Save the date: Adult Learners’ Week and Get Online Week 2022
This year, two of Digital Communities Wales annually celebrated awareness campaigns have fallen on the same week. Because of a postponement, Adult Learners’ Week is now happening at the same time as Get Online Week, between 17-23 October – and we’ve decided to celebrate both! Here’s a little more about each campaign, what we’ve got planned, and how you can get involved in the opportunities taking place.
Adult Learners’ Week
Adult Learners’ Week will see organisations across the country come together to put on a range of courses, tasters, events open days and resources that are free and accessible for everyone. Adult Learners’ Week is a chance to make connections to pursue a new career path, take interests to the next level, meet like-minded people, or just to try out something new.
Coordinated by Learning and Work Institute and Welsh Government, there are opportunities throughout the month of October to join in on free sessions, both online and in-person. Not only are there sessions to develop digital skills, but for arts and crafts, workplace skills, sciences, languages, and more! Start by checking out the Adult Learners’ Week Calendar.
What Digital Communities Wales is doing to celebrate
At Digital Communities Wales, we’re delighted to be teaming up with Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales and People’s Collection Wales for Adult Learners’ Week 2022. Take your pick of two in-person ‘Inspiring Digital Activities’ sessions with Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, taking place at Cardiff’s St Fagans National Museum of History and Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum, and join us for an ‘Exploring Digital History’ webinar with People’s Collection Wales. You can find event descriptions and get your free ticket by clicking on the links below.
Get your free ticket for the National Waterfront Museum session (17 October).
Get your free ticket for the St Fagans National Museum of History session (19 October).
Get your free ticket for ‘Exploring Digital History with People’s Collection Wales’ (20 October).
For those unable to attend the sessions in person, look out for a guest Q&A blogs on our website from each of People’s Collection Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, where they share more about their resources available and how they can support adult learning.
Spread the word
You can get involved #adultlearnersweek by:
- Visiting https://adultlearnersweek.wales/ and registering for a session.
- Joining in on the conversation using #adultlearnersweek, #neverstoplearning, #changeyourstory.
- Following @LearnWorkCymru on Twitter.
- Liking Learning and Work Institute / Sefydliad Dysgu a Gwaith on Facebook.
- Following @learnworkcymru on Instagram.
Get Online Week
Get Online Week is Good Things Foundation’s yearly national digital inclusion campaign – and this year their message is to help people improve their digital skills by encouraging them to #TryOneThing online.
In Wales, the levels of digital exclusion are higher than in the rest of the UK, with as many as 7% of the population not using the internet at all.
Cadi Cliff, Programme Manager at Digital Communities Wales said:
“This year’s Get Online Week message is an important one. The different ways that the internet can be used can often be daunting for people starting out. We find that digital skills, confidence and capability naturally improves over time when people find and spend time online engaging in things that are meaningful to them.”
What Digital Communities Wales is doing to celebrate
If you want to help people #TryOneThing and learn more about helping others get online, come along to our free ‘Digital Volunteering in your community with AbilityNet’ session – happening at 2pm on the Tuesday of Get Online Week. AbilityNet are a digital inclusion and accessibility charity who have invited a number of digital volunteers based in Wales to share their experiences volunteering with those attending the webinar.
As well as sharing campaign resources on DCW Twitter and Facebook throughout the week, we’ll also be releasing our #TryOneThing blog from staff members at DCW. Taking a closer look at this year’s Get Online Week daily themes of saving money, health, helping others, connecting with loved ones and employability, DCW staff recommend one thing to try online that could get someone started on their digital journey.
Spread the word
You can get involved #GetOnlineWeek by:
- Visiting https://uk.getonlineweek.com/ to find out more about the campaign.
- Checking out their campaign resources.
- Joining in on the conversation using #GetOnlineWeek, #TryOneThing.
- Following @GetOnlineWeek on Twitter.
- Following and tagging Good Things Foundation in your #GetOnlineWeek Facebook posts.