The Digital Unite Blog

One of the best things about our Spring Online with Silver Surfers’ Day campaign is the way that it brings to the forefront amazing people who dedicate their time and sheer hard work to help others get online.

Take Colin Crook for example, who works for IBM in Greenock. IBM is marking its centenary year with a global staff volunteering effort, and, as part of Spring Online 2011, Colin decided to take up the challenge and encourage his IBM colleagues to help people in sheltered housing get online and stay online.

The benefits of getting online to residents are immense in terms of connectedness and inclusion, both within the schemes they are living in and with their friends and family further afield. The savings in time and money that accrue from their being online is another significant benefit.

Within the space of a few short weeks Colin created an astounding groundswell of activity, both amongst ‘IBMers’ and with multiple housing schemes, recruiting over 100 co-workers to take part in digital taster session events being held in 20+ locations around the country. This tremendous effort, both from Colin and from the schemes themselves, meant that hundreds of residents in housing schemes got the opportunity to try out digital technologies with the added opportunity of broadening these skills further.

Colin’s ability to coax, cajole and inspire both the volunteers and the schemes, coupled with his troubleshooting skills to resolve technical implications and his cool, calm manner helped make this partnership activity the success that it proved to be.

With that in mind we were only too pleased to nominate Colin for IT Volunteer of the Year as part of the UK Technology4Good Award, and absolutely thrilled when the judges agreed with us and presented him with the award earlier on this month. A true Spring Online champion, we’re sure you’ll agree.

Another year, another national ‘silver surfers’ campaign for Digital Unite and for 2011, our tenth anniversary, we turned the day into a week under the banner of Spring Online. The aim of this was to give people more opportunity to run events over a number of days and to extend the campaign’s reach to those who are most definitely potential ‘surfers’ but not necessarily ‘silver’.

The move appears to have paid off with the final event tally coming in at around 2,500 events around the UK, far exceeding 2010’s event figure of 1,600.

Needless to say we are over the moon. The participation by event holders, large and small, has been truly inspiring and no venue has proved to be out of bounds for hosting a digital taster session. From housing associations to hospitals, paper mills to pubs, village halls to libraries, museums to offices, the variety of locations never ceases to amaze us.

Of course the proof of success is not just in the number of events held but also in the number of people who took part and learnt about computers and the internet. Whilst feedback from the event holders is still rolling in we do know that an average of 20 people attend each event, and as such we can confidently estimate around 50,000 older people, at least, would have been personally helped to use computers and the internet in the last week or so.

Stories we’ve received so far include a lady who learnt how to email her soldier grandson in Afghanistan and was amazed to get an instant reply, and a lady aged 73 years who was moved to tears when she saw photographs online of where she used to live; ‘I never knew you could see things like this on the internet, this is wonderful, coming here today was the best thing I could have done’.

And that folks is what it’s all about. As we have done over the last fifteen years DU will continue to champion older people’s access to and use of digital technology. Check out our newly revamped Learning Zone for starters!

If ever there was a reason to help older people get online then surely the forthcoming nuptials of Wills and Kate is it. Dubbed as the most accessible Royal Wedding ever, this event is fully embracing the opportunities that digital technology offers.

Broadcast footage of the wedding will be streamed real time on The Royal Channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube/theroyalchannel) accompanied by a live multi-media blog put together by St James’s Palace. Members of the public will be able to upload their videoed messages of congratulations on an official ‘wedding book’, also on YouTube, which will be shown to the couple.

Viewers will also be able to click to get more information such as points of interest along the processional route or see additional photographs of the happy couple. Live updates and material will be released on the official royal wedding website, the British Monarchy’s picture-sharing Flickr account, Twitter and Facebook. Fans will be able to send their well wishes on Twitter using the hashtag #rw2011 while on Facebook users can click the ‘I’m attending’ button to show their interest and receive updates.

Digital Unite’s experience shows that history and ancestry are two of the most popular subjects older people like to search for online. A patriotic bunch, they can well remember the days of royal weddings gone by, the street parties, the bunting and the horse and guard. Next Friday that experience will be taken to a whole new level thanks to the wonders of technology. It will give people a way to join in with the celebration in a way never imagined when Charles and Di got hitched. So next week, why not put your cucumber sandwich to one side and help someone you know who’s not online experience this historic event in all its digital glory.

