Digital ambassadors are accelerating the digital revolution in schools

GreenDice believes that schools need more than just IT equipment; they need unified, easy-to-manage systems and consistent digital education and support.

At the beginning of last year, we started a closer collaboration with the Tõrva municipality to enhance the digital capabilities of both the municipal government and its managed institutions, and to support the wider community. As part of this cooperation, we held a series of lectures for senior citizens, trained teachers, and launched the Digital Ambassadors (formerly Junior IT Managers) program.

The first-year goal of our collaboration with Tõrva Gymnasium was to map out exactly how digital tools were being used at the school, identify the main problems, and offer the best solutions. The problems we found were to be expected: the school was using a variety of different devices, many of which were outdated. The school could only update its computer fleet through project grants, not when the need actually arose. In addition, there was a lack of unified systems, which caused confusion among school staff, for example, when printing materials.

The support from the school has been excellent, and the solutions offered by GreenDice have been well received. Tõrva Gymnasium also supports its teachers by providing every new pedagogue, upon request, with a GreenDice computer workstation service, including IT support.

As an innovative solution, a new support system was created for the school community through the Digital Ambassadors program. The goal of the program is to bring together tech-savvy young people and train them systematically so they are able to provide on-site IT support to the school staff. The first group of Digital Ambassadors started last November, with 6 young people participating. GreenDice provided the youth with basic knowledge and built a system for the school where teachers could report technical issues and the students could solve them. During the year, the Digital Ambassadors resolved over 66 service requests. The main issues the young people dealt with were adding printer drivers, reinstalling Windows, adding devices to the domain, and other minor day-to-day problems.

“I believe that the issues that the school’s Digital Ambassadors will face in the future will be significantly more substantial than those they handled in the first year. We also provide continuous support to teachers so they can solve simpler technical issues on their own,” said Argo Alaniit, GreenDice’s CEO and the program’s leader.

The feedback from teachers about the program has been very positive.

“Many teachers have expressed their surprise at how helpful the students have been in solving computer problems,” shared Maarja Kallis, the director of Tõrva Gymnasium. “As a school leader, it has been a joy to see how the confidence of the young people participating in the program has grown, as their new role allowed them to show a completely new side of themselves to the teachers,” she added.

During the GreenDice Digital Ambassadors program, the young people gained real work experience, which helped them better understand the connection between what they learn in school and what is needed in the workplace. For example, they had to respond to requests politely and correctly.

“Before joining the program, I found it difficult to speak in larger groups, and it caused me anxiety. But thanks to the tasks of a Digital Ambassador, I was forced to step out of my comfort zone, and I actually enjoyed the attention and being able to help teachers,” said Kristofer Juht, a program participant.

Listening and self-expression skills were also important, as it is difficult to understand people’s problems and even more challenging to articulate a solution in an understandable way.

The Digital Ambassadors program will continue in the upcoming school year, and new interested participants are welcome.

“I recommend participating in the program to anyone who is genuinely interested in IT and is ready to step out of their comfort zone. A joke or a blunder can always happen, but you have to be ready for that too,” Juht added.