Expand access to the User Centre model
Increase opportunities for people to take part in supported, community-based digital learning sessions that build confidence through practical experience and peer support.
About the Project
Why the project matters
Digital skills are now essential for everyday life. Accessing healthcare services, applying for jobs, managing finances, communicating with family, and engaging with public services increasingly depends on confidence with digital tools. However, many adults still face barriers to participation, including limited access to technology, negative experiences of formal education, or a lack of opportunities to learn in supportive environments.
Traditional digital skills provision is often short-term or classroom-based, which does not work for everyone. The Connected Communities project builds on more than twenty years of experience from the University of Dundee's User Centre to offer a different approach: learning through participation, collaboration, and practical problem-solving in a welcoming community setting.
These groups are currently a part of the User Centre:
- Straight Talking: a user group of adults with complex disabilities who use a range of Augmentative and Alternative Communication
- Bytes and Blether: Over 50’s Computer and Coffee Club
By expanding this model and evaluating how it works in different contexts, the project aims to support people to develop lasting digital confidence and independence, while creating a framework that can be used more widely across Scotland.
Who it supports
Connected Communities focuses on adults who are less well served by existing digital skills provision, particularly those who may feel excluded from formal learning environments.
This could include:
- older adults developing confidence with everyday digital tools
- people living in areas affected by socioeconomic disadvantage
- adults seeking employment or returning to learning
- people with limited previous access to technology
- individuals who prefer informal, practical learning environments
Sessions are shaped by participants' own goals and interests. Rather than following a fixed curriculum, members bring real tasks they want to complete, such as accessing online services, communicating with family, managing documents, or learning about new technologies. Facilitators and volunteers support participants to work through these tasks at their own pace.
Project Aims
Develop and evaluate community-driven digital learning
Design and test a flexible learning approach shaped by participants' goals, everyday needs, and interests, with evaluation embedded throughout delivery.
Share a transferable toolkit and evaluation framework
Produce open resources, facilitator guidance, and evidence-based frameworks that enable other organisations to replicate and adapt the model in their own communities.
Advisory Board
The project is supported by an Advisory Board made up of representatives from community organisations, digital inclusion initiatives, employability services, and the University of Dundee.
The Advisory Board plays an important role in shaping the direction of the project by:
- helping identify priority learner groups and community needs
- advising on delivery approaches and partnerships
- reviewing evaluation findings
- supporting dissemination of project outputs
- strengthening links with organisations working in digital inclusion across Scotland
This collaborative structure ensures the project remains responsive to local priorities while contributing to wider national conversations about digital participation and community learning.