Innovation in Language Learning

Although EU countries have their own cultures, customs, language, religion and traditions, they share the European values and assets, as well as the same societal concerns and difficulties. Issues of globalization, international migration, participation of women in the workforce, economic crisis, and unemployment are identified by many European countries to affect greatly their societies and citizens. For many of the above problems the leaders of the M.S. adopt common policies and strategies to be able to deal with them.

It is well known that the world population is ageing and as a result through this demographic change the structure of society and therefore the family structure are changing. 2012 was the European Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity whereas 2013 has been the European Year of Citizenship. It is our perception that one of the main aims of the EU in the last years was to raise the issue of ‘being an active citizen’ regardless the age or the role in society. This provides societies with the opportunities to develop strategies for ensuring that the ageing can first be positive and dynamic, but at the same time it is used in such a way as to promote solidarity between the different groups of people, the different sectors, and the different generations, younger and older.

Senior citizens represent an important and ever growing part of our European society, our economy, our culture, and our lives. Irrespective of the current difficult economic context, this poses manifold questions as to how one can best ensure that these citizens are socially included and can fully enjoy all their rights. Although many senior citizens enjoy good health, ageing often brings limitations preventing older citizens from accessing goods and services and living independently. Ensuring accessibility for all is both a question of fundamental rights and crucial to making the most of the potential of our senior citizens in social and economic terms.

In light of evidence provided by the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) on adult skills levels and deficits for MS, as well as the aims set by the EU Agenda for Adult Learning, it can be concluded that access to lifelong learning is not equally distributed across the adult population. In particular, low-skilled adults, including senior citizens can easily be caught in a 'low skills trap', which means that they are unlikely to leave this category. This paper will present a project that aims to address active ageing and intergenerational solidarity through developing an innovative ICT training course that will enhance senior citizens’ digital literacy skills and support the acquisition of the necessary competences to participate in the highly technological world, both for pleasure and for business. This project attempts to explore the relationship developing between the first and the third generation of members of different European families through the provision of digital opportunities for lifelong learning. Senior Citizens – mainly grandparents will be professionally offered ICT training to acquire basic digital skills with the involvement of their grandchildren who will transfer their current knowledge on social networking and platform communication, to that their grandparents can communicate in the most trendy ways. The project will conclude by setting up a social communication platform in the form of an online ‘help desk’ to be supported by volunteer grandparents-senior citizens.