Older Person Projects

Updated 21/02/01

 The GreyNet Project

 

The GreyNet project aims to provide the 50 years and over residents of the City of Port Phillip, and wider area, with the opportunity to gain skills and confidence to access and surf the World Wide Web, in order to access and participate in the global network of information, including Victoria’s proposed ‘Electronic Service Delivery’ (a plan to make many government services  accessible on-line).

The ultimate end goal is to progress people towards being able to take charge of the project, design and manage their own on-line destiny and to be actively participating in their own On-line Community: "GreyNet On-line". 

Trevor Kealy
GreyNet Project Leader
August 1999

The GreyNet project was a member partner of the International Year of Older Persons and run by the
Elwood/St Kilda Neighbourhood Learning Centre. 

 

It is that it is perceived that there:

• is not enough awareness of what the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) is and can offer to older people
• are inappropriate resources (books, documents, training etc.) available to support the older generation in adopting the Internet
• are little or no skills in the tools, processes and procedures for accessing, using and building  the WWW and Internet
• are hurdles to overcome in developing and growing community awareness and involvement in the Internet

 

It is felt that the learners (50 plus) should:

• be made aware of what is on the Internet, its relevance to them and its useability so that they can make an informed choice on how to apply themselves to this emerging technology
• have the opportunity to access the Internet
• have ways of gaining the knowledge and skills to be able to ‘surf the net’ and make best use of it
• have access to a variety of training, that is relatively inexpensive, that supports their lifelong learning
• be able to develop a virtual community, making the best use of the Internet as a tool for themselves
• be enabled and facilitated to grow, to a level where the group can develop and manage their own virtual

 

 

The project, in early 1997, initially focussed on bringing the WWW to people via a laptop PC and offering basic internet training. The focus changed due to new government directions and the advent of its implementation of "community access sites" across the state (Skills.Net). A self-paced approach was now proposed. 

In designing Stage 1 of GreyNet a thorough "Needs Assessment and Analysis". was carried out to determine who the target audience were and just what was needed to meet the challenge. A range of issues regarding Web based training (PDF) were addressed. The document is available in Acrobat format:(GreyNet Stage 1.PDF) Following this the instructional design "project began to design, develop and implement the initial GreyNet Self-paced Training Approach, a "self-paced" program requiring people to access the WWW at their community access sites. 

This self-paced program was rolled out late 97 locally in Elwood and in a rural setting - Wangaratta, Victoria. This stage succeeded in its objectives and enabled an ever growing number of people to begin experiencing the WWW.

However, people had real troubles going it alone: arming people with a manual and sending them off to the local access point (i.e library) - this was a real leap of faith.

Fortunately in mid 1998 the Elwood Centre equipped itself with a bank of computers networked to the WWW. As a result of this stage 1 GreyNet self-paced training was redesigned to cater for on-site computers. It is called GreyNet Classroom Training Approach. This face-to-face hands-on approach has really improved the quality of delivery and ability for people to participate and learn. 

 

 

Fortunately the project received further funding (Telematics Trust ) in 1998 towards for the development of further training and a web site. Stage 2 of GreyNet is all about communications today and the various forms of it. It will introduce and demystify what's on the WWW and provide support and training in Email, Chat, Conference/Discussion Forums.

The focus of the training is still around community access points where you do not have to download and setup stuff - you just go there and participate: examples are Hotmail, Message Boards and Javachat. 

A key strategy of Stage 2 is geared towards enabling people to participate in interactive communities on the WWW (such ThirdAge, Seniornet etc) where other like minded people are already participating and who can support their journey into the wilds of the web. 

As part of developing an interactive community of older persons the GreyNet project seeks partnerships with other Community Adult Education providers. The basic idea is to introduce the Elwood/St Kilda and Geelong people via the internet (virtual) and to follow this up by having a face to face visit (reality) at some later date.

As part of the Instructional Design project a Needs Assessment and Analysis for Stage 2 was completed in May 99. The document is available in Acrobat format: (GreyNet Stage 2.PDF).

Further research is now occurring with piloting of the Forum classroom course and on-line learning materials. This will be followed by the Chat course and all other GreyNet training materials. It is expected that this will be completed in 1999.

 

Being defined!

 

A 50+ computer club / support group is also run now (as of June 99). The club is the result of feedback from the experiences of people participating in Greynet and dabbling in the realms of technology. People needed an ongoing mechanism to support their journey into technology: a face to face forum in which they could pose questions, practice skills and talk to others seemed to be the logical solution.

Developing this idea further is the plan to introduce people to the GreyNet site where there's a Support Forum (message board) available. People can interact on-line to help each other. This will be developed even further when people start using the web's Chat facility.

The focus of the eat listserver is on older people and technology - specifically initiatives which provide the opportunity for older people  to learn about technology, and / or which use technology to provide  learning opportunities for older people. Technology is broadly defined giving  the flexibility to explore issues beyond computers and online technology. The goal is to share information, ideas, work together co-operatively  and collaborate on new initiatives with a national and international application.

If people are interested please go to the EAT site or email

rfoskey@metz.une.edu.au

Devonport Seniors Online is an opportunity for Senior members of the community to learn about computers and the internet at their own pace. Each session has a different focus and there is always 1 to 1 help. If you are new to computers these sessions are for you. It’s lots of fun and there is plenty of support. 

The UK's first dedicated Computer & Internet training scheme for the over 50s.