Digitalized Financial Education for Seniors – Interactive Scenario Gaming Solutions for Increasing Online Financial Literacy of Seniors Erasmus Project

Project Title

Digitalized Financial Education for Seniors – Interactive Scenario Gaming Solutions for Increasing Online Financial Literacy of Seniors

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Economic and financial affairs (incl. funding issues); ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Demographic ageing within the EU is likely to be of major significance in the coming decades. Low birth rates and higher life expectancy are transforming the shape of the EU-28’s age pyramid. In the coming decades the share of older persons in the total population will increase significantly. Unlike younger generations, seniors (people above 60 years) have not grown up with technology. Therefore, it’s normal for seniors to feel resistant or hesitant to adopt technology or change their daily routine.

It is a fact that seniors are taking longer to learn new applications or devices, performing poorly on tasks relying on memory, and may not have the confidence or knowledge to take full advantage of technology.
According to numerous research seniors are increasingly getting marginalized due to digital illiteracy. With the growing number of senior citizens as well as the increased lifespan of human beings and that most people are always online, offering senior citizens important skills on IT and technological developments in finances is extremely important.

The user experience of senior citizens is very different from that of other generations and offering the needed skills that would increase their active participation at financial markets again is of high importance. As seniors rarely have people instructing and guiding them on how to use today’s technologies, and as it’s often too complex for them to understand on their own, the DEFINE project aims to give these people the opportunity to get the needed skills via adult training providers/centers through face-to-face trainings supported by learning scenario games in which seniors are able to try their newly won skills in a safe environment.
Summing up the DEFINE project follows the objective to increase the skills on IT and online financial management services connected to money management, budgeting and investments. In order to achieve this goal learning scenario games in these areas will be developed for all of the participating countries to give seniors to learn to navigate. In addition to these scenario offline training materials, trainer guides and a handbook with additional material for offline trainings will be developed. Both, the learning scenario games and the offline materials will be used to complement each other.

The main target groups within the project are as following:
• Seniors – people above 60 years interested in online financial management services, adult education training providers/Centers; Seniors associations; Federations of trade unions
As secondary target groups the project addresses the following stakeholders:

• Chambers of trade/commerce; Ministries of trade; Ministries of education; Ministries of finance

Specific outcomes are:
• Good Practice Catalogue on Digitalized Financial Education for Seniors – The Good Practice Catalogue focuses on the identification and collection of good practices from Europe about existing cases and good practices on digitalized financial education teaching and training concepts for seniors.
• Skill Card Creation including the Strategy Design and Training Curriculum – A skill card needs to be created which will follow the European Framework of Qualification standards which summarizes the skills acquired during the training. Curriculum will be built up on the skill card.
• Trainings for Digitalized Financial Education for Seniors – main output which will include a face-to-face training with a minimum of 30 hours including scenario learning games applied an a train-the-trainer event.
• Transferability and Evaluation Handbook – Once the trainings have been finalized, all participants will have the chance to forward their newly won skills and experiences to others guided through the handbook.

With the mentioned outputs the following impact will be reached with the main target group, the seniors:
• increased know-how about online financial management/services
• increased consciousness about the technology behind digital finance technologies and about opportunities and threats connected with
• increased understanding of new technologies and their connection to the basic sciences
• positive attitude towards the European DEFINE project and EU values

The project consortium consists of 7 partners coming from 5 different countries. The partnership has its strength in the diversity (Universities, adult education providers, learning games developer) of the involved partners. Further, the partnership has already developed a good network with seniors’ associations for implementing all project activities.
Due to the collaboration and the commitment of all partners involved, the number of seniors, representatives of seniors´ associations and adult trainers for this area being skilled will rise in the future having a positive impact on the society on a European level, by making the specific target group fit for new challenges.

Project Website

http://define.fh-joanneum.at/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 231954 Eur

Project Coordinator

FH JOANNEUM GESELLSCHAFT MBH & Country: AT

Project Partners

• VITALE TECNOLOGIE COMUNICAZIONE – VITECO SRL
• UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE
• E-SENIORS: INITIATION DES SENIORS AUX NTIC ASSOCIATION
• WIRTSCHAFTSKAMMER STEIERMARK
• Associazione PROGETTO MARCONI
• Volkshochschule Hannover