The Walk-N-Talk Erasmus+ project has just finished and we want to show you the outcomes following the development of the educational activities with senior citizens.

In the project, we implemented a pedagogical proposal which mainly consists on realising a course in a different context: outdoors. Therefore, adult learners can learn about several topics such as: art, languages, informatics, etc. while walking and practising exercise.

 

For exemple:

  • If you want to teach them how to use a Tablet PC and to send photos via email, we propose you to carrie out this activity while walking outdoors. Seniors will be able to take photos to unique buildings or any other eye-catching stuff and that they want to share later.
  • If you teach english lessons, doing this activity outside the classroom can be really beneficial. Senior learners will interact with other people, in their own local context, learning vocabulary that can be further useful in their daily lives.
  • If you are teaching art, history, society or even botanics or vegetation, taking a stroll within the city or hiking in the woods can also be a good opportunity to keep on learning.

 

¿Would you like to know in detail the results of the project and how to take advantage of the Walk-N-Talk proposal? Visit the following link, which shows a video that gathers experiences and images regarding the project:  https://vimeo.com/296602585 

In CIDET we can help you by suggesting and giving advice which are the best way to integrate this pedagogical proposal and to make the most of it. The benefits you can achieve from this project are the following:

  • Seniors learners, in comparison to young people, do not need an official certificate to take a job or a profesional qualification. Therefore, seniors’ motivation has its origin in the desire of learning, discovering new things, being with people that shares the same hobbies, etc. At all events, they like to be active and enjoy the moments. Learning informatics, for example, is much rewarding if they share what they like while carrying out the learning activity. Similarly, if they learn about art or history within their own community, later they can share it in their social networks and also publish it in a different language.  Regardless of what you teach, you should consider performing this activities while walking: learning does not necessarily needs to happen in classroom. This way, experiences are more nurturing, adults will learn more, better and in their context.
  • Taking a lesson while walking, allows us to build up a healthy habit: practising moderate physical activity; you will be promoting an active and healthy lifestyle, increasing, this way the wellbeing and quality lifestyle of seniors.
  • Finally, group activities within senior people own a social dimension, in which conversation and support within people plays a vital role.  Even more, when exclusion and loneliness are a threat.

 

The teaching activity that is addressed to seniors must be accurately designed.  The vital principles are that adult person are more responsible and the manager of their own education; they can and have the obligation to decide what to learn. Learning can be based on their previous experiences and they should try not to learn only the subject-based content but also other soft and transversal skills such as fellowship, responsibility, tolerance, empathy, communication, control, comprehension, etc.

Education is hiding a treasure, each person enriches their own experience while giving a sense to the motto “lifelong learning”, outside the classroom.