Tessie Moreno aka Lola Techie poses with Bayan executives.

While today’s youth are increasingly becoming connected via electronic means, it is ironic that the persons who probably love them most and who are most interested in their status updates -- their grandparents -- are also gradually being isolated because of their lack of tech skills.

With this in mind, a new initiative has been launched by broadband provider Bayan Telecommunications in an attempt to bridge the great schism that separates the tech-savvy youth from their elders, particularly their grandparents.

At the formal unveiling of a program called “Teach Lola” in Makati City on Tuesday, Bayan vice president for corporate brand and communications John Rojo cited a survey in which only 11 percent of the 20 million Filipino Internet users are aged 50 and above.

The study, Rojo said, clearly showed that the senior members of the society are being left farther behind by their younger peers who breathe and live technology.

Bayan CEO Tunde Fafunwa, in a short speech, said the tech skills program is intended to take “lolos and lolas” out of the dark unknown so they can connect with their grandchildren.

Bayan said an informal poll it conducted with grandchildren via Plurk and Facebook social networking
sites revealed that given the chance, 87 percent would want to continue communicating with their grandparents.

The same informal poll, the Lopez-owned firm said, showed that 81 percent of Filipinos are close to their grandparents, and that 57 percent still visit from time to time.

The Teach Lola campaign is a take-off from the successful Lola Techie advertising and digital marketing campaign for Bayan’s DSL service.

The ad has attracted more than 90, 000 fans in Facebook, more than 4, 000 community members in Multiply, and almost 2,000 followers in both Twitter and Plurk, not to mention the thousands of views on YouTube on her videos.

The cool grandma in the ad is Tessie Moreno, a 67-year-old outspoken lola who narrated her experience exploring the world of technology during the program’s press launch.

“My children do not live with me anymore so knowing how to chat with them or even just share pictures though Facebook and e-mails has indeed helped me keep up to date with my family even if they’re far away,” she stated.

The Teach Lola program has two components: Teach Lola trainers and a website (www.teachlola.com) where anyone can download manuals for free. The manual can also be user-generated as people can edit or add content to it just like in Wikipedia. This means that more and more people nationwide and around the globe can get involved with the initiative.

Teach Lola now has more than 20 trainers coming from all departments in Bayan. The CyberPress, the national organization of IT journalists, has also signed up to serve as tutor volunteers.