SCORE partners with Verizon Information Services on the Internet Learning Tutor (www.superpages.com/ilt), a free online interactive training program for online users who want to improve their Internet skills. The online tool is an interactive web training module designed to help entrepreneurs learn how to use the Internet effectively. The Internet Learning Tutor will include a component to help entrepreneurs market their small businesses online.

SCORE participated in the launch of the Internet training module at the National Press Club in mid-February. SCORE CEO Ken Yancey spoke about the importance of Internet literacy and Internet as a tool for entrepreneurs. Patrick Marshall, vice-president of marketing for Verizon, spoke on the need to educate consumers and small businesses on the effective use of the Internet.

The Tutor will launch a series of interactive courses beginning with Level 101, which provides basic Internet use, instruction and vocabulary. Level 102, slated to launch in April 2002, will offer an in-depth lesson on search engines and using the Internet for recreational activities such as shopping and listening to music. An online marketing course targeting small business owners will launch during the summer of 2002.

The Internet Learning Tutor is available for a link on the SCORE web site and is listed in the SCORE Business Resource Index. The Tutor is an excellent resource for SCORE counselors and clients who want to develop Internet proficiency. The training modules offered this summer will help SCORE clients market their products and services on the web.

Statistics on Internet Usage Highlight Trends

• 143 million people, or 54% of the total population, are now online in the United States, up 26% from last year
• Pittsburgh, PA has the fastest growing online population of any city in the United States with more than 1.2 million users
• The online population in Salt Lake City, UT has the second-fastest growth
• People over 50 yrs. old are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. Internet audience
• 15% of American senior citizens have Internet access, and 69% of those go online every day
• 84% of the U.S. Internet users have bought online once, but less than a third buy online regularly
• U.S. consumers spent $53 billion last year, up 20% from 2000