The landscape of digital media is changing rapidly, presenting distinct challenges for older adults. To bridge the digital divide and build digital resilience, developing educational resources must go beyond traditional top-down methodologies. Recently, SMART AGE coordinators from Public Open University Čakovec held a co-creation and validation session with Ms. Dubravka Cilar, President of the Pensioners’ Association of the City of Čakovec (Udruga umirovljenika grada Čakovca).
This session highlights a shared commitment to participatory design, ensuring that the upcoming SMART AGE curriculum on media literacy for seniors is deeply grounded in the practical realities of the target demographic.
SMART AGE: Equipping Seniors for the Digital Age
SMART AGE (Seniors’ Media Awareness & Resilience in the Digital Age) is an Erasmus+ Cooperation partnership in adult education lead by Bildungshaus Retzhof from Austria, joined by partners from Croatia (POU Čakovec) and Slovenia (People’s University Ormož). Its primary objective is to improve media literacy among seniors by equipping them with the skills needed to critically assess digital content, identify misinformation, and safely navigate AI-generated media.
To achieve this, the SMART AGE consortium is developing several key deliverables:
- MICROCREDENTIAL-BASED CURRICULUM: A 10-module curriculum aligned with the DigComp framework, designed to ensure competencies are measurable and recognised.
- COMPETENCY-BASED MOOC: A multilingual massive open online course providing a self-paced learning pathway, particularly beneficial for seniors in rural and remote regions.
- INCLUSIVE DESIGN: A learner-centric approach that incorporates direct feedback from elderly learners to ensure that the content is relevant, engaging, and accessible.
Validating Learning Outcomes Through External Expertise
A core component of the curriculum development phase is the adaptation of the DigComp framework into thematic clusters that address media literacy and AI-generated content for elderly learners. To guarantee the efficacy of these educational resources, the consortium conducts rigorous external peer reviews to ensure quality, relevance, and effectiveness.
Thematic units of the planned SMART AGE curriculum:
- Information & Media Literacy
- Disinformation & Manipulation Awareness
- AI-Generated Content Awareness
- Algorithmic Awareness & Information Exposure
- Digital Safety & Scam Awareness
- Privacy & Data Protection
- Digital Well-being & Emotional Resilience
- Responsible Sharing & Communication
- Civic & Democratic Participation Online
- Reflective Digital Autonomy & Transfer
The recent collaboration with Ms. Cilar represents a core part of this external evaluation process. As an associated partner, the Pensioners’ Association of Town of Čakovec plays a crucial role in providing independent evaluation of the curriculum design. During the session, the SMART AGE team from POU Čakovec presented the planned activities and the newly drafted learning outcomes. Ms. Cilar’s invaluable feedback validated the consortium’s efforts, confirming that the resources being developed are high quality, practically applicable, and relevant to the everyday digital challenges faced by seniors.
Expert Perspective: Making Decisions WITH Learners, Not FOR Them
From a professional standpoint in adult education and Erasmus+ management, integrating co-creation sessions is a pedagogical necessity. Historically, educational programmes for vulnerable or marginalised demographics have suffered from a top-down approach, where curriculum developers make assumptions about what the target group needs. Co-creation fundamentally disrupts this model. By inviting representatives like Ms. Cilar to review and critique learning outcomes, adult educators shift the paradigm from making decisions for the target group to making decisions with them.
This participatory approach yields several distinct advantages:
- RELEVANCE AND PRACTICALITY: Seniors are the foremost experts on their own lived experiences. Their input ensures that abstract concepts – like algorithmic bias or AI-generated deepfakes – are translated into practical, recognisable scenarios.
- INCREASED ENGAGEMENT: When learners see their own perspectives reflected in the training materials, intrinsic motivation and engagement levels rise.
- EMPOWERMENT AND TRUST: Collaborative curriculum design builds a sense of ownership. It respects the autonomy and existing life experience of adult learners, which is a foundational principle of andragogy.
By prioritising the voices of the elderly in the development phase, SMART AGE ensures that its micro-credential framework and MOOC will genuinely empower seniors to participate confidently and safely in the digital space.
Would you like to share your expertise and join the SMART AGE project as an external evaluator of the upcoming project results?
Please reach out to project@pou-cakovec.hr and we’ll be in touch with you soon.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union and the OeAD-GmbH. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
