DOTs celebrate three years of innovation

On 12 July 2012 the "Making IT Personal: Joining the DOTs" Programme celebrated three years of helping people to get online in South Yorkshire, supported by the European Social Fund.

Phil Coppard, former Chief Executive of Barnsley Council, advocated the original "Making IT Personal" vision for South Yorkshire that led to the idea of Digital Outreach Trainers – community-based digital mentors who would informally help friends and family to use the internet and new technologies – and so the DOTs programme was born.

Over the past three years, at a conservative estimate, over 4,000 people have been helped to get online in South Yorkshire. There are now over 600 DOTs registered on the online community and some DOTs have mentored over a 100 people each in their communities or work places using resources made available through the DOTs online community. Phil commented on the power of this simple model of informal outreach and how it is needed more than ever as there are still large swathes of the community in danger of being left behind as the digital economy expands. He summed up: "This is not about technology, it’s about giving people in South Yorkshire a better future."

Getting everyone included

The event started by hearing from the DOTs themselves, firstly in a film "Getting everyone included" and then from Mercy Nguru, one of the DOTs who features in the film. Mercy told her story of helping her mother to get online:

"My sister moved to Germany with her family and because mum missed her I got her set up on Skype so they could speak. Now, because I’ve helped her along the way, she can log in and speak to my sister when she wants, and is using email. For her, getting online is a big experience, and these gradual steps mean a lot."

Getting everyone included (YouTube)
Mercy Nguru's story (Making IT Personal)

DOT awards

Julie Byrne, Principal of Sheffield City College, introduced the DOT Awards. The College has been a key partner helping to shape the DOT approach, building the online community, and creating a wealth of resources for DOTs to use with those they’re helping. Julie commented:

"The key thing for me is that it has given an opportunity for many of our students to make a difference and to shine."

Game2Engage Project

Game2Engage digital mentoring team receive their award

Two young DOTs from the Sheffield College iMedia course, Tom Whitham and Adam Ibberson, introduced the Game2Engage Project, an offshoot project from the DOTs programme. The Game2Engage project was invented and is run by the young DOTs in their own time. They noticed that students with learning difficulties from the Practical Skills course were always in a group on their own at the college refectory, with no interaction with mainstream students. They came up with an approach using gaming technology to help the students communicate and express themselves. After taking disability awareness training, they now run workshops Wednesday and Friday in college mentoring the Practical Skills students. The project has had a major impact on all involved and the intention is to roll it out in other parts of the College.

17-year old Sam Deakin then shared his story of becoming a DOT and helping other students with disabilities on the Game2Engage project. Sam is severely disabled and relies on technology to give him a voice and communicate. He explained:

"I jumped at a chance of becoming a DOT because it meant I could be recognised for something I was already doing… Having a disability in itself presents lots of challenges in life and often it’s the small things that prove to be the biggest problems. In a similar way with technolology, sometimes it’s the simple tasks that people need help to overcome that can make the biggest difference. It’s a good feeling when you can teach somebody how to do something that might have taken them a long time to figure out and cause them to be frustrated."

Game2Engage Project (Making IT Personal)

European context

A panel session followed looking at the DOT approach in a broader European context. Ellen Helsper from the London School of Economics provided a European perspective on how effective children are as mentors to their parents. She pointed out that there are many assumptions about the up-and-coming generation of “digital natives” and how they will naturally pass on their skills but research shows that, “More skilled children do not have more skilled parents necessarily...children are not taught to be teachers of their parents.” This shows the importance of trained intermediary peers such as DOTs who are the most effective means of digital upskilling. This triggered a lively debate which concluded the day.