Response III to Rachel Mabie

Q: Your research proves that a large impediment to the digital divide between elders and adolescents is the lack of internet education in schools pre-internet. Would there be a way to foster wide-spread internet use among elders to minimized the digital divide? Is there a way to educate many elders to increase the percentages of usage exponentially?

From my research, I think the biggest obstacle of digital divide comes from the differences of Internet skills, especially between younger and older generation. In general, I think it’s beneficial to have different workshops sponsored by government to improve the Internet skills of older generation. Considering the fact that a lot of the elderly might not be economically stable, I think it’s government’s job to secure that they are not excluded from the society. As mentioned in my essay before, there has already been a program called Age UK Camden. They serve the interests of all older citizens in London Borough of Camden to help them get connected with the other generation. I think it will also be an good idea to utilize the libraries over the nation (Kranich, 2001). In this sense, local libraries not only serves as a set of resources or information, but also as trainings to help local people improve on their Internet skills.

References:

GovIntOrg. (2013, March 08). Digital inclusion: How age uk camden helps older people   to connect. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhx-uqDjvBI

Kranich, N. (2001). Libraries bridge the Digital Divide. Spectra, 37(7), 4-12.