We visited Age Concern Tameside recently – regular readers might recall that they were the joint runners up in the 2010 Best Silver Surfers’ Day Event awards, which in 2011 will reward the Best Event with a cash prize of £1000. Their aspiration since last year’s Silver Surfers’ Day was to set up an internet café in their centre in Ashton under Lyne, and what better occasion to inaugurate it than Age UK’s my friends online week (21-27 March)

A friendly buzz in the entranceway is explained by people clustering around the computers, which are strategically placed next to the tea bar and manned by volunteers. As Lindsey Mallory explains: ‘There’s been a constant trickle of people throughout the course of the event, who’ve heard about it through the local press or because they’re regular visitors to the centre’. Learning about privacy settings on Facebook means that one grateful local man is going to be spared some blushes; others are interested in emailing, and even how to submit poems online.

IT is only one aspect of Age UK Tameside’s extensive services for local older people:  also on offer  is daycare, the First Call Handyman service, a Befriending and Buddying Service, Falls Prevention and much more. What’s important though, as Bernadette Ashcroft the MD says: ‘These services need to evolve, both in the context of a changed funding environment and also because there is a new generation of people who are reaching their sixties and seventies, with different expectations about how they’ll spend time post-retirement’.

As Doreen, who’s been laughing the whole time a volunteer has been showing her website pictures of Benidorm for a forthcoming trip says: ‘You’ve got to get up to date, haven’t you’.

Now there’s a thought that applies to all of us.

Age UK Tameside is putting on an event for Spring Online and Silver Surfers’ Day again this year. We hope that Doreen and many thousands like her will come along to one of the hundreds of local digital taster sessions taking place during 16-20 May. If you’re thinking about holding a taster session yourself or just want to find out more, visit http://www.springonline.org.

Last week (8 March 2011) Age UK held its much-followed annual conference, entitled Agenda for Later Life. The themes centred on the older generation being an untapped market with significant buying power (last year the over 60s economic contribution was £40 billion), but that many companies are failing to capitalise on that. In fact ‘age-blind’ was the phrase banded around. In the words of the Commercial Director from E-ON, one of the conference speakers, ‘older consumers are simply younger consumers with more experience’.

Conversely older people did not exploit their consumer power, switching less and being reluctant to demand better service and better tailored products.  Interestingly the subject of digital literacy and inclusion was mention only in passing at the conference but with many companies naturally defaulting to the internet it was recognised that equipping older people with digital skills will help them better exploit their consumer power. Research has already shown that buying products and services online can save the average household around £560 each year. (PricewaterhouseCoopers/Race Online 2012).

So as the digital revolution exists so too does the revolution among our ageing population. The older generation is getting younger and increasingly becoming a majority, rather than the minority. As such, organisations need to be far more inclusive in their targeting, be less patronising with their messages and be more far-reaching when trying to talk to the older customer, stepping into local communities and networks.

As for Digital Unite, we’ll continue to champion the need for better digital awareness and inclusion among the older computer user. After all, knowledge is power.  

Age UK’s Agenda for Later Life report is available on their website.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it triggers many people, particularly those on their own, to think about love and friendship. Reconnecting with old pals or finding new friendships is where being online can really help.

There is a plethora of ways to get connected with others via the internet and these days social networking websites are aplenty. Although you may think they are aimed at the young people, increasingly they are being used by the older audience.

Facebook is the one most people have heard of. With over 500 million members it is a great way of getting back in touch with people and it is easy to send a friendly, non-intrusive friend request to get the ball rolling. 

Twitter, MySpace and Bebo, which incidentally stands for Blog Early, Blog Often, are some of the other popular networking sites.

In 2007, Saga, a company that specialises in products and publications for the over 50s joined the social networking trend by creating SagaZone. It works in a similar way to all the others but with one very important difference, it only accepts the over 50s!

If you want to know how to find your way around some of these networking sites then check out our guides on the Learning Zone. Or why not book a session with one of our quality assured Tutors who can take you through the process step by step? We can’t guarantee you’ll find long lasting love or friendship this Valentine’s but we’re sure you’ll have a fun time trying.

This week some of the Digital Unite team were given a guided tour of the supported housing schemes in Southampton to see how digital learning, and the Get Digital programme, is making a difference to their residents. And, wow, what a difference indeed.  

The stories from the team about how their residents were embracing computers and the internet and all the opportunities they bring just kept on coming.  

There was a terminally ill lady in her 70s who had sisters in Canada but was too ill to travel so using one of the computer on-site she was hooked up to Skype and now talks to her sisters and their families once a week.    

Another lady wanted to get in touch with her son in Australia but didn’t know his email address. His postal address however was firmly ingrained on her mind and with a little help she was able to see his house via Google Earth, the street in which he lived and the beach just down the road that he had so often spoken to her about.  

Here's one I made earlier - Mick at Pleasant View with one of his homemade DVDs

Then there was Mick, pictured, a chap who devoted much of his time to organising events and activities for residents at one scheme. He scours the internet looking for the best deals and makes all the arrangements. He even films all the special events that take place in the communal lounge, creating DVDs with bespoke covers, and showing them on the big screen for all the residents to watch.

