In Slovenia This Project Lets Kid-Experts Teach Adults How To Use Technology | Education - Forbes

Photo: Nina Angelovska

I met Tjasa Sobocan, the Project Manager of Simbioza (Slovenian NGO) during my fellowship in Chicago in April. She was my roommate and we lived together for a month at our host’s house in Evanston, according to Nina Angelovska, writes about e-commerce, marketing, entrepreneurship and lifestyle.

Senior woman and her grandson (8-9) using digital tablet.
Photo: Getty

When someone would ask her “What do you do?”, her answer would go like this “We teach older people digital skills by engaging young volunteers.” I was curious to learn more as at the time I was working on an E-commerce Analysis Report and found out that my country, Macedonia was at ranked at the bottom, having no or very low digital skills compared to other EU countries (Eurostat). Today 43% of Europeans do not have basic digital skills (European Commission) and having a digitally skilled nation is crucial for driving competitiveness and fostering inclusive society. I knew what the project was in general but it was just until a month ago when I became aware of its huge impact when I asked Tjasa to send me their report so that I can find a way to implement it in my country. I read the 70 pages report in one breath and was amazed by the idea, the execution and the impact it had for Slovenia.

The first line in the introduction part of their report says “Slovenia is connected, Simbioza broke all records!” The project puts the older people with no or low digital skills in a room with young people who are willing to teach basic digital skills on volunteering bases. During a five-day workshop, the young volunteers are teaching the older participants how to get online, how to use email, how to use social media, how to e-banking etc.  The main goal is to create educational opportunities for social inclusion through intergenerational cooperation and promote lifelong learning. Simbioza team believe everybody should have the right to access and use smart technology for daily life, so their workshops for seniors are free of charge. They help seniors overcome the fear for the unknown, as they didn’t have the chance to be introduced with technology before. In the past 8 years over 35.000 participants attended their digital skills workshops. They say Intergenerational cooperation proved to be the richest dialogue of the future.
I asked Tjasa few questions to share their story.
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Source: Forbes