Interesting blog entry on: How the Internet and digital technology can combat social isolation

I read this blog entry in the blog: Connecting Social Care and Social Media.
Shirleyayres presents 7 internet based or digital resources to keep socially isolated older people connected. I list them here with my comments.

• DropBy - a functionality laden website, for which you need to have web literacy to access it 
• The casserole club - you need to have web access to find your neighbour cooking a spare meal - I assume that once a relationship is established you can check with your neighbour by phoning them
• Good Gym - usually when an older person is active (physically fit) they are not socially isolated - I wonder how the project accesses the socially isolated older person
• Mindings - technology needs to be bought / set-up, so the dispersed family member is connected and this will include technical support - who is giving this?
• Gen2Gen - a young volunteer gets trained to give computer support to an older person. I think it is a great way to bring generations together... I suspect not only older people would like to have some IT support
• Alive - a reminiscence work with help of the internet's resources... absolutely great, but notice the emphasis would be on the 'therapist' working with the older person
• Chill4usCarers - lots of carers are older people and that is great, though web literacy is required again in order to make use of this site 

Overall, it brings home to me that real connectivity can only be done through people and that the technology can only support the 'connector' or carer.... I don't think that any of the technologies listed here are made easy enough for a computer in-experienced older person to use, except the Gen2Gen project. There I'd say it's important to understand that the relationship, which will be built with the older person is based on trust and that volunteers should not change frequently. 

I look forward to further developments in technology to combat isolation...

Thanks Shirley for starting to compile a list. 

Older people as inexperienced user

Last week (7th March 13) I took part at Open University's workshop: Older People and Online Social Interactions - Examining Usability, Accessibility and Online Safety aspects.
It was a very interesting and useful workshop where Shailey Minocha and team presented the results of their current research into older people and social online interaction. The workshop consisted of a mix of people either designers or people working in accessibility, representing organisations working with older people, researching older people and older people themselves. We were asked to input with our feedback on their research results such as feedback on personas and guidelines they had created.
One interesting aspect for me was the feedback at the end of the day. One woman said that she didn't feel old and that she felt patronised by the way issues were discussed. She pointed out that many of the problems occur due to inexperience of using the web or the computer and that this hasn't got anything to do with age. I completely agree with her. Many of the issues that we experience when using online technology (e.g. password management) are the same tricky / confusing / dangerous / risky for anyone of any age, but particularly disconcerting for someone who is inexperienced. It doesn't matter whether they are young or old.
But watching this BBC video just now makes me think again about the difference between an inexperienced young person and an inexperienced older person. In this video they keep on mentioning how the older person is used to the analog world where you, for example, press the button harder if it didn't work the first time.

An inexperienced (with online technology) young person hasn't got necessarily pre-conceptions on how they think the technology works. Younger people are known to learn more through trial and error. They try things out and see what happens. Younger people are better connected through groups. Either in school / circle of friends / hobbies. In those groups they can discuss their experiences.

An inexperienced (with online technology) older person has got life experience in using other technologies. Learning strategies of older people are usually by applying existing knowledge, to read instructions and to work things out by understanding them first. They might have pre-conceived ideas from previous technologies on how things might work. They are more cautious in trying things out. And here comes the greatest difference I think, older people are less well connected to groups where they could easily discuss experiences or ask questions about their computer use. Note: I use the term older people, meaning people starting from the age of 65 years plus. Many people in their 60s and 70s are still very active and likely well connected to groups / family members. But with the group of 80+ year old the social connections and activities reduce to due various reasons such as health issues, mobility problems, peers dying.

So I wonder how much having previous knowledge of using technology actually hinders a person (of any age) to understand the new technology? Or is it the lost connection to groups, which stops people from trying things out and sharing their experiences?

