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Japan SeniorNet Presentation 【004】So why not teach them how - and encourage them to participate... So why not teach them how - and encourage them to participate - in this new Information age and to share their wisdom. Not only will it be good for them in stimulating their minds, and helping them cope with isolation, but it will become a necessity as we move further into the 21st century. We will gain access to their knowledge and accumulated wisdom. Not only then do we show respect and honor them by including them and keeping their minds active, but we have saved them for posterity, and enriched our future worlds in the process. It was just such a thought process that started SeniorNet 16 years ago. SeniorNet has its roots in a 1986 research project at the University of San Francisco designed to examine the belief prevalent at the time that older adults simply were not interested in computer technology. People said that the older adult could not learn. They were relegated to a retirement of golf, fishing or just rocking their years away in a retirement community in Florida or California. This research project, actually her doctoral thesis at the University of San Francisco, was the brainchild of gerontologist and SeniorNet founder Mary Furlong. She took 20 seniors on networked computers and introduced them to the same equipment that their grandchildren were also learning to use. Dr. Furlong's research clearly demonstrated that older adults are able and enthusiastic computer users and that computer skills can be advantageous in many different aspects of their lives. What Dr. Furlong found was the natural curiosity of people didn't fade with time, but rather increased. The senior adults took to learning computers and the Internet like the proverbial "ducks to water"! In their early use of the Internet, using first an Internet Service called Genie, then moving to America-On-Line, the SeniorNet members formed a community that transcended the original intent of just learning technology. Members who joined the SeniorNet online network, have participated with other members around the country in discussions of topics such as the economy, the health care system, world politics, coping with the loss of a loved one, recipes, remedies for illnesses or adjusting to retirement. They learned how to communicate via e-mail with their friends and family members scattered around the country and around the world. It became like a new neighborhood, an electronic neighborhood, with a lot of social interaction. When we would hold national conferences, members would greet one another, not by their given names, but by the electronic pseudonyms … "Lulubelle, Tinkerer from NY", Sexy Grandma" and the like! |
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シニアのための市民ネットワーク仙台 仙台市青葉区一番町２ー５ー１２ 一番町中央ビル８階 Copyright(C) 1996-2000, Sendai Citizens' Network for Seniors E-mail:info@sendai-senior.org |
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