Our initiative to bridge the digital divide by educating older residents about digital technology through personalised, one-to-one training sessions with young people.

The project took place over four weeks at Stepps Community Facility. During these sessions, the seniors engaged in lively discussions with the pupils, covering topics such as childhood memories and favourite songs. Using iPads, the pupils skilfully brought these stories to life, creating a vibrant and interactive learning environment.

The P6 digital leaders who took part in the session included, Jessica, Annabelle, Max, Amber, Cameron, Luca, Poppy, Oliver, Millie, James, Cian, and Jessica.

“I like being a digital leader because I get to learn and teach things I never knew about iPads and devices.” said Oliver.

“I enjoyed having the responsibility of helping others with technology. It was fun helping people learn skills. I also enjoyed talking to people and finding out how the Digital Leaders could help them.” said Cameron.

“It was amazing to learn new things and teach other people what I’ve learnt. It was a blast seeing their faces light up anytime they learnt something new.” said Cian.

“My favourite thing about the Intergenerational Project was the fact that I got to learn new things myself. I then got to see the smiles on the women’s faces when they learned something new,” said Amber.

“It was great to see all the smiles on everyone’s faces when we were showing them new things. It was so much fun learning new things.” said James and Annabelle.

“I liked teaching the ladies about the apps like mark-up, reminder and pic collage and showing them stuff about photos.” said Max.

Maryjane Shaw, class teacher at Stepps Primary School, said: “The Digital Leaders have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Intergenerational Project and working with some ladies from the Stepps Community. They were very keen to share their digital skills with the people who attended. They developed their own knowledge and skills and then had to teach these to others. However, what was a real delight was seeing how the generations interacted with each other. Watching them together you would have thought that they had known each other for years. The conversation flowed.”

One senior who attended the session Alice Morton and said: ‘This digital intergenerational project was a hugely successful and rewarding learning experience for both generations. The young digital leaders at Stepps Primary School were confident sharing their digital knowledge and expertise with local older residents who, in turn, were very enthusiastic learners.

“The intergenerational setting was a pleasant and supportive one and ideal for building meaningful connections between the younger and older participants.”