1. The Age of Aging: A triumph of Technology
   A. A new middle age
   B. Continuing change
   C. New expectations
2. The Challenges of Technology for Older Adults
   A. The impact on society
   B. The potentials
   C. A new culture
3. Local examples of seniors using computers
4. SeniorNet - an introduction : Citizens of the World Video
5. Communications/Connections/Health
6. Program implementation
   A. Location
   B. Volunteers
   C. Marketing
7. Teaching the elderly Classroom climate

　I am honored and delighted to be here. Thank you for inviting me. Arnold Toynbee once remarked, "A society's quality and durability can best be measured by the respect and care given to its elder citizens."
　I have more to learn from you than I have to share with professionals of a country which enjoys the longest life expectancy in the world.
　I am aware that your older adults traditionally enjoy high status and play useful and satisfying roles.
　I admire your efforts to strive toward improving this status.
　I have read about Shigechiyo Isumi of Asan, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having lived the longest of any human being, 120 years, 237 days.
　This age was verified by his physician, Dr. Yoshinobu Moriya, who reported that Mr. Isumi was healthy right up to his death, February 21, 1986. He "lived long and died short," as the American physician Dr. Walter Bortz stated in his book, We Live Too Short and Die Too Long.
　Few elderly throughout the world enjoy honorable status. In fact, rather than one of honor, ageism is more characteristic of our society. Ageism is the process of stereotyping and discriminating against people because they are old.
　Ageism, like all prejudices, influences the behavior of its victims.
　The elderly tend to adopt negative definitions about themselves and to perpetuate the various stereotypes directed against them, thereby reinforcing societal beliefs. The elderly in a sense " ; collaborate with the enemy" ; by internalizing the beliefs projected upon them by society. In our youth-obsessed society, it is difficult to change age-old ideas about aging. Slowly we make progress.
　Each of us has his or her traditional background which yields predicitable reactions when confronted with new circumstances. However, in a situation so novel as that created by the new phenomenon in our lifespan, the extension of life, all prior cultural adaptations become outmoded.
　The "ways of our fathers are no longer effective. Societies with large elderly populations are constantly being forced to innovate, and what each society is doing may be beneficial to others. Hopefully, what we pioneers in the industrialized societies innovate will benefit those in today's less advanced societies, for they will also experience future growth in their elder populations. By sharing each other's innovations, we can make this triumph of technology - the extension of the lifespan - our servant, instead of our master.
　Computer technology has a key role to play in accomplishing that goal. Each epoch in history was a cohesion of population dynamics and environmental challenges. Each epoch changed the course of human history and altered the mechanisms and direction of evolution.
　Our historians delight in identifying eras on our 'species calendar with age labels: the Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, and several Ice Ages.
　Some historians label today's era the Space Age; others call it the Age of Technology. With equal propriety and justification , we can also label the present era the "Age Age," or the "Age of Aging." We can justify this for two reasons: first, because of the sheer numbers of people alive over age 65 and secondly, because for the first time in history many of us are aware of how long we can expect to live and we are aware of the forces that shorten that expectation. (Show Overhead Number 1 - Age of Aging)
　Most of the nations of the world focused on this new phenomenon at the first World Congress on Aging in Vienna, and from that conference came this epoch's title the & quot;Age of Aging.& quot ; As you can see, it is East Asia, Northern Europe, and North America where the percentage of the population aged 60 and over is expected to increase by the year 2025. The grid represents the number to which the percentage is expected to increase.
　East Asia is predicted to enjoy the largest increase in the over - age - 60 population. Congratulations. This demographic and social revolution is underway throughout the world today. While increasing numbers of people are living to advanced ages such as 70, 80, and 90, relatively fewer children are being born.
　This combination of demographic trends is resulting in a dramatic and unprecedented increase in the proportion of elderly people. This & quot ; Age of Aging" ; Revolution has already progressed far down its uncertain path in industrialized and economically advanced countries.
　When less-advanced regions reduce their birth rates, as some are already doing and, as all eventually must, they, too, will experience such a demographic change. Thus, aging is a present reality in the industrialized areas of the world, and it is the wave of the future in the rest of the world.
　It is important that we recognize that the 25 or more years that we have added to our lifespan need not be years of decline. At the beginning of this century, life expectancy averaged about about fifty years. What we have done in this century is to add a " ; Third Age," an additional 25 years, to the lifepsan. Lydia Bronte, in her book, The Longevity Factor, states, " ; The extra twenty or thirty years of life we have gained have really been added to the middle of life -- the prime of adulthood -- rather than to its end.
　It is middle age that has been expanded, not old age. Like a rubber band pulled by giant hands, as the life course has stretched, its whole length has stretched, not just one end." What used to be old age is now middle age, or & quot ; middlessence" ; as stated by Gail Sheahy, in her book, New Passages.
　This is an astonishing number of years to be added to midlife -- the years preceding old age. Milestone events that we used to think were inevitable at age 60 are simply no longer inevitable. With lifetimes increasing to 80, 90 and 100 years or more, we need to consider what used to be old age (60-80) as a time that precedes true aging. Dr. Walter Bortz suggests this new concept of aging of the human species. (Bortz-Overhead) There are a few vital, happy, productive people in the young-old group, and many more will live to old age (100-115) in the future. Here are three thoughts to stimulate your conversation:

