Students link up with pensioners for digital age project

Students link up with pensioners for digital age project

13 December 2017

SAINTFIELD High School has been helping older learners in the area into the digital age.

Over the past 11 weeks, students have been helping senior citizens get on line via the Digital Age Project.

The Saintfield school was keen to develop intergenerational and community activities and on Monday afternoons, year 11 students volunteered to stay behind to help a group of older learners from the local Saintfield Parish Church’s Wednesday Welcome Group to become more confident in using technology and see how it could be applied to their everyday lives. 

A few other local over 55s also took the opportunity to join in the sessions and one is now a new Wednesday Welcome group member.

Pupils acted as tutors teaching individuals on a one-to-one basis using the Digital Age Project IT toolkit, with the free, easy to use resource available at www.digital-age.org.uk.

The project was set up and co-ordinated by Linking Generations NI with sessions overseen by Paul O’Hare, computer tutor for partner organisation Ignite IT.

Designed to bring generations in communities together in order to build positive relationships and enable older participants to develop their digital and online skills, the project has been hailed a great success by those who used it in Saintfield.

Students said it was satisfying sharing their IT knowledge with others and seeing individuals become confident in using websites and apps relating to their specific interests. 

In addition, they said they enjoyed meeting the older learners, describing the sessions as “good fun” which they found interesting and provided an opportunity to swap life stories. The students said they also gained patience and confidence in their own abilities, with some confirming they would like to work with older people as a career. 

Older participants commented that it was a “happy, relaxed group” with polite, enthusiastic and helpful pupils, with most feeling they had gained confidence in using their iPads and tablets. They say working at their own pace proved to be a great way to learn in an informal supportive environment.

Saintfield High said it intends to continue to develop its links with the Wednesday Welcome Group and to reach out to elderly people in the local care home.