internet | Thematic areas | Ageing in the Digital Age

The “Seniors in Action” Programme

The “Seniors in Action” is a nationwide programme, which has been implemented since 2008 by the Society for Creative Initiatives “ę” from the funds of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation. It was launched to use the enormous potential of free time, knowledge and life experience of older people.

In the “Seniors in Action”, seniors decide. They implement their ideas, introducing positive changes in the lives of their peers and in their community. In the programme active persons who want to combine developing their own passions and interests with acting for the benefit of others are looked for. Younger people who want to support intergenerational activities are also invited to participate.

Recruitment to the programme is organized in the form of a competition, within which the ideas developed by persons 60+ (alone or together with a younger person – the animators in a pair must differ in age by at least 25 years) in cooperation with a selected non-profit organization or institution , e.g., a third age university, foundation, association, community center, library, or housing association can be supported.

Grants are awarded for the implementation of projects that involve the elderly in activities for the benefit of the surroundings, promote intergenerational cooperation and volunteer work of the elderly.

Participants of the “Seniors in Action”, in addition to grants for the implementation of the project, may receive funds for study visits, which enable them to learn about initiatives carried out in various locations covered by the programme. The possibility of cooperation with experienced trainers from the network of Flying Culture Animators and Flying Sociologists run by the Society “ę” is considered to be an additional support.

Source: https://seniorzywakcji.pl/

Access date: 31.03.2022

Senior Digital Club

As part of the activities of the Centre of Education and Creation FACTORY OF THE FUTURE in Tarnów, a thriving Senior Digital Club has been opened – a place where you can spend time learning new – very useful in everyday life skills, but also fulfilling your hobbies and individual needs thanks to reaching the Internet resources. The FACTORY OF THE FUTURE also implements projects for the digital integration of people over 60 years of age.

In the Senior Digital Club you can get to know the rich resources of historical photographs of the town and its inhabitants, learn to photograph with a digital camera and send photos to your loved ones. With an instructor, you can visit the largest European museums, get to know music portals with your favourite songs, find your friends on social networks – on Facebook or other ones. You can learn how to pay for parking with a mobile phone, shop safely in online stores (with home delivery) and pay bills at no extra cost.

The Senior Digital Club is equipped with laptops, tablets, x-box kinect console, scanner and printers, which can be used freely during opening hours.

The organizers of the Senior Digital Club want to adapt the activities to the individual needs of seniors.

Source: https://fabrykaprzyszlosci.pl/pilotaze-i-eksperymenty/edukacja-cyfrowa-seniorow

Access date: 29.03.2022

Digital Senior

The main goal of the project is to activate persons of various ages, mainly persons 65+ in the area of digital competences, through training and animation activities in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. The result of the project implementation will be the inclusion of seniors in building the information society, developing digital competences, acquiring the skills to use e-services, creating permanent mechanisms for increasing digital competences at the local level.

Project participants will be supported in the form of development activities, i.e. training (15 meetings of 4 hours per group, 60 hours in total) on the acquisition, consolidation and improvement of digital competences.

Everything will take place using the project method, based on the activity of seniors as participants, by using the newly acquired knowledge in practice and sharing knowledge and experiences with others.

The training program includes e-mail service, Internet surfing skills, use of Facebook, YouTube and developing e-services, in particular public administration and in banks.

Training topics:

Basic computer functions, image, communicators.
Viewing and analyzing information.
Security tools, electronic banking.
Communication using digital tools and applications – chat and Skype.
Communication by e-mail.
Online civic activity: e-culture and e-education.
e-office civic activity.
Setting up an e-mail account and using services.
Personal data protection. Viewing, searching and filtering information.
Spiritual needs and taking care of health.
Social relations and developing hobbies.
Local news, trip planning.
Using the capabilities of YouTube.
Creating a profile on Facebook.
Image and sound processing.

and animations in the field of self-performance of a multimedia presentation on a selected topic.

The project entitled “Digital Senior” is implemented by the EUROPARTNER Academic Club of European Integration in partnership with the Łomża Council of the Federation of Scientific and Technical Associations NOT in Łomża.

The project is implemented under the Digital Poland Operational Program, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Source: https://seniorcyfrowy.pl/

Access date: 29.03.2022

The project entitled „Seniors in action”

The objectives of the SENIORS IN ACTION project under the Erasmus + Program are:

inclusion of the students of the Jeleniogórska Academy of the Third Age in active lifelong learning.
strengthening the key competences of the students of the Jeleniogórska Academy of the Third Age (digital, social and learning competences).

As part of the project activities, two group adult learning mobilities will be organized during which seniors cooperating with the Foundation “Active XXI” will have one-week classes at universities of the third age in Milazzo (Sicily) and Cuence (Spain).

