#GemeinsamDigital – Digital Training For Older People

This OeAD initiative promotes intergenerational exchange between young and old, as well as digital participation amongst older people. The team of 3s is supporting the project.

Although digital skills are becoming incre­a­sing­ly important, for many, par­ti­cu­lar­ly older people, they are not something that comes naturally. The „#GemeinsamDigital“ project, imple­men­ted by the OeAD’s Digital Skills Office, draws on themes from the seven projects on basic digital training for people at risk of digital exclusion as part of Digital Überall PLUS. Similar to „Digital Überall!“ and „GenConnect“, this project also focuses on inter­ge­ne­ra­tio­nal exchange between young people and older adults.

The pupils are prepared in advance for their role as „Digi-Coaches“ in an external workshop, where they learn to share their knowledge clearly and patiently. School classes from thirteen schools across Austria support older people on meeting-days („Begegnungstage“), helping them with indi­vi­du­al queries related to mobile phones, tablets and everyday digital appli­ca­ti­ons. The initia­ti­ve combines digital education for older people with social learning, from which both pupils and older people benefit.

The 3s team is sup­port­ing the project and took part in a „Begegnungstag“ at Haus Alszeile in Vienna on 12 October. Twenty-two pupils from HLW19 spent a morning at the care home, helping the elderly residents with queries relating to digital appli­ca­ti­ons. Specific topics included, for example, mobile com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on, managing photos and online payments. However, the dis­cus­sions between the pupils and the elderly residents also extended beyond the event’s main theme to cover personal, school-related and social topics.

The tele­vi­si­on and press were also present: here you can find an article about the project that appeared in the magazine „Der Standard“ and here is a short report from PULS 4.