Courses (without the horses)

Thanks TP. We're glad you liked TAXtv.

To see what we're talking about, access our February episode free at www.taxtv.co.uk.

I shall be making sure this article is read by various people in my office.

Two of us endured our first SWAT lecture recently.  You are exactly right when you say you need something to look at - a soundtrack obviously geared to speaking to real people but no person, only powerpoint - is snooze inducing.

The sweet bowl took a hammering!

I like webinars for their time saving properties but, as a sole practitioner, I do miss the interaction with other accountants in the breaks so I shall continue to use a mix of both.

I find webinars are quite useful for catching up on the filing and other jobs that don't require concentration. When it gets to an interesting bit I make notes but otherwise it's a double use of non-chargeable time.

Now I just need to find a way to double my use of chargeable time.

Thanks for this tip. I've watched the free demo and this demonstrates the future of CPD as far as I'm concerned. A discussional format rather than the lecture type slides makes it a more interesting viewing. I recently signed up to an annual subscription of monthly updates from BPP, which I thought was good but TAXtv has topped that (and is cheaper!)

This is a stepping stone towards an Tax/Accounting TV channel to subscribe to, which I'm sure I read was on the way. It should become infinitely popular across the profession before long.

It is certainly exciting to see the different ways that training material is being developed. As mentioned above at SWATuk we are investing in webinars (and do try and make them interactive and entertaining) but we are also looking at other ways of making technical information available so that it suits different people's learning stlyes. So what of the future?

Podcast of a Clarity ISAs anyone? Text message of the key points from the budget? A Twitter feed of Practice Management tips?

Perhaps one day - who knows? Certainly we are commited to the idea of a real lecturer standing in front of a room full of people and the social interaction that brings. However in the future - how many of these kinds of courses will people want if petrol hits £2 or even £3 a litre and everyone has superfast broadband in their home / office?

If anyone has a crystal ball they can lend me, it would make planning future course programmes much easier! Or just email your predictions to david.norris@swat.co.uk.

P.S. Let me know if you would like a CD demo of one of our webinars to see if they would work for you.

Am I just being stupid? It would not be the first time by any stretch! 

If you want an hours' free CPD online, useful for an accountant who finds themselves occasionally providing advice around company sales and acquisitions, see this: 

• free CPD for law and accountancy