GERAGOGY METHODOLOGY: BUILDING A DIGITAL AGE-FRIENDLY LEARNING COMMUNITY

"<< Background >>The project was created in response to social and educational needs aimed at supporting older people and promoting active digital citizenship.The number of older people is growing in Europe, which poses new challenges for society in terms of education and digital integration. There is an urgent need to support older people in acquiring digital skills that will allow them to function and fully participate in social life. At the same time, there is a lack of appropriate tools, methods and educational offers adapted to increasingly older ""students"". In the dynamically changing digital world, it is necessary to introduce innovative methods of teaching, especially older people.The problem is the stereotype, also functioning among seniors themselves, that at this age they will no longer learn to function in the ICT world. Especially since seniors often do not have access to appropriate training or support that could help them learn to use digital technologies. Therefore, it is very important for seniors to overcome their fears, not be ashamed to ask questions, stop being afraid of the threats associated with the Internet, to simply become familiar with digital technologies and function in a Digital Age-Friendly Learning COMMUNITY.<< Objectives >>The project aimed to support the local educational environment in the participating countries and to promote the social integration of seniors in the digital society. This created wide learning opportunities allowing seniors to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital society.Project objectives:1. To create a common geragogical methodology and collect best practices in the field of senior education.2. To train adult education teachers and trainers in geragogical methodologies in order to develop a new methodology for Digital Age-Friendly Communities (DAFLC).3. To promote the use of DigCompEdu in order to develop training courses for educators to provide them with digital skills recognized at European level.4. To create an age-friendly Digital Learning Community (DAFLC) where teachers can create tasks and exercises for their senior students in the digital environment and share their experiences with online courses.<< Implementation >>The first activity in the project was to explore the methodology of geragogy. For this purpose, a publication was developed containing an analysis of geragogy in the context of active digital citizenship of seniors. Each partner reviewed scientific articles in the field of geragogy available in their environment and selected for the common repository those that bring the best, contemporary approaches to the issue. Examples of good practices in European countries selected by the partners were also developed.The next activity was to develop an online course for teachers and trainers, supporting the development of their skills within DigCompEdu. E-seniors prepared a template, according to which each partner developed two course modules. After translating the course into the partners' languages, a pilot was carried out in partner organizations.A 5-day training (LTTA) was also carried out, the aim of which was to expand the knowledge of the staff of partner organizations in the field of geragogy and digital integration of seniors, as well as the methodology and tools for building an age-friendly digital learning community.At the end of the project activities, Multiplayer Events were held to disseminate the project results produced.<< Results >>The first result of the project is the publication ""BUILDING A DIGITAL AGE-FRIENDLY LEARNING COMMUNITY - Analysis of the methodology of geragogy in the context of active digital citizenship of seniors. The publication aims to introduce the concept of geragogy and the geragogical approach to organizing the educational environment. It is addressed to all people working with seniors. It contains information on the areas of interest of geragogy, a compendium of interesting publications from several European Union countries, examples of good practices - projects developing digital and soft skills of seniors, which were implemented in EU countries and the UK.The second result is the Digit-Gera-online course. It is an innovative e-learning course intended for trainers and employees of educational organizations in order to create a more inclusive and digital society. Based on the European Digital Education Plan, the course is an important initiative aimed at strengthening the position of seniors in the digital era. The course consists of 10 comprehensive modules that are designed to address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by seniors in the digital age. The course has been published in 6 languages."