"Grandma - Online", "Grandpa - Online"

The ceremony of awarding diplomas to senior citizens on completion of the course "Basics of computer literacy and ICT" within the national social programs "Grandma - Online", "Grandpa - online" was held in the Smolensk Industrial and Economic College.

First Deputy Head of the Regional Information Technology Department Tatiana Scherbakova took part in the ceremony. She congratulated the participants on the completion of the training course, awarded the diplomas and wished them further success while surfing the Internet.

The "Grandmother - Online", "Grandpa - Online" program was established by Interregional Public Organization "Association of veterans, disabled and senior citizens" in 2008 as part of the concept of informatization of the Russian society. The concept of overcoming informational stratification of the population has been put into practice through creating a network of free "walking distance" computer centers and applying original teaching methods when teaching elderly people. The graduates of the computer literacy course have acquired basic computer skills, can access the Internet, communicate with each other and their families in social networks, perform a variety of operations from buying a train or plane ticket to paying utility bills on-line.

In Smolensk the program "Grandma - Online", "Grandpa - Online" has been carried out by the Regional Information Technology Department together with the Interregional Public Organization "Association of veterans, disabled and senior citizens" since May, 2012. During this time, volunteers, most of whom are students of the Smolensk State University, have trained more than 200 people. The training course is held on the basis of the Smolensk Industrial and Economic College, where there is a computer consulting center.