As part of the European project Erasmus+ Re-Al, an initiative dedicated to making theArtificial Intelligence and more accessible digital skills, especially for adults with fewer educational opportunities. The project, coordinated at European level, aims to promote inclusion and employability in the context of remote and hybrid working, increasingly central in the current market.
At the center of the initiative is a Focus Group, a space for discussion and listening designed to gather real experiences, concrete needs and different points of view. The objective is to understand the main challenges that adults and trainers encounter in the use of digital technologies and AI, so as to design one simple learning platform, useful and truly inclusive.
The Focus Group involves adults interested in improving their digital skills and opening up to new professional opportunities, both training professionals who work daily with adult students and wish to innovate their teaching approaches. Through open discussion, experiences are explored, difficulties and expectations related to online learning and digital tools.
Participating means contributing directly to the development of European training materials, enter into dialogue with people who share similar interests and objectives and stay updated on future free training opportunities offered by the Re-Al project.
The activities also saw the participation of Social Cooperative Demagò, with the involvement of volunteers who took part in local initiatives.
Il 16 January 2026, at the seated AdIM of Holy’Arsenio, a dedicated focus group was held to adults with low digital skills, with the aim of better understanding the concrete difficulties that many people encounter today in the increasingly digitalized world of work influenced by artificial intelligence.
A clear picture emerged from the comparison: many activities related to looking for work and carrying out daily tasks now pass through online platforms, automated systems, remote communication tools and often complex digital procedures. For those with a practical work background and little familiarity with digital, these steps represent a real barrier, which can generate frustration, insecurity and sense of exclusion.
Artificial intelligence is already present in the daily life of the participants, especially through chatbots, automatic replies or text suggestions, but it is used sporadically and with little awareness. More than an opportunity, AI is often perceived as something distant, difficult to understand or even an obstacle in the selection and application processes, where automated systems are experienced as impersonal and penalizing.
Strong concerns related to the work remotely and to online training: the lack of basic digital skills, of suitable devices, of stable connections and immediate human support makes it difficult both to work remotely and to complete digital learning paths. Explanations too long, Technical language and unclear procedures often lead to abandonment.
However, the focus group also highlighted a strong need for change: participants expressed a desire to learn simple digital and AI skills, practical and immediately usable in daily work. Tools that help you communicate better, to orient themselves in their job search and feel more confident in using technologies could make a concrete difference in their employment opportunities.
These results reinforce the importance of designing inclusive training courses, accessible and people-centred, capable of reducing the digital divide and restoring trust, autonomy and dignity in the relationship with work and new technologies.
In data 21 January 2026 at the “Enrico Medi” State Industrial Technical Institute, a focus group dedicated to VET trainers and adult educators in which a profound reflection emerged on the structural difficulties that currently hinder the acquisition of digital skills and artificial intelligence by less qualified adults.
The trainers highlighted how the students' main failures are not linked to individual tools, but to lack of a foundation of digital literacy: online document management, understanding interfaces, reading of error messages and autonomy in digital processes. This makes introducing more advanced skills complex, such as those related to AI, without preliminary foundation work.
Furthermore, a strong misalignment emerged between the skills required by the job market and those actually possessed by students. Artificial intelligence and remote working are no longer marginal elements, ma increasingly central factors in selection processes. However, without adequate accompaniment, these tools risk turning into further barriers rather than opportunities.
From an educational point of view, the trainers underlined the failure of overly theoretical or abstract methodologies. Adults only learn when they recognize a direct link between what they study and real work. Complex routes, technical language and lack of human support quickly lead to demotivation and abandonment.
System critical issues also emerged: infrastructural limits, rigidity of training models, bureaucratic burden and need for continuous updating by the trainers themselves. In this scenario, the effectiveness of training on artificial intelligence depends not only on the contents, but by the ability to build simple learning environments, inclusive and practice-oriented.
The focus group confirmed the need for a methodological and organizational change, capable of transforming artificial intelligence from an abstract concept to a concrete tool of inclusion, employability and professional growth for all.
On the sidelines of the activities, a was also held short meeting with the students of the “Enrico Medi” State Industrial Technical Institute, during which the main themes emerging from the focus groups were shared. The meeting represented a moment of intergenerational discussion, allowing children to reflect on the challenges related to digital skills, to artificial intelligence and the future of work, bringing different perspectives and experiences into dialogue.
