Project Going Digital has ended at ITIS Giovanni XXIII in Rome, too, where it involved 18 students in their third year as digital facilitators and 15 over-60s from the Michele Testa Elderly Centre. Rome’s Municipio V is as large as Avellino and as densely populated (ca. 250,000 residents) as Messina. The Age Index (the ratio between over-65s and minors aged 0-14 in the population) is 174.5%, higher than the city average (163.8).
The educational activities were held in the computer lab and coordinated by Prof. Andrea Minotti, who is very satisfied about the project results and pleasantly surprised in discovering that even the more unenthusiastic students were “careful, reliable and concentrated.”
Eleonora Curatola, who followed the last day of activities and presented certificates to all participants, reports on the evident “great relationship of esteem and affection that cemented the two generations and produced great enthusiasm in the classroom,” thanks to the intergenerational learning model.
Eleonora had also been present on the first day of lessons for the over-60s. "I recognized the pairs, tutors and elders, that were formed at the beginning of the activities,” she says. “And they were very happy to have learned so much together. Mr. Gagliano, for example, was able to videocall his granddaughter in America on her birthday, while Rita, tutored by Michel, has become even better than her husband. Carla and her tutor walk home together and Martina and Mr. Silvano have promised to keep in touch via e-mail, to keep both in practice and informed about each other."
Here are some of the interviews produced during the course of Project Going Digital
First Day
Martina and Mr. Silvano
Last Day
Rita and Lino (wife and husband)
Tutors Vanessa and Michel
Mr. Gagliano, 82 years old, tells us about the course.
Project Going Digital, supported by the Council for People, Schools and Communities of the City of Rome - Social Policy Department, Individual Services Directorate extends Project “Grandparents on the Internet” throughout the entire city, involving 151 Elderly Centres (CSAs) and 60 schools in Rome. The project is coordinated by Cecilia Stajano, FMD School Innovation Coordinator, with the support of Eleonora Curatola.
