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Getting Seniors Online

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Getting Seniors Online

Submitted: June 17, 2012 - 1:48pm
Last updated: June 17, 2012 - 2:03pm
Location:
Benton Foundation, 1250 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States
Recommendation:
3

Americans are living longer and becoming increasingly dependent on a constantly-changing telecommunications environment for health care services, access to public and private services, and staying in touch with family and friends. One of our greatest challenges as a nation is ensuring that low-income seniors become actively engaged in navigating the 21st Century telecommunications infrastructure – the Internet. The Benton Foundation and Connected Living hosted a conference on May 22, 2012, bringing together evaluators, practitioners and policymakers to exchange ideas and offer best practices, and explore how to continue working on this issue in a post-federal stimulus era. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided funding for partnerships and projects that focused on bringing unserved and underserved communities online through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

Getting Seniors Online – Challenges and Opportunities

Submitted: June 17, 2012 - 1:51pm
Last updated: June 17, 2012 - 2:05pm
Location:
Benton Foundation, 1250 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States
Recommendation:
3

Last month the Benton Foundation and Connected Living co-hosted a day-long examination of the challenges related to broadband adoption by low-income elderly consumers. Getting Seniors Online highlighted the work of several projects targeting low-income seniors funded by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), administered by the National Telecommunications & Information Agency (NTIA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce. We also looked at one non-BTOP funded project in Miami which serves a multicultural community.

Benton Foundation Hosts ‘Getting Seniors Online’ Forum

Submitted: June 4, 2012 - 5:52pm
Last updated: June 4, 2012 - 5:55pm
Location:
Sheraton National Hotel, 900 South Orme Street, Arlington, VA, 22204, United States
Recommendation:
2

Although seniors represent the largest age group and one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, people over the age of 65 have one of the smallest and slowest broadband adoption rates. Last month, the Benton Foundation and Connected Living – a company that provides technology training and support to seniors living in public housing and senior living communities – hosted “Getting Seniors Online,” a daylong forum dedicated to discussing ways to help senior citizens get on the winning side of the digital divide.

Event Details

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Date: May 22 2012 - 9:00am - 5:00pm
Location:
Sheraton National Hotel, 900 South Orme Street, Arlington, VA, 22204, United States

Getting Seniors Online

Benton Foundation and Connected Living
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
9am - 5pm

Getting Seniors Online is a day-ling convening in Washington, DC, to explore the most effective ways to get America’s low-income seniors online. This event will present a case study of a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) project in Illinois that sought to engage low-income seniors and people with disabilities in regular and sustained computer and Internet use. We will also examine similar projects from across the country and consider important policy implications at the federal, state and local levels.

Agenda

Getting Illinois Low Income Seniors and People with Disabilities Online – we’ll take a case study analysis approach to examine the following:

  • Barriers: What did this project reveal about the continuing barriers to getting seniors online? How can they best be overcome?
  • Instructional Methods: How effective were the instructional methods used by this project to get seniors online?
  • Outcomes: What outcomes from increased broadband usage have the project participants experienced? How are these quantified?

Effective Practices – we’ll highlight programs that have developed effective digital literacy and computer training programs for low-income seniors. Examples will be drawn from municipal efforts, as well as from the non-profit sector.

Policy Implications – we’ll examine what research into outcomes for senior broadband adoption programs suggests for policy. Roundtable discussions will delve into policy questions for federal, state and local policymakers.

For more information on logistics and registration, please contact Cecilia Garcia (cgarcia@benton.org) or visit www.gettingseniorsonline.org. Please note that seating is limited, in order to maximize discussion and interaction.

Background

America’s 42 million seniors have the lowest Internet penetration (40%) of any age segment. Yet vital government and private services including food stamps, social security accounts and healthcare are quickly moving online. Also, the need for many seniors to retire later means they require computer job skills for today’s economy. This event aims to study and promote the most effective ways of getting all American seniors online. It will survey best practices, study the successes and challenges of recent sustainable broadband adoption programs such as those funded by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, and bring together organizations interested in developing new programs to solve this important national issue of digital inclusion.

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