Developing a community technology education program for elderly adults

Elder Service Technology Learning Program

The pace of technological development in the past few decades has drastically changed the manner in which life and business are conducted for individuals at pretty much every position in life and on the socioeconomic ladder. This includes the elderly, which due to a lack of specifically-designed products, education methods and opportunities, and regular day-to-day interactions with certain common technologies are at a deficit in utilizing the opportunities such technological developments can afford. In the following paragraphs, a basic plan for collaborating with relevant community members in developing an elder services technology training/education program will be presented, with specific types of collaborators identified and a method for developing a community-specific education program along with these collaborators introduced, concluding with recommendations for further development.

Collaborators

There are a number of different types of collaborators that would be beneficial in developing this type of program. Senior citizen community centers are often the most directly connected to the needs and desires of the elderly community in a given area, and to he specific challenges faced that might be helped or alleviated by greater technology awareness and education (Capezuti 2007). Involving program and/or managing directors from such institutions as collaborators would certainly be of great benefit in developing an effective educational program that directly and efficiently meets the needs of the elderly community.

Other collaborators that will be necessary for a successful technology education program and methodology to be developed include interested senior citizens themselves, who will be able to most directly and concretely express the specific confusions, concerns, and desires regarding new technologies and the utilization of computer and Internet-based technologies in daily life (Peacock & Kunemund 2007). Including at least two educators, preferably with a specialization in adult and/or technology education, would also be of enormous benefit in developing effective teaching methods and styles to meet the identified needs of the community to be served. If such expertise is not already present in the selected collaborators, someone with extensive enough computer/technology to be able to offer new insights into how technology might be used by the elderly would also be necessary as a collaborator.

Conclusion

Further refinement and development of the program can be achieved through ongoing review not only amongst the collaborators, but by periodically checking in with other members of the community, including those that specifically do and specifically do not utilize the program. Local government agencies can also be queried as to the rate senior citizens accessing their services through newer technology platforms. In this way the program can continue to be tailored to the community's needs.