Digital Inclusion and Personal Development
Digital literacy course for adults using homeless services.
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“It's becoming harder to access all sorts of services if you don't have an email address or aren't good with computers, so these sessions were great in helping me to learn the basics.”- Learner
This project helped learners develop skills and confidence around using computers in a way that also fostered independent living skills. The course catered to adults using homeless services and was run with Mid-West Simon's Oak Lodge Emergency Accommodation service.
The course ran over 10 weeks and was offered to two groups of five learners in 2-hour blocks. It took place at the Tait House Community Enterprise training facilities from early October to early December 2024.
Dr Clara Hoyne delivered the course along with Aoife Boyle from the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP).
The course offered basic IT Skills and a blend of hands-on pieces of work such as cooking, crafting, and gardening. It also covered online services like MyGov, ordering a medical card or passport, and online library services.
This project empowered service users to explore online resources for themselves. It helped learners overcome the sense of dependence on others that comes with feeling locked out of the digital world.
In response to a request from participants, Tait House Community Enterprise retained a weekly drop-in service in the computer room.
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This project was a collaboration between Tait House Community Enterprise and Mid-West Simon Community.
For more information about the project, please contact Tom Kent, Regional Literacy Coordinator in Limerick and Clare ETB, at tom.kent@lcetb.ie
The Adult Literacy for Life Collaboration and Innovation Fund
The Collaboration and Innovation Fund supports projects for adults with unmet literacy, numeracy and digital literacy needs and projects that support organisations to be literacy friendly. The closing date for 2024 applications has now passed but keep an eye out for information on our 2025 fund which will be launched in December.
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