Building bridges must be part of the daily life of the Norwegians - considering the numerous fjords you have to cross in this country. Therefore one should not wonder that the participants of the Sokrates/Grundtvig Seminar in Bergen were asked to build paper bridges in order to overcome the digital divide.
The teaching of digital literacy as the subject of adult education was in the focus of the four-day seminar (14. - 18. September 2005) in which about 40 guests from seventeen countries took part. The common aim was to develop cooperating projects funded in the framework of the EU Sokrates/Grundtvig programme over two to three years.
The participants had come to Bergen from different institutional backgrounds. Beside classical institutions of adult education such as adult education centres, also public libraries, especially from the Scandinavian countries, had sent representatives. They have a very broad educational approach and also address those adults who come from anti-educational sections of the population who hardly find their way to courses or other measures of further education. The workshops quickly showed that the digital inclusion has not yet reached this group in the countries present. Even countries such as Finland or Sweden with an Internet penetration of about 75 per cent of the population state too low a level of digital literacy with sections of the population who are already otherwise socially disadvantaged.
Together the seminar participants developed strategies and measures in order to address the problem in different ways.
Web on wheels
Web on wheels is the slogan of the Internetbus Netti-Nysse. The purpose of this mobile service is to encourage the residents of Tampere, Finland, to start using the computer and the Internet and give them the initial guidance to be able to do that. Basic instruction is free of charge. The Netti-Nysse can be booked for groups of citizens, or individuals can sign up for open tuition groups. Clubs, societies, groups of neighbours - any group of people who wants to learn to use the computer and the Internet can book the Netti-Nysse for their use and have it come to their own neighbourhood. One group meets four times for 2 hours at a time. First, the group gets acquainted with the mouse. When the mouse has been tamed, it is time to start working on search engines. Free e-mail accounts are opened for everyone and people are helped with web banking and services. There are always two tutors to help the group of ten. Librarians belong to the team as well as former bank employees, finding a new job on the bus.
"We train our staff and pay extra attention to the clear language of guidance and to creating a relaxed atmosphere", says Elina Harju, manageress of the project. "A customer-oriented background is necessary and advanced technicians are not always the best teachers for Internet-newbies."
Public Internet Access and Learning Points
Like the Internetbus of Tampere, also any stationary institution offering public Internet access can become a learning place. Many educational institutions fight for their survival due to the government being short of money, and Internet and digital literacy courses are often considered as additional burden for the staff. Without preparation, the staff is hardly in a position to prepare new offers and to develop media-pedagogical concepts on their own. But especially with the teaching of digital literacy to adults, informal learning plays a crucial role. Institutions that deal with this issue and prepare respective offers for their users can take over new tasks in education and thus gain new legitimation and recognition.
E-Learning as Instrument of Adult Education
For those organisations which address the more skilled users, the instruments of e-learning and blended learning are of special interest. Also in this field, some new approaches were developed during the seminar, especially aiming at familiarize trainers and tutors with their respective tasks. Classical educational institutions try to win new target groups with such offers. Other institutions such as the 'Second Chance School of Serres' in Greece aim to qualify as many people as possible for the labour market by multidisciplinary educational offers.
Special Measures for Special Target Groups
Internationally, a lot of institutions of adult education try to reach special target groups such as prisoners and formerly offenders by media competence teaching. For example, Johan Floean from the adult school in Trondheim and Vaidas Virsilas from Klaipeda, Lithuania, met with other colleagues to develop a programme which could open up a way into the information society for their target group.
Best Practice of Media Competence Teaching
When the projects planned in Bergen will start work in summer 2006, the exchange of experience and mutual visits will be on the agenda of the partners first. By cooperation, examples of best practice for digital literacy teaching are to be identified and disseminated so that educational institutions in other countries can also benefit from the results. The German Digital Opportunities Foundation (Stiftung Digitale Chancen) will bring its experience with Public Internet access and learning points (PIAPs) and the development of curricula for training measures into the cooperation.
Read the
article in German language here.
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