Participation in mobility activities will activate seniors in their activities and encourage them to be more active. The obtained results will motivate them to further work. They will also be an inspiration for other adults studying at the Academy of the Third Age. Preparing for departure: searching for information, preparing presentations, planning joint educational activities with partners from Italy and Spain and participation in mobility will strengthen their key competences such as digital, language, learning and social skills (empathy, communication, tolerance).

The project is implemented by the “Active XXI” Foundation.

Project co-financed by the European Union.

Source: https://aktywni21.org.pl/

Access date: 29.03.2022

E-Senior / Digital Greater Poland/ Silesian Academy of Senior/MEW@

The aim of the projects E-Senior / Digital Greater Poland / Silesian Academy of Senior /MEW@ is to activate persons over 65 in the area of digital competences through training and animation activities.

The results of the projects are the inclusion of Seniors in building the information society in Poland, the development of functional digital competences and the abilities of using IT in everyday life.

The trainings implemented as part of the projects enable each project participant to acquire very practical skills of:

using the Internet, computer, phone, tablet and other IT devices;
shaping the competences that are helpful in the everyday life of a Senior (online communication,

e-services including online shopping and banking, medical services, e-government and more).

The project includes various activities with Seniors, among them the following can be distinguished:

I. Training of digital competences:

basic level – adapted to the needs and capabilities of Seniors (subject, time and atmosphere of classes), are carried out in two versions:

standard training – 60 hours of classes for persons with minimal experience in using the computer and the Internet;
extended training – 90 hours of classes for persons who do not have experience in online communication and work with the computer, and due to their health condition or disability, require longer support.

advanced level – 30 hours of additional thematic training for persons who will want to deepen basic digital competences (e.g. in the field of digital photography, blogosphere, online finance, etc.

II. Animation projects – group activities activating Seniors in the local community using functional digital competences and IT tools (e.g. creating online discussion and hobby groups, book clubs, film, art, photography or tourism, local culture and history lovers‘ clubs, creating websites / blogs by enthusiasts, etc.)

Projects implemented in partnership, and the project promoter is the Foundation for Social Participation.

Projects co-financed by the European Union under the Operational Program Digital Poland for 2014-2020.

Source: https://cyfrowy-senior.com/, https://www.cyfrowa-wlkp.com/cel-projektu/, http://cyfrowy-slask.com/, https://cyfrowa-mewa.com/

Access date: 29.03.2022

Digital Coalition

The Digital Coalition builds on the original idea of the European Commission, first presented to the world in 2013 as the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. In Slovakia, this initiative was taken up by the IT Association of Slovakia together with our Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic and on 27 September 2017, the National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs – Digital Coalition initiative was born.

Its goal is to mobilize despite the spectrum of public, private, academic and civil society organizations and institutions in Slovakia for the improvement of digital skills of citizens, IT specialists, all employees and in education. Members join the Digital Coalition voluntarily and free of charge with their own commitments to manage the digital transformation of society. At the same time, each member undertakes to contribute to the promotion of the topic of digital transformation in their area of operation, within their respective capabilities, and to assist in the development of a study on the impact and preparedness for digital transformation. Currently, the Digital Coalition has 83 members who have collectively declared 232 commitments.

Source: https://digitalnakoalicia.sk/

Access date: 04.11.2021

Improving the digital skills of seniors

Through the project “Improving the digital skills of seniors“, MIRRI SR will help seniors to navigate new technologies, learn how to use them or improve their IT skills. The project, for which EUR 69.4 million has been allocated, includes not only face-to-face and e-learning training, but also the provision of data connectivity and the distribution of senior tablets or other devices (such as laptops and smartphones) to trained seniors who join the project and express interest in technical support.

Improving the digital skills of seniors is part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Slovak Republic, for which MIRRI SR has prepared the Digital Slovakia component to support cybersecurity, digital economy, eGovernment and digital skills.

The project is currently in the preparatory phase. The Ministry is negotiating with third age universities, primary and secondary schools, municipalities, as well as civic associations working with seniors. The Ministry of Informatization plans to launch the first phase of digital training for seniors in the spring of 2022. Several thousand seniors could be trained as early as next year.

The target group of this project is citizens belonging to disadvantaged groups:

Public administration employees over 55 years of age (the created environment will enable online testing and improvement of digital skills of public administration employees meeting the definition of disadvantaged population groups and at the same time will verify the possibility of later use also in the selection process and support for updating digital skills during the duration of the civil servant relationship, public employment contract),
Disabled and old-age pensioners who do not belong to the category of senior citizens (under 65 years of age, with an invalidity or old-age pension),
Seniors (population of post-working age, i.e. over 65 years of age),
Persons with disabilities.