1. This new phenomenon in the lifespan of the human species - life extension - has been unknown to any other animal species throughout history, and until now, unknown to the human condition. I don't wish to be simplistic - there have always been some older people - some have always survived, but not thousands - and soon millions.
2. This new social reality has enormous consequences for every social structure, every individual, and, for the biosphere as well.
3. It is important that we develop a set of cultural expectations whereby we create expectancies for this new age -- coined by Monsignor Charles Fahey as "The Third Age," the 25 years or more that we have gained in this century alone.

　Stated Fahey, " ; What we have done is to create a new stage of life that is not needed by the human species for reproduction, for production, or for the continuation of the species. Until the past few decades, the human species experienced death after the children were brought up and the mortgages paid off.
　Now we are living an additional 25 or more years after retirement." Our system is set up for short lifetimes, but we don't have short lifetimes any longer. Our sytem is set up for comparatively slow-moving change in society, when now we have a very rapid change process. Both the number of years have increased, and the number of cultural revolutions have rapidly increased.
　The elderly living today have experienced more cultural revolutions than any other cohort of huma beingss. Note the number of revolutions in the Twentieth Century alone - The Computer Revolution bringing the latest changes to which the elderly must adapt. ( OH 3 Rome-1990)
　This adaptation should begin before they are old...that is before they are 100!
　There will be 64 million people over age 65 in the United States alone by the year 2050, and long before that, in 2010, 25% of your population will be over 65 years. With 70-80% of our populations over age 65 remaining healthy and active, the potential for their continuing contribution to society is great. We must enlist their help and guidancein creating roles for the present and future aging populations.
　The California State Department of Health, in experiments consisting of biostatistical maneuvers, showed that if we eliminated one killer such as arteriosclerosis, life expectancy would rise to age 100 years.
　This idea is not preposterous. Earlier in this century we never believed that polio would be eradicated, yet today most of our grandchildren have never heard of polio.
　We have eradicated many diseases over which we had no control decades ago. Of course we will continue to eliminate killer diseases. My concern is that no social organization can stay healthy for a long time if these increasing numbers of people do not have something valuable to do.
　We will continue to see changes in life expectancies and changes in the structure of the population. This, in and of itself, creates for all of us a different reality. Socially and psychologically, we begin to expect to live longer. Expectation is a vital dynamic, and the expectation of a longer life impacts dramatically on our future plans.
　Changes are already occurring in our attitudes. Many of us no longer feel bound by stereotypes and feel free to continue to develop our personalities to the fullest. We can continue this development because we have the power to think, to create ideas, and to reflect. We can develop hypotheses, test them out, and apply them.
　However, quickly a question is created: how can we best use this gift of additional years of life for the service of humanity? Here technology can play a vital role .
　Without personal advancement, all this development could be a disaster. Without extended awareness, we don't live longer - we merely extend our existence and die longer.
　If this life extension did not have significance for our species, nature would not have programmed us to live so long. Rabbi Zalman Schachtner states, "When nature takes away our will to act, she gives us the sedentary longing to understand life -- to "chew the cud of life."
　We need to add more RAM to our consciousness!!! We must find ways to enable our elders to be the sages of society that they once were.

