Does Not Compute

Fiona

This story in the Independent online caught my eye this morning. Ivy Bean, who at 104 is Bradford’s oldest resident, is also our oldest Tweeter! (That’s people who use Twitter for the uninitiated). In fact, she’s quite an old hand at social networking, having used Facebook until she reached the maximum of 5000 friends. She then moved on to Twitter where she now has 55,000 followers, including several celebrities!

Ivy lives in a residential home where she doesn’t get many visitors and before she had access to the internet she says all she did was sit and fall asleep. Now, through the wonders of technology, she spends her time chatting to her thousands of new friends from all over the world.

You can read more about Ivy here.

Fiona

The Media Trust Community Voices programme is looking for 26 community projects  to receive funding of either £1,500, £7,000 or £14,000, as well as support from digital mentors to help make a difference in our communities.

They want to fund 26 community-driven projects that help to address issues of isolation and disadvantage with the help of digital media. Communities will be selected based on the strength of their overall proposal, and they’re keen to represent a diverse range of communities, projects, and digital media across England.

Anyone can apply as long as you can show how harnessing digital media can make a positive difference in your community through your activities. You have until 28th February to submit your application. You can read a Help Guide and apply online here.

Hello, Sophie here. As readers of the blog will know, DU has been involved in a new joint venture, BeGrand.net, a website designed for Grandparents.

Well, it’s been a long time coming (and almost everyone knows about it already!) but today is our official launch day!  BeGrand.net is now open for business.

The site provides information specifically for grandparents (much of it from Gill and Fiona). There’s information on everything from the serious legal and social issues that grandparents face, to fun things to do.  There’s also - trust us for this - a section on technology, with articles on useful things like using webcams to keep in touch with your grandchildren.

Please go and have a look. We hope you like it and find it useful.   And as ever, we love feedback so let us know what you think….

Most importantly, we don’t want the site to just give out  information,  we want to start an online community where grandparents can talk to each other. The users should lead the site - not us - and  it should reflect their interests and thoughts.   So if there’s something you’d like to see there - let us know and we’ll see what we can do!

To go to BeGrand.net click here

Hello - it’s Sophie from BeGrand.net/ DU again. This time on the look out for a grandparent in the London-ish area doing the school run or looking after their grandchild/ children. We’re doing a news piece - (I’ll explain why later this weekend…..) about the important role grandparents play in children’s lives. But we need to find a grandparent willing to be filmed this Monday morning, the 25th Jan. If you’d like to find out more - no obligation to take part - contact me on sophie.theunissen@begrand.net and I’ll tell you a bit more.

(Oh yes, I will be checking my email all weekend!)

Thanks v much

Some good news for those living in, working with and supporting older people in sheltered housing. Following the government’s commitment in Building a Society for All Ages (Dept Work and Pensions, 2009) to promote and support digital inclusion for older residents in sheltered housing, Digital Unite and NIACE are delighted to announce a new, far reaching digital inclusion programme, ‘Get Digital’.

Get Digital will work with residents, scheme staff, RSLs and the wider community to promote, deliver and sustain digital literacy skills for older residents in sheltered housing.

Get Digital will also engage with a range of stakeholders from the wider housing, digital inclusion and older people’s fields to raise awareness of the opportunities to promote and support older people’s digital literacy in housing and other social and community environments.

You can read more about this exciting new project here

Hello - Sophie here from BeGrand.net.  We’ve got another request for internet-active-grandparents…

The Department of Children, Schools & Families are looking for grandparents who use the internet to resolve problems & issues to tell their stories for a short film. Read the rest of this entry »

In November, 12 residents from “Johnnie” Johnson retirement scheme Woolsington Court in Bedlington, Northumberland, learnt about computers and the internet onboard Northumberland College’s IT bus, which parked up next to their scheme.

There was a sense of anticipation as residents entered the IT bus and sat down to begin their class. For most this was the first time they had been on a computer. Within half an hour they were surfing the net!

Afterwards, residents were proud of their new found skills. One said ‘This is fantastic! It’s the first time I’ve been on the internet. I finally know what it’s all about.’
Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an exciting opportunity to join the DU Team in January working on our annual Silver Surfers’ Day Campaign. We’re looking for someone to join as Events Manager. This will be a part time post on an initial 6 month contract, and is an excellent opportunity for a creative individual with experience of partnership and/or community building work. You’ll be inspiring, cajoling and supporting the many diverse organisations who take part in SSD every year and you will use your flair to identify new ones. Click here for more information.

Fiona

How’s the Christmas shopping going? Have you finished or are you, like me, stuck on one or two friends or relatives who seem to have everything already? If so, have you thought about a DU gift voucher? Many of our tutors offer these, especially at this time of year. The lucky recipient can choose what they learn, whether it’s the basics of how to use a computer or something more advanced like dealing with email attachments or photos from a digital camera. And of course, the learning will always be at their own pace.

For many people, learning to use a computer opens up a whole new world – what a great Christmas present that would make!

To contact the DU Tutor for your area, call us on 0800 822 3951 or click here to send us a message.

alex is a new simple-to-use personal computer that’s aimed at the “digitally-excluded”. Broadband Computer Co, the inventors of alex, are based in Newcastle.

As the Digital Unite tutor in the region Anne Donnelly was invited along to see a demo of the system and borrow a copy to trial for a week or so.
Read the rest of this entry »

Arthur England here, Hants Communications and e-Learning Manager

On Thursday evening (26/11) we scooped the award for ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ at the Real IT Awards ceremony in London.

This was a great evening for the IT team at Hampshire County Council, recognising our commitment to a wide range of initiatives to help people learn how to use IT at work and in the community, in particular our work with silver surfers. Read the rest of this entry »

With fortuitous timing, just as we announce that for SSD2010, our special focus will be on intergenerational partnerships, including our Schools for Silver Surfers initiative, BT have introduced their BT Internet Ranger Schools Award.

The aim of this award is to encourage schools, or a group of schools, to organise events where young people, up to the age of 16, use their ICT skills to help other people learn about computers and how to surf the internet.

This type of event is very rewarding for everyone involved. As well as the many benefits for the learners, students gain new insights and confidence from the experience of teaching. For schools, it is a great opportunity to build community cohesion and they could win £5,000!

But, they need to act quickly because the closing date is Friday 29^th January and all events must take place before the end of the 2009/10 school year.

You will find more information and an application form here.

A new wave of silver surfers in Bootle are joining the digital revolution with computer courses which are sending them into cyberspace.

Social landlord Riverside organised the training courses in a bid to engage the older generation with new technology as part of its strategy to tackle digital exclusion in the Housing Market Renewal area.

The courses, which are being held at St Leonard’s Community Hall, are run by 3TC, a charity which aims to make IT accessible to communities, with support from the local Residents and Tenants Group. Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Holmes

Reports today (see ITPro) suggest that Martha Lane Fox believes that a good dose of the latter is needed.

She is quoted as saying that the government should make its services, such as Council Tax payments, TV licensing and so on, only available online to force people to use the internet.

She uses the example of the digital switchover for television to argue that “shutting down services would be the best way of carrying through the most amount of people, as long as it is carried through with training.”

So is the Government’s Champion for Digital Inclusion right? Read the rest of this entry »

Fiona Syrett

Do you know any extraordinary and inspiring adult learners? If so you could give them the recognition they deserve by nominating them for an Adult Learners’ Week Award, and they could win a learning voucher valued between £200 and £1,500! The awards recognise outstanding adults who have transformed their lives through learning.

The closing date is 29th January. You can nominate online and also read the stories of previous winners here.