Elder Service Technology Learning Program the Pace

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.

Developing a Program

Once an appropriate group of collaborators has been formed, developing the initial educational program should be a relatively straightforward and simple process. It is expected that changes will be made to the program following initial implementation, as the needs and learning processes of the community are better understood, yet with this group of collaborators the initial needs of the program and the means for meeting those needs should make themselves readily observable through purposeful discussion. There are also many other resources from previous educational programs and scholarly research that will be a boon to the group of collaborators in providing possible lesson plans and other large-scale methods (SeniorNet.org 2011).