　Before there were psychotherapists, ministers, and counselors,we turned to the elderly for counsel. They were the ones with extended awareness. We can redirect our elderly again from aging to sageing. Where we are lagging behind now is in figuring out how to use this gift of extended life. We have given little thought to the impact of this development upon the environment, upon human experience, upon the economic and social order, or upon culture and society.
　For centuries, our attention has been focused on enhancing the well-being of the individual. Little thought has been given to the development of society or to the social or economic orders of things. Now every social structure is being challenged by the life-extension development. For example, consider the basis of our society -- the family. We now have four living generations. Five are coming! Also we must consider this question - what is the meaning of marriage after the children are gone and the primary role of parenting is over? What happens to traditions when there are divorces and second marriages? The continuity of the family becomes disjointed.

　A "Third Age" gives us a chance to deal with our own mortality as well as an opportunity for extended awareness.
　It gives us opportunities to create new structures for personal relationships; new kinds of community and new kinds of interactions among generations as well as among cohorts.
　Multimedia technology can help us reinstate new interactions among generations within the family, for example.
　Very few grandchildren enjoy a close attachment to their grandparents and thus lose the benefit of all the roles grandparents can play. In our country only 5% of our grandchildren have ready access to their grandparents. Eighty percent see their grandparents only occasionally. Fifteen percent never see or hear from their grandparents.
　The lack of communication between grandparents and grandchildren can be hurtful to both. Some grandchildren treat grandfolks as the center of the universe. In doing so, the younger generation revitalizes the elderly at a time when life is stripping away many pleasures. Grandchildren also benefit when communicating with grandparents. As an eight-year-old commented, " When I talk to my grandparents, I don't feel guilty or stupid or bad, but relaxed, calm and accepted. They love me regardless of how I am."

　Dr. Gil Small, retired oral surgeon, was first a student and then a teacher in our Savannah program. He knew nothing about computers when he retired from dentistry. He started learning in SeniorNet at the same time that his grandchildren, ages 5 and 7, who live 500 miles away, started their computer training.
　They stay in touch via E-mail, as I do with my very busy son. Dr. Small says that his life has much more meaning when he can stay in touch with his grandchildren. Here is an example that technology can help older adults find meaning and purpose in the later years.
　So, just as we have extended the lifespan, we are presently extending the healthspan. It is now possible to continue personal development throughout one's life because of the increase in our healthspan. Our next challenge is to extend our "wealth" span or our "cognition span." The "wealth" found in SenorNet is not stored in digital formats on a hard drive; the most important resource, the "wealth," of SeniorNet resides in the minds of the citizens who use modems to connect. When thousands of older adults organize forums to debate important public policy issues, the resulting vast amount of specialized expertise can create synergies that are more powerful than the most sophisticated logic-based systems.
　We can meet many of the older populations' needs, improve the quality of their lives, and significantly shorten the periods of illness before death.
　We have no choice but to empower the elderly to extend their awareness so that they remain physically, intellectually, socially, and spiritually fit - as long as they live.
　We must develop in our cultures a definition of what it means to be old. There have been, of course, previous attempts : First, there was the "Disengagement Theory" by Cummings and Henry in the 60's... We were supposed to use our aging years to 'go inward,' to contemplate, and to prepare for death. Then there was Erikson's "Generativity" and "Ego Integrity Over Despair" theory. But that's not how people are really aging. A modern role for aging was first publicized in America by Ken Dychtwald, author of Age Wave. The modern image of aging is to look like a movie star, run the Boston Marathon, or climb the Himalayas or Mt. Fuji at age 85. The modern idea of a perfect death is to be shot by a jealous lover at age 95.
　We need a culture for the aging, but one that has validity to it - one that uses the vast resources waiting to be tapped. We need to extend our awareness, as well as our lifespan and our healthspan. This isn't an impossible task. Many of us have spent 50 years of preparation: educating ourselves, improving ourselves, learning new skills, or sharpening our judgment. Fifty years of preparation should not culminate in trivial goals such as extended leisure, puttering in the garden, making a good soup. We must have a purpose - there must be meaning in what we do. Our parents and grandparents did not climb the mountain top just to sit on a park bench. They need new roles - a new aging culture.
　Historically, there was no culture for children. We raised large families to work and take care of elders. Then came a cry for childrens' rights: children have the right to develop their minds, as well as their hearts and hands.
　We must enable the elderly to develop a culture - one that doesn't deny death and the gradual dimunition of physical abilities, but one that brings new expectations. . We need a realistic approach to aging . . . one that accepts mortality but with a sense of understanding of who we are and what life is all about. It must have social consequences.
　It will require commitment, responsibility, and meeting challenges. Challenges, responsibility, a little tension, and achievement are energizing. The lack of challenge can lead to apathy . . . and even to disease. Everybody must keep learning and relearning tasks. Each new generation has to invent for itself. We must empower the elderly to to strive to invent a future, to find purposes and goals appropriate to their new stage of life. Struggle is essential to survival - therefore there must be something to struggle against. When outer forces no longer provide the adrenalin flow, we must be fueled by inner forces.
　Unless better solutions are found, capable, useful people will lead stereotypical existences that make no demands on their intellect and use of their life experience. If we want to strengthen the elderly, we must give them responsibility. (OVERHEAD: ARCHITECT ARCH)

