Research On Our Question

We visited the home Seabank Care Home in Wallasey to hand our questionnaires out and this is the Questionnaire that we have made and we handed it out to 15 people in the home we visited;


Questionnaire

1. Have you ever used the Internet?

Yes No

2. If no, why not?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3. Have u ever been taught how to use a computer?

Yes No

4. Do you have a laptop of your own?

Yes No

5. If no, why not?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6. Would u find a video of how to use the Internet useful in teaching you how to use it?

Yes No

7. Do you feel if u knew how to use a laptop, would u use it more?

Yes No

8. How would you feel about using an IPhone or a Blackberry?

I wouldn’t want too Don’t feel I could use one I would love too
Other …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

9. Would you like to use the Internet if u were taught too?

Yes No Already can

10. Are u aware of the benefits of using the Internet?

Yes No

We also decided that we would interview someone who works for Apple and find out what they think about the older generation using smart phones and becoming more technology savvy.

We will ask them what products are mostly sold to the older generation, if more older people are actually using the technologies, what age ranges mostly come into store and what they personally think about the older generation using the Internet. We can also look into how we could encourage the older generation to use these smart phones and show the older people how they can share their stories online very easily using the IPhones and how easy it would be to use.

We will also find out which products the older generation are more drawn towards e.g. IPad, IPhone or Apple Mac. I believe that quite a lot of the older generation would like to use this type of technology if they just had the chance or a little bit of support. We can also ask the Apple employee if they would consider maybe doing a little tutorial for the older generation on how to use the technology to help them into using it and becoming part of this new technology generation.

We have also thought about looking into the use of Face Time and how much the older generation would benefit from using this technology as some older people do struggle to get about and see family and this would rid of the barriers that cause them to not see their families. It's a very useful and amazing technology that can even keep you in contact with people across the world. We will look into this to see how we could encourage the older generation to use it and let them know the benefits of using it.

Face Time can be used any were at anytime and i feel the older generation would really enjoy using this. Also another technology that is slightly similar to Face Time that we can look into is Skype. This also is an amazing technology that it most importantly free and can be downloaded by anyone in the world on a PC, phone or laptop. This would also help the older generation stay in touch with the rest of the world and also it means they can share their stories to others who are listening.

Setting Up Our Group Work

Today we were put into our groups to complete presentations on our chosen question. We were put into teams of three and the question we are doing is 'How can you encourage an online audience in storytelling? - How do you encourage users, especially those from an older generation to participate?

We brainstormed a few ideas together on what we are going to do. We decided that we will go into a old persons home and ask them what they thought of the Internet and usage and hand them a small questionnaire to fill out which I will upload to my next post. This will give us an insight into what they think about the Internet and what we could do to help them become more active users.

Furthermore we said we could ask a employee of Apple what they think of older generation using the Internet and how they would encourage them to buy the technology. We would also ask what the company themselves do to simplify their phones and computers so that everyone can use them.

We also discussed the option of going into the BBC radio and asking if they would consider having a small section in one of their shows for older people to ring in and tell their stories. This would encourage them to take part and share parts of their history.

Another thing we could do is create a 'how to' video of very clear simple instructions on how to use the Internet and upload content and show it to groups of older people so that they don't feel as intimidated when it comes to using a computer or laptop.

We have split the research up and designated a section to each person in our group. We have decided that we should all compile research on technology usage, Niall should do an interview with an apple employee and write up his findings. Rory will teach an older person how to use Skype and document this through either filming, videos or pictures and I will compile a questionnaire and we will go to an old persons home, hand them out and gather the results for our end presentation. We will also together write up things that could be done in the future for older people and how this could have a knock on effect in older people homes.

During reading week we will be going into the old persons home and handing out the questionnaires and asking them what they think. I will upload the results to my next post.