Digital literacy project for seniors
Through this project, my two teenage children and their friends provided some neighbourhood seniors with digital literacy training in a one-on-one in-person setting for 4 weeks in the months of July and August 2023.
Before this project kicked off, 9 to 10 youth got together at a local church for a couple of Saturdays for the session prep; they worked on the curriculum, poster, snack list, and so on. One week before the project’s start day, they even did a door-to-door visit together with the fliers for the project promotion.
The sessions took place at a local church on Saturdays for four weeks during lunchtime (1 to 3 p.m.). Throughout the sessions, a total 10 seniors attended, and 10 youth helped deliver one-on-one lessons.
Some seniors were very passionate about improving their digital literacy and even surprised our youth with in depth questions. Sometimes, there were times when some youth didn’t know how to answer their questions, yet with peer support, they were able to find the solutions soon.
One youth was so attached to a grandma who came to learn the basic smartphone features with her old flip phone. When the grandma couldn’t make it to the next session since her plan to purchase a smartphone was messed up by credit card issue, the youth felt very sorry, saying that she really wanted her to be able to buy a smartphone.
On the last day of the project, our teenagers shared what they had learned through the project. Many expressed that they really enjoyed the fellowship with the seniors while learning how to be patient and explaining the concepts in an easy and clear words. Overall, they agreed that it was a very rewarding and memorable experience.
