Reducing the Digital Divide for Elderly and Disabled through On-site Education at Senior Centers and Welfare Facilities
Practical Training on Using Unmanned Terminals (Kiosks) to Ease Daily Inconveniences and Support Everyday Life
Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) announced that starting in April, it will operate a ‘Visiting Informatization Education’ program for information-vulnerable groups such as elderly people with mobility difficulties and persons with disabilities.
For elderly people or persons with disabilities, even if they want to learn how to use digital devices such as smartphones, it is not easy to visit related educational institutions due to mobility issues.
Accordingly, Seongdong-gu will conduct year-round, community-based ‘Visiting Informatization Education’ so that information-vulnerable groups like the elderly and disabled can conveniently access informatization education near their homes.
The education targets are elderly residents aged 55 and over and persons with disabilities living in Seongdong-gu. When major facilities such as senior centers, welfare centers, and community centers request education (with a minimum of 10 participants), professional instructors will visit the institutions directly to provide free digital education.
The education content includes how to use unmanned terminals (kiosks), how to utilize devices such as smartphones, and how to use useful applications in daily life such as shopping and food ordering.
In particular, although unmanned terminals (kiosks) have become common in cafes and restaurants, elderly people who are not familiar with operating these devices find them difficult to use. Moreover, when there are long queues, they feel greater psychological burden. Therefore, this education is expected to greatly help elderly people alleviate inconveniences in daily life.
Those wishing to participate in the education can download the application form from the ‘News Board’ on the Seongdong-gu Office website by the 15th of the month prior to the desired education date, fill it out, and submit it via email.
Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “We are striving to provide high-quality informatization education so that information-vulnerable groups do not experience inconvenience in the rapidly changing informatization society,” and added, “We will do our best to ensure that not only the information-disadvantaged but all residents can enjoy diverse opportunities for informatization education in the future.”
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