Older People and Technological inclusion: multidisciplinary perspectives on contemporary realities and aspirations (2011-2013)
Website: Seminar Series
This was a series of ESRC-funded seminars:
Website: Seminar Series
This was a series of ESRC-funded seminars:
- Seminar 1: Critical perspectives on technological inclusion - A critical review of ‘technological optimism’ in the context of the e-inclusion debate. This brought together viewpoints of users, service providers, researchers and theoreticians in considering underlying assumptions about how older people relate to technological innovation.
- Seminar 2: Understanding usability – ‘across the life course’ and ‘in the wild’ - A review of concepts of what usability is, and different perspectives on whether/when/how/why people engage with various technologies at different times in their lives. What happens in the real world? How do older people appropriate (parts of) technologies to suit their own priorities?
- Seminar 3: Inclusion, usability, and difference - Understanding technological inclusion in the context of diverse lives: a discourse between different ‘classes’ of the excluded. What is distinctive about technological exclusion on grounds of age, disability, poverty, or lack of education – and what comparable? What lessons can be learned from experience? What fails? What works?
- Seminar 4: How do we turn aspirations into realities? - Drawing together thoughts and commentary from the previous seminars, with contributions from older people, researchers, and other participants involved in supporting older people to take ownership of technologies relating to health, education and social life. Key issues for policy makers were debated.
OPT-In: Older People And Technological Innovations (2009- 2011)
Website: Opt-In
This two-year Project was supported by funding from Grundtvig and lead by Dr Josie Tetley of The Open University. It explored different ways of learning about new and emerging technologies. Instead of formal ‘class-room-style’ instruction, the older people who took part in the project tried out new devices for themselves in the company of other older people from around Europe, and talked directly to Computer Scientists and Social Scientists about the devices. Exchange visits between partner countries enabled older people and project workers to share their experiences and examples of good practice. Our partners were based in Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany and Slovenia.
Website: Opt-In
This two-year Project was supported by funding from Grundtvig and lead by Dr Josie Tetley of The Open University. It explored different ways of learning about new and emerging technologies. Instead of formal ‘class-room-style’ instruction, the older people who took part in the project tried out new devices for themselves in the company of other older people from around Europe, and talked directly to Computer Scientists and Social Scientists about the devices. Exchange visits between partner countries enabled older people and project workers to share their experiences and examples of good practice. Our partners were based in Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany and Slovenia.