The commitment, support and enthusiasm demonstrated by the supported housing team is awe-inspiring.  They have linked up with local businesses, youth groups, schools and Southampton University to extend the life of the digital learning activities and make it a community wide project. Future ideas include open days to encourage both residents and local neighbours to get online and to run an outreach project, taking a laptop and netbook with broadband access into residents’ homes to break down even more barriers. As a winner of last year’s Silver Surfers Day plans are already afoot to do something bigger and better this year.  

It is hard to refrain from including a stream of glowing affirmations in this blog entry, suffice to say  the DU team came away uplifted by the significant changes that we saw to an organisation’s culture and to people’s daily lives. If this is the future of digital learning in supported and sheltered housing then we’re in safe hands.

In its first three months of launch, Apple sold more iPads than the worldwide sales of tablet computers in the previous two years. According to Nielsen 1 in 5 of these purchases are made by the over 45s.  This is just one example of how apps and their associated smart devices have increased in popularity among the older population. Why?

Well, in an article for this month’s Marketing Society’s Market Leader, Dick Stroud, Managing Director of 20plus30 identifies four main reasons:

• Sensory. Larger screens, the ability to touch rather than use keyboards and voice input make it much easier to use for people  with dexterity and vision problems.
• Cognitive. A simple interface makes the whole technological experience more straightforward.
• Functional. Apps provide a less layered approach so users reach their chosen destination much faster.
• Philosophical. Despite the initial criticism 2010 sales for the Apple iPad are expected to reach 10 million.

So it seems the older generation are embracing the technological future more than many people realise. Certainly the grandparents’ website BeGrand.net saw its greatest ever competition response rate at the end of last year when it offered a Kindle as a prize.

At DU we always knew the digital potential of older people was not to be underestimated, many just need a bit of support, advice and know-how to get them started on their journey of discovery.

To read Dick’s article in full visit his website http://www.20plus30.com

2010 proved to be quite a year in the world of digital technology and for Digital Unite itself.

The Queen launched her Facebook page, Peggy Archer learnt to surf the web and, at 103 years of age, Lillian Lowe became the world’s oldest Facebook user which helps her keep tabs on her seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

National research showed that using a computer can make the older generation feel significantly younger (Tutors 4 Computers), you have a higher life satisfaction if you’re using IT than if you don’t (BCS) and the ‘Silver Surfers’ are driving a rise in broadband take up (Ofcom).

From a Digital Unite perspective 2010 proved equally momentous.  We ran the most prolific and well attended Silver Surfers’ Day since its inception in 2002. With a little help from our ambassadors, Sir Terry Wogan and Dame Vera Lynn, the campaign saw 1600 events held and an estimated 32,000 people getting to know what the digital world has to offer on or around the 21 May.

We’ve now got a fantastic 196 sheltered housing schemes participating in our in-depth community learning programmes with Get Digital, saw our quality assured tutor network grow significantly and played a key role in the development and delivery of the grandparents’ website Be Grand.

2011 looks to be even bigger and better as we strive to broaden the scope and reach of our work so that we can help more people with developing their IT confidence and skills.  ’Computing is not about computers anymore. It is about living’ (Nicholas P Negroponte).

We look forward to sharing this exciting year ahead with you all.

New research launched yesterday by Ofcom now has five years of comparisons for how UK consumers experience digital communications.  In short: it’s on the up, but still a way to go for many.

Households are more likely now to have a mobile phone than a landline: 16% of households don’t even have a landline any more. This rise in use of mobile technologies is a trend that we’d expect to continue over the next years. Heartening to see that the average cost of mobile is also steadily sinking, with the average minute on a mobile now (8.8p) costing just over half as much as it was in 2004 (15.1p).

Another trend we’d like to see continuing is the number of older people who are getting the benefits of digital technologies and in particular the internet. The Ofcom Customer Experience report doesn’t track this directly; it looks at broadband take-up instead. Whilst this is a slightly different kettle of fish, the trend is clear: in 2005, only one in ten over 65s had broadband connections. In 2010, this is now about half. But that’s still a big number of people who are missing out, and amongst the over 75s it’s still only about a quarter. So there’s plenty still to do.

Like every government-funded organisation, Ofcom is required to make serious savings under the current austerity measures. The decision has been made to reduce some of the governance structures, and in particular, the Communications Consumer Panel and the Advisory Committee for Older and Disabled People (ACOD) are being discontinued… It’s our hope that both their good work and the learning that’s come out of it, will continue in another form. It’s just too important not to.