Elpida opens digital academy
It wants to help Czech seniors bridge the digital divide
Teaching seniors to think critically in a digital world is a topic on which the Elpida Centre will focus in the new school term. Computer courses focused on teaching specific skills will now be supplemented with advice on how to navigate the digital world. The main motivation is to help seniors bridge the digital divide and give them guidance on how to navigate and sort information in such a complex environment.
press release ~ Prague ~ 25 September 2019
You won't find a sixty-year-old who is not addicted to computers in the Czech Republic anymore. However, most of today's seniors have lived the most active stage of their lives outside the virtual environment, which is changing and evolving rapidly. The Elpida Educational Centre, which has been teaching seniors for 15 years, will now focus even more on context and complexity: it will add a superstructure to the sub-courses to help seniors bridge the so-called "computer gap". The digital divide is emerging as younger people are adopting electronic technologies into their daily lives faster than the senior generation. As part of the open day, Elpida invites all seniors to get acquainted with the Digital Academy and choose from a wide range of courses.
Elpida Centre Open Days → Thursday 26 September - Prague 7 - Přístav 7 (Jankovcova 8b Street) → Tuesday 1 October - Prague 4 - Na Strži 40 (Na Strži 40 Street)
Just as technology itself is evolving, so are the interests and needs of seniors
Fifteen years ago, seniors at Centrum Elpida learned what a mouse is and how to use it. A little later, they were interested in how to set up an email, how to write and send it. Today, workshops that teach seniors how to shoot videos on smartphones and post them on social or how to use Skype and What'sApp to connect with family on the other side of the world. However, the Elpida Centre, which has two branches in Prague, will focus even more in the new semester on how seniors can work effectively, but most importantly, safely with modern technologies and the information they receive on them.
Hand in hand with the media academy
As part of the new concept, Elpida is capitalising on the experience of the media academy. This is organised in cooperation with Transitions and with the support of the O2 Foundation, and shows seniors how to use the imaginarym ocean of information, how to sort it and how to think critically while cleaning up the "information mess". Also in the current semester, it will offer popular seminars covering complex issues of critical thinking development and media education. This is the second year that Elpida has organized the Media Academy, and the knowledge it has gained will now be transferred to othertions, which at first glance focus on different topics, but which share similar operating principles.
Digital Academy
The Digital Academy is a sophisticated system of curricula for a variety of courses and seminars with different focusesm covering the complex demands and needs of seniors in the use of information technology. The Elpida Centre offers 65 thematic courses and seminars, the length of which is tailored to suit everyone. Seniors can attend a shorter seminar or a longer course.
Seniors are more assertive and have less time
The courses on offer are adapted to seniors not only in terms of content but also in terms of time. Longer and longer courses do not work so well today because seniors have less time and do not want to commit to long courses. That's why we need to continuously offer new topics and open special seminars on individual smartphone apps.
I'll throw it in your email
And what is the motivation for seniors to master digital technology? Above all, they want to be able to do what everyone else can do so that they feel part of society. When they hear people all around them talking about something they don't understand and don't know themselves, they're out. Saying "I'll drop this in your email!" when you don't have an email inbox will not only not make you happy, but will make you feel out of place. Today's active seniors want to keep up with developments; if they are in, they feel better. Some of the seniors who take classes at Elpida still work part-time, and being able to use technology is a great advantage, even a necessity.
Top 3 courses that seniors can take at Elpida in the new semester
→ YouTubering - Workshop on making short videos on a mobile phone with theory and demonstrationexamples and an introduction to the Czech and foreign YouTuber scene.
→ Game World - A new course disproves the assumption that seniors do not play computer games. The lecturer will focus on the history, but also the present and add context that will open up new virtual worlds for seniors.
→ Passwords and Security - The basics of safe tablet or smartphone use and an introduction to different forms of screen locks (PIN, password, gesture, finger reader). How to choose the right password to access email and social networks and what to do if you forget your password, plus other security tricks.
Media contact Lada Brůnová ~ lada.brunova@elpida.cz ~ +420 739 659 456
Elpida means hope in Greek. But it is also the name of an organisation that helps seniors become a confident and respected part of society. In the spirit of the Old's Cool motto, Elpida is changing the way people look at old age - it runs the Elpida Educational and Cultural Centre for seniors fromPrague and the Senior Crisis Line, founded the brand Socks from Grandma, publishes the magazine VITAL, and organises the intergenerational Old's Cool festival. In short, she is trying to make Czech seniors lead a full & happy life.