Volunteers from Hangzhou Normal University teach seniors to use smartphones at a community in Yuhang district, Hangzhou, capital of East China’s Zhejiang province. [Photo/Hangzhou Daily]

A group of students from the School of Information Sciences and Technology at Hangzhou Normal University recently held an activity to teach seniors how to use smartphones as part of their summer holiday volunteer program.

Members of the group came up with the idea for the activity after they found that many seniors are unsure how to operate smartphones.

The volunteers then designed a curriculum following a survey of what senior citizens are most likely to use smartphones for – paying for purchases, retrieving health codes, as well as seeking medical advice.

The volunteer program, which lasted for nearly two months, benefited more than 8,000 seniors from 57 neighborhoods.