Padding Around

Padding Around is an idea born out of my work Corangamite District Adult Education Group (CDAEG) in Camperdown Victoria. During my time at CDAEG I worked part¬-time as an IT teacher and the Business Development manager. Part of the work in teaching IT was running a computer course at the Cobden Senior Citizens Club. This class utilised laptops, highlighting the difficulty many senior citizens experienced navigating around the screen with the mouse and using the keyboard. After some thought, I tried a few with Ipads. The senior citizens were able to use the Ipads with ease and it soon became clear that they were their preferred use over the laptops. Many surfed the internet while others just played games. Family history, RSL and gardening topics where placed into the search engines and their world expanded. They were amazed at discovering their old towns and houses on Google Earth, and finding photographs of their areas added to their intrigue. One lady discovered information on her grand-daughter, who had made the Victorian Netball team. She proudly shared the photographs and news items with fellow members and kept up with weekly updates. They had the opportunity to set up their own email and eagerly returned with email addresses from loved ones. They marvelled at their own skills, never imagining they would be able to achieve this. A stroke victim had insisted it was not for her. Even though she was very difficult to understand, we managed to show her how to use the pad. Before we knew it she was off surfing the internet looking up her favorite topics. By the end of the course, one person had purchased an Ipad while another had one on the way. This has began the process of bring this to all. Help me bring smiles and see more joy on our Senior Citizens as they navigate the internet, play games and send emails of to family and friends.