BBC WebWise is the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's guide to the internet for computer novices. Created in 1998, it consists of a series of articles and videos as well as a computing course accredited by examining body OCR. It also incorporates elements of another BBC website, BBC raw computers. All BBC websites are required to link to WebWise when using content which requires a plug-in.

History

BBC WebWise was created in 1998 to encourage new users to explore the internet, as part of a wider BBC campaign which included TV and radio programmes. By December 1999 it consisted of articles, columns, a blog, message boards and a Q&A section. A wide range of freelance writers were attached to the project, including Charlie Brooker

Charlie Brooker

Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...

 and Bill Thompson

Bill Thompson (technology writer)

Bill Thompson is an English technology writer, best known for his weekly column in the Technology section of BBC News Online and his appearances on Click, a radio show on the BBC World Service. He is also an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at City University London .Born in Jarrow, Thompson grew...

 (resident columnist with WebWise until 2008).

In 2004 WebWise launched a 10-hour accredited course, called Becoming WebWise.

Current features

WebWise was completely redesigned and relaunched in September 2010, with articles on a variety of computer-related subjects written by well-known technology writers such as Bill Thompson

Bill Thompson (technology writer)

Bill Thompson is an English technology writer, best known for his weekly column in the Technology section of BBC News Online and his appearances on Click, a radio show on the BBC World Service. He is also an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at City University London .Born in Jarrow, Thompson grew...

, Wendy M. Grossman

Wendy M. Grossman

Wendy M. Grossman is a journalist, blogger, and folksinger. She graduated from Cornell University in 1975 and Riverdale Country School in 1971...

 and Jack Schofield

Jack Schofield

Jack Schofield is a British technology journalist and former Computer Editor for The Guardian newspaper, for whom he started writing a weekly computer column in 1983. He joined the staff to launch the newspaper's computer section in 1985...

. It also now contains new courses, a weekly column, and a large A to Z of technical terms.