Go on UK (ex Race online 2012) estimates for 3-3.5 million active resistors in the UK for online connectivity

Go on UK, the charity, which was formerly 'Race online 2012' and championed up by Martha Lane Fox to get everybody in the UK connected, shows on their website a diagram including statistics & persona information of who the target group is.

source: Go on UK
Go on UK concentrates their work on 'potential users' and 'narrow users' as they classify them.
An interesting point for me is the fact that they call a group of 3-3.5 million people "active resistors". In my research in statistics for numbers of Non-Internet users I found that there is a group of resisting internet users, but it wasn't as large as this. The Oxford Internet surveys with their 2011 report differentiated between ex-internet users (people who used to use a computer) and non-Internet users. With this not to be forgotten the group of proxi-users; people who don't use the computer themselves, but get their son / daughter / carer or grandchild to do it for them. Are they active resistors, or simply comfortable with the set-up their have? In the OXIS report 80% of the ex-users and 60% of the non-Internet users indicated that they have someone they know if they needed to go online. In my calculations at the time (in Jan 2012) I concluded that less than 2 millions people are really digitally disconnected.
Link to Go on UK Link to Oxford Internet Surveys

Skype call it "ambient video"

The basic concept of the Teletalker i.e. providing a constant online window into the other space is not new, although the means to activate the volume is. On Skype's blog they call it "ambient video". Skype refers back how they have their offices around the world connected in this way, but interestingly the skype computer is not near the work place, but in the break out area near the water cooler - a place that invites for a chat. read full skype blog here

Conference proceedings: Age & experience - ludic engagement in a residential care setting

Authors: Blythe, M., Wright, P., Bowers, J., Boucher, A., Jarvis, N., Reynolds, P., Gaver, B. wrote "Age and experience: Ludic engagement in a residential care setting" for the Designing Interactive Systems conference in Aarhus, Denmark 2010
The article is about findings from a 2 years study at a residential care home where ideas for cross-generational engagement through ludic systems were developed. Huizinga introduced with his book "homo ludens" the idea that humans are essentially playful creatures. In this research ludic activities were explored which engage people's curiosity, diversion and humour rather than logic or labour effectiveness. For this they developed:
1. video window
2. projected portraitures
3. blank canvas
4. soundscape radio
In opposite to the notion of a "ticket-to-talk" - which could be an exhausting experience for the residents - they introduced the idea of the "ticket-to-be-silent". In this project two artists worked with the residents; one of them drew portraits of individual the residents. It was an opportunity to be part of the creation, but not having to talk. Those images were later exhibited in the local town.
I really enjoyed reading this article since the researchers describe how they constantly had to resist the urge to design something 'useful' and to think of ideas that are playful. The article also stresses the challenges working with the group of the oldest old where getting from one chair to another or having a conversation is exhausting. The concept of inter-passivity was also introduced to describe the 'passive' use of technology by the oldest old (which isn't passive, but the obverse of interaction) in those cross-generational uses. Particularly appealing to me was the idea of the video window - a camera set on top of the roof and the view was displayed in a picture frame in the room. Residents would not spontaneously comment how they like it, but complain when it was forgotten to be switched on the next day.

Article of the Teletalker research in the Age UK Barnet newsletter

(Instead of a button) I used a light sensitive receptor, which activated the volume by just touching the area i.e. covering the receptor, so no 'pushing strength' needed.

Over one in three 3-4 year-olds use the internet

In Ofcom's annual Children’s Media Use and Attitudes report I found some information interesting. The users of smart phones and tablets are getting younger. This year the report looked for the first time media use among 3 and 4 year-olds. "The findings indicate that 37% use the internet via a PC, laptop or netbook, 6% via a tablet computer, and 3% via a mobile phone." Also impressive (and scary) for me to read was how many friends a child aged 8-15 have on their social networking profile has. "Children aged 8-11 have an average of 92 friends and children aged 12- 15 say they have, on average, 286 friends. Children aged 8-11 estimate that they have not met around one in eight (12%) of these friends in person (an average of 11 people per child) while 12-15s say they have not met around one in four (25%) - an average of 72 people per child." Read the full report here