Source: https://www.mirri.gov.sk/aktuality/digitalna-agenda/vicepremierka-remisova-seniorom-pomozeme-vstupit-do-digitalneho-sveta-vdaka-bezplatnym-skoleniam-aj-specialnym-tabletom/index.html

Access date: 04.11.2021

60+ Virtual Culture

60+ Virtual Culture was an international initiative in which 4 partner organizations of similar background in informal education, including education of seniors, from Poland, France, Czech Republic and Italy have worked together to improve and optimize educational offer for elderly concerning their digital competences within the context of culture accessibility.

The process of optimization has been developed in two stages. First, each organization appointed one teaching tandem (young ICT educator and one experienced senior (50+) educator) who took part in 3 Joint Staff Trainings, during which based on exchanged practices and knowledge, an educational model for local senior centers or libraries had been developed. Therefore, an innovative offer of ICT courses for seniors aiming at encouraging older people to participate in culture resources and cultural events using new technologies (e.g. accessing e-books, audio-books, visiting virtual museums, buying tickets online, creating and uploading content etc. ) was created. Simultaneously so created teaching program was implemented, tested and adjusted during two cycles of ICT workshops for seniors in each country. The teaching tandems provided during the project a total of 198 hours of workshops for 105 seniors in four countries. Additionally, from among the participants of workshops 8 Digital Ambassadors were selected – people at the age of 60+ whose leadership and digital competences enabled us to include them into dissemination process and in some cases into the process of supporting the trainers in the teaching processes both during and after the termination of project activities.

Results:

Lesson plans of ICT Workshops for Older Adults:

online newspapers,
books on-line (e-book and audiobook),
music and films online,
going out- cultural event,
monuments of the world- visiting historical places abroad.

Tips for trainers. How to approach seniors during ICT trainings.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission under Erasmus+ Programme.

Source: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2016-1-PL01-KA204-026593

Access date: 14.10.2021

Lighthouse Keepers 2020 (Latarnicy2020.pl)

The “Latarnicy2020.pl” project is one of the largest initiatives for digital education of adults in the country.

The substantive foundations of the activities were developed as part of the “Lighthouse of Digital Poland” project implemented by the “Cities on the Internet” Association („Miasta w Internecie“ Association) together with the Ministry of Administration and Digitization in 2011-2015 under the slogan: Digital Poland of Equal Opportunities.

The project has been implemented in Poland in 12 voivodeships.

The main goal of the project is to acquire and increase the level of digital competences by nearly 30 thousand project participants – residents of voivodeships where the project activities are realised, and to increase the use of information and communication technologies.

The general objective will have been achieved through the implementation of a number of detailed activities, i.e .:

recruitment and training of a group of 250 professional digital educators (the so-called Lighthouse Keepers of Digital Poland) who will provide training support to project participants,
implementation of the “lighthouse method” – a model of adult education developed in the Digital Poland of Equal Opportunities project,
increase of the level of digital competences of important professional and social groups – officials, teachers, employees of local government institutions, councilors and village leaders, who will motivate adult residents to use Internet resources,
reduction of the scale of social and digital exclusion of persons with disabilities.

The project will have a significant impact on improving the operation of local government units by increasing work efficiency (improving employee competences) and increasing the ability to create and develop public e-services and to integrate persons with disabilities with persons without them thanks to creating opportunities for wider social interactions through the use of the Internet. It is assumed that as a result of the project implementation, the operation of local government units will be improved and the use of public e-services will be enhanced.

The website of the initiative https://latarnicy2020.pl/ features educational materials (reports, brochures, workshop materials and lesson plans) and films that have been developed in the Digital Poland of Equal Opportunities project. They can be useful in lighthouse work as a didactic aid or inspiration in developing scenarios for classes with seniors.

Project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, Operational Programme Digital Poland for 2014-2020.

Source: https://latarnicy2020.pl/

Access date: 12.03.2021

SPERO – Social Communication Platform for Seniors

Seniors living in their home face a great risk of loneliness. The risk is much higher when the extended family is not living in the same house. Usually they are linked to the local environment through church visits, doctor visits, grocery shop, newspapers and television. The project develops an innovative social communication platform and end-user device designed for seniors who can easily communicate to everybody who joins the platform. They are able to read news; they can be immediately informed on the local events, sport activities, clubs’ activities. It can be used also as a reminder. The end-user device is designed to have only five buttons. It is connected to TV since it is senior’s prime display in the house. By implementing new communication channel to seniors, and sourcing multiple digital communication channels of senior’s friends, family, local community and care organization, we can tackle the social isolation problem raised by the introduction of the digital communication in the society.

Source: Development Centre oft he Heart of Slovenia

Access date: 12.12.2021