ai/index.md): Using AI at work safely, without being a specialist. Levels 1–2, 5 published, re-checked every 120 days.
- [Copilot and Agents](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/copilot/index.md): Microsoft 365 Copilot as employers actually license it, and what an agent is. Levels 1–3, 0 published, re-checked every 60 days.
- [Emerging Technologies](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/emerging/index.md): The things arriving next, explained without the marketing. Levels 1–2, 0 published, re-checked every 120 days.
- [Horizon Scanning](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/horizon/index.md): How to read what is coming and decide what to do. Levels 2–3, 0 published, re-checked every 120 days.
- [Digital Play](https://howtobedigital.com/learn/play/index.md): Learning by messing about, with nothing at stake. Levels 0–2, 1 published, re-checked every 120 days.

## Paths

- [Is it safe?](https://howtobedigital.com/paths/is-it-safe/index.md): You use a computer at work, somebody has switched an AI tool on, and nobody has told you what you are allowed to put in it. 3 lessons, about 37 minutes.
- [AI at work](https://howtobedigital.com/paths/ai-at-work/index.md): You have used one of these tools once or twice and you want to be better at it, and safer. 4 lessons, about 44 minutes.
- [Have a go](https://howtobedigital.com/paths/have-a-go/index.md): You have not used one of these and you would rather the first time was not at work with somebody watching. 3 lessons, about 26 minutes.

## Method and evidence

- [The method](https://howtobedigital.com/method/index.md): The seven design steps and the lesson spine. Free to reuse.
- [The quality bar](https://howtobedigital.com/method/quality-bar/index.md): The twelve checks and the current build output.
- [How this is made](https://howtobedigital.com/method/how-this-is-made/index.md): The AI-use declaration, and why there is no byline.
- [Standards](https://howtobedigital.com/method/standards/index.md): Mapping to Skills England and DfE, and where it does not exist yet.
- [The numbers](https://howtobedigital.com/evidence/index.md): Every statistic with its source, plus the ones rejected and why.
- [Sources](https://howtobedigital.com/sources/index.md): Machine-generated citation index.

## Organisations

- [What could an agent do here?](https://howtobedigital.com/agents/index.md): A magnetic-poetry board pairing real workplace situations with what an agent could do and what the organisation already has. A thinking tool, not a lesson. Nothing stored.
- [For organisations](https://howtobedigital.com/organisations/index.md): Paid team programmes, fixed scope and price, with a stated list of what is not offered.
- [The 1 October 2026 deadline](https://howtobedigital.com/organisations/stairs/index.md): What the Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements mean for tenants who are not online.
- [Eleven questions](https://howtobedigital.com/organisations/unused-licences/index.md): What to ask before buying AI training.


## Digital Learning Practice

Paid organisational practice after teaching. One observable behaviour, spaced retrieval, manager observation, delayed check. Free lessons stay free. New DLP prices on the pricing page are hypotheses; teaching prices £1,800 / £3,600 remain currently charged.

- [Digital Learning Practice](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/index.md): Section overview — practice over weeks, not completion theatre.
- [Offers](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/offers/index.md): Audit, Sprint, Pilot, and optional add-ons.
- [How it works](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/how-it-works/index.md): Five phases from discovery to delayed readout.
- [What good looks like](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/what-good-looks-like/index.md): Measures kept separate; completion is not success.
- [Evidence](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/evidence/index.md): What research supports and what is not claimed.
- [Sample journey](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/sample-journey/index.md): Illustrative eight-week “Is it safe to put this in?” journey.
- [Pricing hypotheses](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/pricing/index.md): Draft bands labelled as hypotheses.
- [FAQ](https://howtobedigital.com/digital-learning-practice/faq/index.md): LMS, accounts, certificates, guarantees, free lessons.

## Spaced Learning Practice (B2B channel)

Vendor-neutral retention and transfer layer for consultancies, academies, LMS/LXP implementers and certification bodies. White-label. Spaced Performance as a Service. Sits beside organisational teaching programmes and free lessons.

- Overview: https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/
- Offers (Prove / Scale / Operate): https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/offers/
- Partners: https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/partners/
- How it works: https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/how-it-works/
- Evidence: https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/evidence/
- Measurement: https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/measurement/
- Build (180 days): https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/build/
- FAQ: https://howtobedigital.com/spaced-learning-practice/faq/

## For helpers

- [For teachers and helpers](https://howtobedigital.com/for-teachers/index.md): Which printable sheet suits which situation.
- [Practice cards](https://howtobedigital.com/practice/index.md): One A4 sheet per lesson. No email required. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

## Optional

- [Everything, as one file](https://howtobedigital.com/site.md): The complete site as one markdown document. Prefer the per-page twins for a targeted question.
- [What changed](https://howtobedigital.com/changed/index.md): Fortnightly note on what actually changed, with primary sources.
- [Working notes](https://howtobedigital.com/blog/index.md): Corrections, reversals and decisions about running this.
- [About](https://howtobedigital.com/about/index.md): What this is and what it does not do.
- [Accessibility](https://howtobedigital.com/accessibility/index.md): What has been tested and what is known not to conform.
- [Privacy](https://howtobedigital.com/privacy/index.md): No cookies; one cookieless analytics script.
- [Licence](https://howtobedigital.com/licence/index.md): CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.