Does Not Compute

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.’
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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.

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.
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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 »

Fiona Syrett

Are you shopping online for your Christmas presents this year? Millions of us are -  it’s convenient, there’s more choice and you can often save money.    It’s also safe and secure so long as you take a few simple steps first.

Ofcom has today published a video setting out the steps we can take and things we should look out for when shopping online this Christmas.  The video can be found here.

The video forms part of Ofcom’s support for Get Safe Online week (16-20 November), an annual event to raise awareness of internet safety issues. You can read more about that here