In Portugal, an initiative to promote digital literacy among parents.
EDP and the Directorate-General of Education implemented the Digital Academy for Parents, an initiative to promote the digital literacy of parents, with the support of volunteer trainers.
Connecting generations
EDP, in partnership with the Directorate-General of Education (DGE), undertook the Digital Academy for Parents initiative, the aim of which is, with the support of volunteers, to promote the digital training of parents so that they can support their children.
This initiative also aims to provide adults with digital tools for integration, essential in today’s society. It aims to combat digital illiteracy and to prepare families for, for example, distance learning schemes.
Editions
The initiative started in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic and economic crisis, with the imposition of distance learning and the consequent need to adopt digital tools to ensure the continuity of learning at home.
In 2021, the 2nd edition was launched, with the goal, no longer to support distance learning, but to provide parents with the necessary skills to understand the new ways of learning, as well as to help their children manage the risks associated with less responsible use of the Internet.
The 3rd edition has broadened its scope of action by launching the “Digital Consumer” course, which aims to support the adoption of a critical and conscious attitude that will enable decisions that favour energy saving and adequate consumption of natural resources.
Targets and objectives of the Digital Academy for Parents
This action was aimed at parents of 1st and 2nd cycle children from schools that integrate the Educational Territories of Priority Intervention Program (TEIP), and its main objectives were:
- Equip families with basic digital skills, which facilitate the school monitoring of their children
- Provide tools for integration, essential in today’s society
- Combat socio-economic asymmetries
- Prepare families for contingencies that may require the suspension of classroom teaching activities
The Program, financed by EDP, was implemented in 60 TEIP School Groups in the North (29), Center (5), Lisbon and Vale do Tejo (16), Alentejo (6) and Algarve (4) regions. It also counted on the support of the ICT Competence Center of the University of Aveiro, responsible for the production of the training content and for the training of the volunteers.
Functioning
- The training courses, with a duration of 8 hours, took place after working hours, in the premises of the educational institutions
- Two members of each household could participate
- The identification and selection of volunteer trainers was the responsibility of each participating school
- Volunteers’ profile: preferably students, aged 14 to 18, attending the school, teachers, technicians and parents/guardians of the respective educational community
- All participants, schools, trainers, and teaching and non-teaching staff involved in the training received awards and certificates.
