"ICT for Abruzzo" and Grandparents

A new multimedia laboratory set up through the “ICT for Abruzzi” Project will host the second “Grandparents on the Internet” pilot course in the region. This follows the San Demetrio Né Vestini course. Once again, young students will become digital trainers for their community.

 

The students of the Poggio Picenze elementary school have been attending class in “container rooms” since the earthquake that devastated the region on April 6, 2009. Next Tuesday, February 9, at 12:00 the new multimedia laboratory will be inaugurated. Toshiba and Microsoft provided contributions to create the laboratory, while the Fondazione Mondo Digitale coordinated the initiative. 

 

The initiative follows the call for action launched by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale to ICT companies to develop laboratories and networks in the schools of the Abruzzi in order to guarantee equal opportunities to students in this region. In fact, the elementary school in Poggio Picenze, a small town near Aquila with 1200 residents was almost completely demolished by the earthquake.

 

Attending the event:

 

 

Thanks to the new equipment donated by Toshiba and the software provided by Microsoft and the Civil Defense of the Province of Rome who delivered the materials, the students of Poggio Picenze will be able to teach parents and grandparents how to navigate the web.

 

In fact, the school has joined the “Grandparents on the Internet” Programme created by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale to promote the digital literacy of the elderly. This intergenerational teaching model has been experimented on over 7500 senior citizens: it involves young students who act as tutors for the elderly under the supervision of an IT teacher.

 

The organizations that helped reconstruct the school, including the Fondazione Stampa-Specchio dei tempi Onlus, the Association of Italians in Belgium and the Associazione Amici di Amelia, will also be present at the inauguration.

 

 

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