Bi-Weekly Adaptive Digital Skills Training in One-Stop Window
RCTReview
Disadvantaged welfare recipients frequently lack basic digital device mastery, preventing them from accessing electronic public administration platforms, applying for social benefits, or utilizing online job search portals.
Picture this
Handing someone an instruction manual written in a foreign language does not teach them how to read it. Setting up bi-weekly group practice sessions alongside one-on-one personal tutoring acts like having a bilingual tutor sitting beside the student, guiding their hands as they practice typing and completing online forms step-by-step.
What the evidence says
The intervention generated statistically significant improvements in digital skills—specifically device operation, internet browsing, and online administrative task completion—alongside small positive gains in participants' self-perceived employability (Gizatea scale), self-esteem, and life satisfaction.
- Who was studied
- 1,831 beneficiaries of minimum income schemes and at-risk job seekers in Aragón, Spain (922 treatment, 909 comparison).
- How
- Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating a 7-month intervention ("Aragón Incluye") featuring bi-weekly 2.5-hour group digital training sessions over 4 months, paired with bi-weekly 2.5-hour individual support sessions.
What to do
Offer minimum income recipients bi-weekly 2.5-hour hands-on digital skills workshops paired with equal duration individual coaching focused on completing online administrative procedures and job applications.
From the source
"The program enhanced digital skills, particularly by improving participants' ability to use digital devices and the internet and complete online administrative procedures. Effects on capacity to secure employment, self-esteem, and satisfaction were positive but small in size."
promoting-labor-market-inclusion-policy-publication.pdf