Google is closer than you think

Digital skills and staying on top of digital changes are important in life. It's not only beneficial in finding a job but also in the daily aspects of life. Did you know that programming education for children in Finland is already available in some primary schools?

Whether you are an adult or a child, digital literacy and updating it is within reach and in fact, closer than you think. I got lost one time while looking for something fun and useful to do with my eldest son during the autumn holidays and found this interesting place.

The Google Digital Garage is very new, just opened on September 4. This learning space is located at Kluuvikatu 5 and courses held there are designed for students, job seekers, entrepreneurs, kids, and families.

It's a joint project between the City of Helsinki and Google. It's part of the Grow with Google program, which has already helped over 10 million people in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to develop their digital skills.

Courses here are free of charge and usually last for about 1-2 hours. Kids courses are offered in Finnish, and some examples are Coding Basics 1, Coding Basics 2, Artificial Intelligence Workshop, and Digital Storytelling and Programming.

For adults, the courses are “Keep your family safe online”, “Digital Wellbeing”, “An introduction to machine learning”, “Take care of your reputation online”, and more. Some adult courses are offered in Finnish, some are in English. They also offer other courses such as “SEO Basics”, “Digital Coordinator Training”, “Google Analytics”, “Basics of Digital Marketing”, and so much more. You can find more information here.

Our wonderful and personal experience began as we enter. We were welcomed by smiling employees of the City of Helsinki, Kirsi, and Arttu. They guided us further into the class and showed us where we can leave our outerwear. We admired the stylish decor of the place and enjoyed juice and coffee while waiting for the course to begin. Anyone can come to this place to work, study or take courses. Opening hours are usually from 10 to 18 on weekdays and for about an hour or two on Saturdays for kids' courses.

Enthusiastic Finnish Code School teachers Laura and Tarmo led the children's courses. We really enjoyed all the courses we attended. We are very grateful for the passion and commitment the personnel showed and won't hesitate to come back. Check this out for more information about Finnish code school.

Other partners who are involved in this are Lenovo, Yrittäjät, and Tieturi. The Google learning space will be opened until April 2020. Attend Google courses and enjoy developing your digital skills in this great and inspirational space :)

Elena Popova