Who Worries About Media Literacy Among the Over 50s?
view printable versionJust about everyone 'should' worry
Lack of access to modern and emerging media is fast becoming as crucially disenfranchising as lack of a bathroom would have been as late as the 1950s. And most (not all) of those so disadvantaged are over 50.
What impact does this have on them and and on you if you rely on older volunteers as trustees? How can your stakeholders engage?
Who worries currently? From the list of Silver Surfers' Day Event holders streaming in to www.silversurfersday.org as we write (April 07), those with a social/education remit are well represented. Less well represented, but galloping fast are commercial organisations who realize that absence of the 'grey pound' in their on line sales strategy is making a hole in their profit margins.
Sadly, training organisations are badly represented. We can only assume this is because their money is most easily accessed when it reflects the Government's over-riding desire to fund vocational training. The Government's definition of 'adult learning' means adults who can be economically active. They can't yet quantify the value of helping older adults become Internet-active. But this will come. Meantime, don't be among the laggards!
Please hold as many Silver Surfers' Day Events for older people as you can! If you work from your back bedroom, hold one in a Starbucks or a village hall or a pub! All the gen for planning and publicizing is currently on www.silversurfersday.org. Soon (if you sign up on the site) you'll get a really superb Silver Surfers' Day Classroom: more than a dozen 'classic' little handouts on how to 'start' a brief topic of interest to everyone, not just older people (eg, from Searching the Web, to Games to Government Services and Digital Photograph). They're short, sweet, neat and useful.
Here are some of our best 'worriers' who are leading the way:
- "Silver Surfers' Days are important because they encourage people; eventholders like me know we're not alone in this passion." Fiona Pearson, Reading Development Librarian, London Borough of Richmond.
- "Most of our residents don't see what IT could do for them, then they all had a go and got hooked. We had 3 PCs and a laptop with a volunteer to show them." Julia Glover, St Vincent's Housing, Rochdale.
- "Silver Surfers' Day has proved to be useful not just to the older generation but to the children as well." DU Trainer Ray Bunnage who ran an SSD in primary school near Cheltenham.
Why worry about media literacy among the over-50s?
They have much to gain
It is plainly obvious that older people, who may be more isolated than younger people for a number of reasons, have a huge amount to gain from being digitally literate:
"Use of mobile phones and the Internet can help older people to remain independent by making it easier for them to communicate with their family and friends or to access public and commercial services." www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/olderpeople/
By omission, they have much to lose
Yet, older people are amongst those least likely to be reaping the benefits of today's
digital world because they are anxious about doing so and/or they simply don't know enough about
how to:
"Internet use is more common among the young, and declines with age. In 2006, 84 per cent
of people aged 16 to 24 had used the Internet within the last
three months, compared with 52 per cent of people aged 55 to 64 and 15 per cent of those aged
65 and over."
www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/digitalage/
"8 out of 10 older people are missing out on access to a whole range of online services." (Help the Aged)
Fail, and we create economic inequality
This exclusion makes for basic economic inequality. Is it fair or practical that a grandmother is paying more than a son or daughter to:
- Warm her house
- Save her money
- Go on holiday
- Pay for insurance?
And we create profound inequalities at all levels
The Internet, and the act of learning to use it, also has huge potential to improve the emotional health and well being of older people.
"When you said in the introduction session that after 7 weeks I would be able to get on the Internet, send email and do all this on my own, communicate with other people on the DU site etc, I was very sceptical. But I have to tell you that you were right, and you have made such a difference to my life, I can hardly believe it. My wife died two years ago, and everything had become an effort; my body ached, I was just depressed and lonely some of the time. Thank you, you have put back into my life the enthusiasm and interest that I always used to have for living." Len 80, Genesis Sheltered Housing Scheme.
Conclusion
Imagine how society might improve as thousands more like Len are included in the information
revolution?
www.silversurfersday.org
Office of National Statistics, March 2007
"By no means everyone has joined the digital age… The biggest factor stopping the older
generation from using the Internet was a lack of interest or knowledge."
pinion:
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2035468,00.html
Source:
www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/digitalage/
Ofcom, 2006
The Ofcom Consumer Panel's survey, Consumers and the communications market: 2006, reveals
that age remains one of the most significant factors influencing whether or not people engage with
digital communications. It highlights the higher levels of older people who say they do not
want or have no need for many communications services. This is particularly noticeable in the
take-up of the Internet where 56% of people aged 65+ voluntarily excluded themselves compared to
the national average of 22%.
The research suggests that the group of people who are 'digitally disengaged', if given appropriate support and assistance, can use the opportunity to overcome their concerns and fears and benefit from computer / Internet usage. Examples of support that would seem particularly welcome for this group include courses designed for and run by older people and a mentoring scheme. DU proves daily that older people can succeed with IT.
Background to Silver Surfers' Day
Six years ago, DU (then known as Hairnet) ran the first ever Silver Surfers' Day (SSD). Since 2002, SSD has traditionally been the Friday of NIACE's May Adult Learners' Week. SSD is managed by Digital Unite in partnership with Ofcom. The SSD format has established a robust, high-impact annual campaign, generating a huge amount of public awareness around older people and digital engagement issues. Website at www.silversurfersday.org
SSD works by soliciting and empowering hundreds of agencies, public and private, to deliver 'Silver Surfer Events' through which they are able to engage with tens of thousands of individuals at a local level and on a national scale. SSD is the biggest established annual media literacy campaign focused entirely on those over 50.
About Digital Unite (DU)
DU began life as Hairnet in 1996. DU works exclusively to make IT accessible to older people, in the broadest sense. It is a national organisation with a growing network of specialist IT trainers who teach people to use technology in their own homes.
DU works with various agencies, campaigning and consulting, as well as delivering practical IT literacy programmes. In 2002, DU launched a bespoke community learning programme to bring IT literacy to older people in sheltered housing and continues to deliver these very successfully nationwide. Known as Digital Unite Community Programmes (DUCPs) these have had great impact on older people and the communities they live in.
DU is also involved in workforce development issues, especially where IT skills may be in deficit due to an older workforce. It delivers consultancy on a wide range of issues from skills for work to skills for age; to e-government and accessibility; to access-for-all and community development issues.
For more information, please contact:
Gill Adams
0870 241 5091
silver@digitalunite.net