Bridging The Gap – Solutions to the Barriers of the Digital Age Divide – Claire Walker

The Digital Age Divide really inspired me

When I started doing my Video Project assignment, I really wanted to carry on from my last video as I found the ‘Senior Digital Divide’ in Australia really interesting. I wanted to make an informative video that could help seniors in Australia find the resources they needed to at least start using digital technology and hopefully improving their lives. I was amazed by the lack of want to get into the digital world from researching in the last video, so wanted to show lots of benefits and specific examples they could relate too.

Sourcing my own material really saved me time

I wasn’t sure what direction to take this in, and how to go about doing it, so I started researching to find a direction. I found plenty of articles, but two really stood out, and I decided to base my video on these and move forward with going into detail about the barriers the elderly see when using digital technology and the benefit assistive technology can have on their lives. I really liked my previous video and how whilst speaking to the camera it appears I did so from an iPad. The difference this time was I needed to plan this video as though the elderly would watch and learn from it and therefore, I needed to make it simple and easy to watch, as I wanted them to understand and take it all in. The editing needed to be smooth and definitive in the appropriate spots and not be too fancy to take away from the message. This time I managed to prepare more and source more of my own material. This made the issues I ran into before of having limited images of elderly people in CC available sites not as big this time and allowed me to be more specific with my images.

I wanted to use Juxtaposition more in this video to emphasise some points. With the stats at the beginning I used corresponding hands holding the iPad to show the difference in age bracket and emphasise the divide. The hands get older as the statistic does, and the images cut sharply to each new age group. I also used juxtaposition at the need of the video, with the old man walking away and the modern ‘computer game’ music at the end. I felt it important to give the senior audience a feeling that they had entered the digital world, and it provided a great contrast against the old man moving so slowly, as though that is what they have ;eft behind and the digital music is the future.

I found lots of my research material online and referenced a lot of different websites. I felt it was very important to give the audience specific examples to help them embrace this as easily as possible. This involved sourcing from lots of different places. I also thought the state-by-state helpful websites was important for this reason also.

I edited in a similar way to previous videos, but I felt the difference and my improvement this time around. I was able to get more inventive and confident with my choices and use more appropriate choices. I tried to make the video easy to understand, professional and not to informal due to the specific audience I was targeting.

I really wanted to help the elderly engage in digital technology

I had to cut quite a lot of content that I thought was important and this taught me about keeping things concise and about getting to the point of my arguments quickly. It was a shame and I guess it showed me how 8 minutes may seem like a long time, but in reality, it’s not! I was disappointed that I had to cut some though as I felt I had more to offer the senior citizens in terms of useful information that may help them on their digital technology journey. I also realised the importance of having my own bank of images when making video. The video was so much easier to piece together and a lot less time consuming than my last when putting together my referencing. Considering this video was over double the last, it’s quite a good learning! I found finding the music quite challenging, as I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, and I think I should have thought about this more in my planning stage. Next time I also might not read such long passages of text to the camera, as this does take away slightly from authenticity as I think sometimes you can see my eyes reading! I think I managed to cover most of it though!

I’m really happy with the finished product – I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did making it!

The Video!

References

Segan, S 2018, The Best Phones for Seniors, au.pcmag.com, 5^th September 2019, The best phones for seniors

Gallagher, D 2019, Get the mobile that’s best for you, Choice.com.au, 5^th September 2019, mobile phones for seniors

Vision Australia, Mobile phones, Vision Australia, 5^th September 2019, mobile phones

Tan, S 2015, 8 Apps That Make Condition Management Easier, Everyday Health, 5^th September 2019, 8 apps make condition easier

COTA Victoria, Assistive technology, COTA Victoria, 5^th September 2019, COTAvic, COTA Vic

Mason, C 2017, Five ways older Australians can embrace technology to redefine later life, Theconversation.com, 5^th September 2019, theconversation

Thomas, J, Wilson, CK & Park, S 2018, Australia’s digital divide is not going away, Smartcompany.com.au, 10^th September 2019, smartcompany.com.au

Alzheimer’s Society Great Britain, How technology can help, Alzheimer’s Society Great Britain, 5^th September 2019, Alzheimer’s Society Great Britain

McGhee, C 2018, Technology for people with Parkinson’s: top digital options, The European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA), 5^th September 2019, epda.eu.com

Dent, J 2019, Best mobile phones for Australian seniors in 2019, whistleout.com.au, 5^th September 2019, whistleout.com.au

Patkar, M 2014, Wiser Launcher Makes Android Phones Simpler, lifehacker.com.au, 5^th September 2019, lifehacker.com.au

Department of Health and Human Services 2018, Seniors Online Victoria, State Government of Victoria, Australia, 5^th September 2019, seniorsonline.vic

NSW Government 2019, Training Services NSW, NSW Government, 5^th September 2019, training.nsw

Seniors Recreation Council of WA Inc. 2019, Seniors Recreation Council of WA Inc., 5^th September 2019, srcwa.asn.au

Government of South Australia 2019, Seniors, Government of South Australia, 5^th September 2019, sa.gov.au

The state of Queensland 2019, Seniors, Queensland Government, 5^th September 2019, qld.gov.au

COTA NT 2019, COTA for Senior Territorians, COTA NT, 5^th September 2019, COTANT

Tasmanian Government, Useful Links for Older Tasmanians, Tasmanian Government, 5^th September 2019, dpac.tas.gov.au

Community Services 2019, Computer Access and Support, ACT Government, 5th September 2019, communityservices.act

Mohadisdudis, H.M. and Ali, N.M., 2014, ‘A Study of Smartphone Usage and Barriers Among the Elderly’, 2014 3rd International Conference on User Science and Engineering, i-USEr 2014, pp. 109-114.

Johnson, R, 2009, ‘Assistive Technology and Senior Citizens’, Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems; Autumn 2009, Vol. 23, Issue 4, p10-13.

Images

iPhone, By OpenClipart-Vectors, Free use by Pixabay

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electronic medical record, By mcmurryjulie, Free use by Pixabay

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Old man with hearing aid, By JD Mason, (Free use Via Unsplash )

Photo, By Gervyn Louis,(Free use Via Unsplash)

Time, By John Moeses Bauan, (Free use Via Unsplash)

Cafe Portrait 1, By Malcolm Lightbody, (Free use Via Unsplash)

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robot vacuum cleaner robot machine, By NickyPe, Free use by Pixabay