How older people make sense of computers and the Internet

18. The studies:

25. Age Concern Drop-In Centre

26. Age Concern Drop-In Centre Adoption

27. Age Concern Drop-In Centre Rejection “ It’s like being in another country like Germany or somewhere and not knowing what’s going on. It’s another language!” Gwen

28. Age Concern Drop-In Centre Adoption “ I want to get going on something but I don’t know what’s available” Ken “ they [computers] are office technology not engineering tools” Dave

29. Age Concern Drop-In Centre Appropriation to self Reminiscence and Life Review Maureen decided to learn about word processing by typing out all the hand written recipes that she had collected throughout her life. Through this process she revisited past times as well as learnt new skills. (word processing)

30. Age Concern Drop-In Centre Appropriation to self Intergenerational Connection Dorothy was writing a children’s story for her neighbour’s children explaining that she was a “frustrated grandmother”, not having any grandchildren of her own. At the Centre she wanted to transcribe her handwritten notes into a word processing program and send these by email as an attachment to her neighbours. This activity helped her to feel part of her local community, to engage with the younger generation and to embark on a creative endeavour. (word processing and web-based email)

34. Geriatric1927 – Appropriation to Self

35. Geriatric1927 – Appropriation to Self Appropriation to self “ yes I had got some computer skills at that time and I remember I had been to some courses on graphic design and I was and still am very interested in graphic design as a so called artist and I was doing family slide shows and thought they were getting rather boring…….. and I wanted to add some video content and knew nothing about video at all and I honestly can’t remember how I searched out video. It was quite likely that I googled video and with the thousands of pages somehow came up with youtube and when of course when I found youtube I thought what a wonderful website it was and I went on from there ”

38. Geriatric1927 – Deep Engagement

41. Wii in Sheltered Housing

43. Transition Reinforcers Perception of time as open-ended Good fit with ageing concerns Inhibitors Perception of time as limited Transition Reinforcers Ability to express oneself through the technology Social acceptance Inhibitors Lack of social acceptance Difficulty adapting to new literacy Transition Reinforcers Ability to reframe use beyond work. Creativity, playfulness or plasticity of interpretation. Inhibitors Difficulty adapting to new literacy Appropriation Deep engagment Concerned with the transcendence of personally/self-centred concerns. Mastery of technical literacy to achieve intended aims. Active participation and possibly social involvement New roles and responsibilities Appropriation to the self Concerned with the development of a personally meaningful sense of purpose Implies a commitment to learning the necessary technical literacies for use Adoption Concerned with Symbolic meanings Framing of technology as work machines Dependence versus independence Computer anxiety Intergenerational Context Awareness of new technologies Ageist stereotypes Intergenerational Context Learning about new technologies. Reciprocal learning. Generativity Intergenerational Context Intergenerational communication Continuity of generations. The Appropriation Process Rejection