Attention! IT's in the army now

New army recruits are bing given a virtual tutor to teach them basic IT skills.

Virtual tutors are creating a new trend in e-learning according to Parity Group, the software developer putting the gear into the army's Land Command HQ.

Kae Clarke, a spokeswoman at Parity, said: "The interface is creating a lot of interest in other parts of Land Command and is starting to set a trend. It's completely interactive as opposed to the old computer based, 'click and turn the page' training.

"We have designed this interface entirely around the users' experience," she added.

The e-training package costs £250,000 and will apparently offer students a more human version of the much-despised Microsoft paperclip.

Army chiefs decided virtual learning was the way to go as many recruits are stationed in remote areas which makes classroom lessons difficult.

Lieutenant Colonel Barry Keegan, ICS programme manager at HQ Land Command, said: "IT training may not be our top priority but it is still important that our users are able to interact with our IT systems."