As from December 2016, the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) has been active in a project entitled ‘We Wish a Better World’. This is an Erasmus+ project led by the Hungarian NGO Teleház Szövetség in partnership with the MCA, as well as entities from Denmark, Romania and Hungary, all working towards a common goal, that is, to minimize the digital divide amongst the older generations.
The main objective of the project is to encourage youths and elderly who are ICT savvy, to learn the necessary pedagogical skills required to teach ICT in the community. For this reason, a number of training programs were organised, offering youths (up to 30 years of age) and senior participants (65 years and over) a comprehensive skill-set, including ways on how to cultivate a broad-minded approach, instill confidence and trust when teaching senior citizens, and adapting a language to communicate better with the elderly. A range of other skills, such as that of dealing with difficult group dynamics and skills to overcome learning difficulties faced by the elderly when using the Internet in everyday life, were also addressed during the training sessions.
The training programs were piloted in Hungary, Denmark and Malta and were highly successful in all three countries. Each program was spread over 10 days with 5 hours of training per day, whereby participants experienced a practical approach to teaching ICT to a group of individuals. Throughout the training period, participants also enjoyed extracurricular activities organised by the hosts.
The project comes to an end in May this year with a closing conference being orgainsed by the lead partner in Szeged, Hungary. However, the MCA is committed to keep the project going beyond its official closing date. Thus, the training is once again being offered in Malta for individuals who are interested in vocational educational training in ICT.
Interested individuals are kindly requested to get in touch on info@mca.org.mt.