SLO (GbR) is a small educational organisation of senior experts for senior citizens. All its activities are web-based. It is committed to helping elderly people by informing about and teaching them the use of lifelong-learning tools – especially on the internet and with the use of various special synchronous and asynchronous platforms. This means that senior citizens can participate from any location (home, for example) using the Internet and a headset. In SLO trainer can be learner and learner can be trainer, because every senior citizen is an expert in his or her own field, where she or he worked before retiring. In this way senior citizens can also try new ways in peer to peer teaching and learning with the help of the internet.
Experiences of SLO in international projects since 2004, the last were:
2008, Grundtvig 2008-1-ES1 GRU06-0013, „Active ICT, Active citizenship through information and communication technologies at all ages“ (together with Sastamala Opisto (Finland) and Universitat per a Majors – Universtat Jaume I (Spain) (Roger Esteller)
2009 -2011 Grundtvig „Adults learn in Family“ (together with Sastamala Opisto, Finland); 2012 -2015 Grundtvig „Mobile Devices and web 2.0 – new perspectives in ICT for digital inclusion in Europe“ (together with Lithuania, Turkey, Sastamala Opisto and Tiedetila from Finland), 2016-2017 Erasmus + project:„High quality of adult education – European exchange of experiences“ ( together with Italy, Sweden, Lithuania and Poland). In April 2021 we will start with a new Erasmus + Project: ICT-why not creativity and culture
Since the year 2002 SLO has developed and conducted online-based courses, workshops and continuous online meetings for senior citizens – focusing on topics on the use of the internet, the new Web 2.0 and mobile devices, tools for e-citizenship, e-banking, realtime communication, creative purposes (like creative writing) and working conjointly (like developing e-books cooperatively or the “workshop eBooks”, which was translated into six languages https://sites.google.com/site/sloebooks/ and held available online-based assistance in questions and problems of internet and computers. Trainers and learners of SLO disseminate their experiences in their own weblogs. At the moment SLO offer courses, workshops, regulars’ table and also single coaching. The content depends on new developments in the Web 2.0, in IoT (Internet of Things = smart and connected products) and the demand of the participants. SLO have also participated in several European projects dealing with computers, mobile devices and e-learning. Especially the project „Mobile Devices and web 2.0 – new perspectives in ICT for digital inclusion in Europe“ can be seen as basis for the dealing with the new smart and connected devices (IoT) and their possibilities to better the quality of life for senior years.
Diplom-Ingenieur Horst Sievert, co-founder of SLO, was an engineer and head of a group responsible for the project management of the trainings for the Telecom Germany before he retired. He offers online-based courses and workshops (mobile devices, internet-assistance) and he is webmaster of the SLO-Website and several webblogs which offer help and guidance in the internet. He develops also e-learning courses on the platform google drive and a course about project management by using the program Trello.
Diplom-Kaufmann Uta Krope, Oberstudienrätin (retired) until 2005 worked in a vocational school and at an inservice teacher training institute (IPTS) of the state of Schleswig-Holstein focusing on the topics informatics and teacher training in virtual classrooms. She is cofounder of SLO and offers online training courses in virtual classrooms and workshops (“jetzt digital” – “now digital”) for senior citizens. She also disseminates the results in several webblogs. Since 2011 she has also worked as a coach at „Stiftung Digitale Chancen“ (Foundation Digital Chances) where she teaches volunteers media education. Since 2004 she has supervised all European projects for SLO and from 2012 to 2014 she was coordinator of the European project “Mobile Devices” (see above).
Dr. phil. Barbara Leisner, historian and author, has offered online based courses and online based creative workshops (writing, history of art, audio) since 2007. Since 2014 she has worked as coach at „Stiftung Digitale Chancen“ (Foundation Digital Chances) like Uta Krope (see above). She disseminates the results of the courses in several webblogs. For her offer “Kunstsurfen” (surfing art) http://kunstsurfen.blogspot.de/ she got two awards http://www.engagiert-in-deutschland.de/toro/resource/html#%21entity.3667 and http://www.bagso.de/verbraucherthemen/internet.html#c5668.