Tuqaalee Ijoo
- Dhimma Tekinolojii
- Dargaggootni bifa kabaja qabuun akkamiin namoota gurguddaa tekinolojii irratti gargaaru
- Obsaa fi Barsiisa
- Beekumsa hiruu fi hundi tekinolojii akka hubatu taasisuu
Sabantta duraa dabaran lameen wal duraa duubaan dargaggoota Dhimma tekinolojiitiitti leenjistee turte adde Silva. Tarii dargaggootni maaliif tekinolojii leenji’uu barbaachise jedhtu taha? Maal baratan? Maaliif? Maal gochuufis deemu? Dhalootni haaraa fi ga'essi tekinolojiin wal gatee jiraa, rakkinni kun akkamiin bira gahama? Aaf-gaaffii Silva waliin taasifne irraa bal’inaan hubattu. Guutummaa Afaan Inglishiin waan dabreef, hubatnoo gabaabaa barreeffamaan keenyeerra warra caqasuufis tahe dubbisuuf akka mijatutti.
Silva galateeffadhee fi ofis akka beeksistu carraa kenneef. Gaaffiin akka itti aanutti itti fufe.
Lensa: Connect IT young Digital Mentor program, what is it? Where do the initiatives come from?
Silva: Enliven’s Connect IT Young Digital Mentor program is funded by the Good Things Australia as part of their Be Connected initiative.
The program trains young people aged between 14 and 24 to become Young Digital Mentors. Once they are trained, they are ready to help community members over the age of 50 with digital technology.
Lensa: Who is the target audience, and why that age group?
Silva: The target audience is community members over the age of 50. According to the Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2025, 1 in 5 Australians are digitally excluded with 63% of people not feeling confident in their ability to stay up to date (Get Online Week report, 2023). This puts them at risk of being left behind in our ever-changing digital world.
The digital mentor program helps to increase confidence, social connection in older people and improve their daily lives. It also helps to increase intergenerational connection between young and older community members.
Lensa: Were the training time and location convenient? What is there for those young people involved in training?
Silva: We have facilitated training with partner organisations such as South East Community Links, Victorian Afghan Associations’ Network, Shagoofa Organisation and are exploring other opportunities with other partners.
Our training sessions can be run outside of hours including Saturdays. We have also run some programs during school hours. We saw this worked very well around young people’s school and work commitments.
Once they have completed the training, the young digital mentors are provided with a certificate and a voucher to recognise their efforts and their motivation to help older community members with digital literacy
Lensa: What do you say about the passion or participant engagement in the training? Do you think they were dragged there by their family, or do you see their strength?
Silva: Digital mentors are very passionate about helping their community. Many of the Young Digital Mentors that Enliven have trained are already volunteering within their community. Some are high school, University and TAFE students looking at gaining additional skills to further help their communities.
I don’t think they are dragged by their families, they come along to the training sessions with ideas, questions and take part in discussions. Some Young Digital Mentors are also you can see by their participation during the training sessions with ideas, question
We have also seen some of the Young Digital Mentors supporting group digital literacy classes in the community. We are very proud of their efforts.
Lensa: Can you explain a bit what that focus is on or what the training involves?
Silva: The training sessions is run over 7 hours. We firstly explain and discuss the role of a young digital mentor in the community and how they can help reduce the digital divide in the community. We also discuss
● Ways to inspire people to learn
● Overcoming barriers
● Creating inclusive learning spaces
● Essential digital skills
● Facilitating discussions & activities
We also talk about how the many helpful resources and supports available to the Young Digital Mentors on the Good Things Australia and the Be Connected websites.
Lensa: What was the program's expectation, and do you think it has been met?
Silva: We still have a few months of the program to go but so far, we feel the program’s expectations have been met. Survey results to date from our young digital mentors say that 93% of those who have complete the training feel confident to help older community members with digital technology. We are very proud of this result and out young digital mentors.
Lensa: What is the intended plan from now on? For those who missed this training opportunity, will there be other similar programs?
We will continue to run training sessions in March and encourage anyone who may be interested to reach out through our info@enliven.org.au email address
Lensa: Do you have final message to say?
Thank you, Lensa, I appreciate the opportunity. Enliven runs many different programs and I encourage those who are interested to visit our website www.enlivenvictoria.org.au and to also visit goodthingsaustralia.org website to find out more about the wonderful work they do.