　We can turn the aging predicament into human achievement. We have a new reality: a triumph of technology and knowledge. But we need an enormous commitment to the ethics of being human -- to capture technology to serve us and not to destroy us.
　As we are given the gift of additional life in the Twentieth Century, we have a concommitant responsibility to become deeply involved in contemporary society to benefit the generations that will follow us. We owe it to our ancestors to challenge the elderly population to continue growth and contribution.
　I often remember my Mom when she was sixty. She was a wonderful, loving mother, but she began to lose interest in life at age 60. She could find no incentive or opportunities for continued growth once her children were on their own. Her depression and subsequent illness were not caused by aging, but by the fact that she was lonely and bored.
　There were neither expectations nor roles for her, once her family was completed. And, she never heard of a second career. She internalized the belief in her community that the only role for an older woman was that of babysitting the grandchildren. That's a wonderful role to fulfill, but not when it is forced upon a grandparent. When my daughter is sixty , I want her to have a different image of what life can be like at my age. I want her to remember that, once her children are occupied with their own families, she can continue to expand her horizons. There will still be plenty of time to realize the dreams that family and career have delayed.
　I want my children to remember our wonderful times together so I have stored this information on my computer. Our children are much too busy to write down the details of vacations and momentous events. Yet, I want them to know how much pleasure their knowledge and companionship gave me. I want them to know all of my family and relatives who are spread throughout America. They will thank me for the geneological database I am preparing of relatives, high-school classmates, and friends which they will want to retrieve when they are older.

　I know that my children will never have the time to look through all of my boxes and filing cabinets of notes and memorabilia that I used to think they would enjoy. But, if I have it all on two 3-inch diskettes, some evening they will log onto their history and communicate in the only remaining contemporary way - by reading the chapters I have written about their lives and my memories of them. I also know that my life has added meaning and value when I see the events of my life reviewed and documented. When I can see what and where I have been, the "stripping away " that aging brings will be less traumatic.
　The potential for growth in later life is great. I want my children to remember that, at any age, there is work to be done and that, at any age, we can "bloom where we are planted."
　Video of Citizens of the World. 20 minutes We have just seen from the video how SeniorNet 'connects' older adults. I now would like to elaborate on 'connection.' I will focus on those years of life we now define as "middlessence,'"our new mid-life years of vital health that precede aging. It is very important, toward the goal of successful aging, that we prepare for old age. We need to focus on retirement, or ages 60-80, as a time of reFIREment. Sixty-five, when benefits begin in most countries, is a phony age. The reasons for establishing 65 as the retirement age were political, not for the good of older folks.
　The ability to use computer technology can be a tremendous asset as one enters old age. Vice -president Gore gave you an example of a 90 year-old who refused to enter a nursing home until a modem was installed in her room. She wouldn't move until she could continue to enjoy the enhanced quality of life that had been made possible to her by computer technology. I could give you many more examples, but one in particular, I will share with you.

　Cathryn Smith was 75 when she took her first SeniorNet course at our Savannah Learning Center. As she assimilated her new-found computer knowledge, she found time to volunteer many hours a week helping me with the administrative details of our rapidly expanding program. Her assistance allowed me time to recruit new teachers, since our program had rapidly grown beyond expectations.
　After taking three courses, Cathryn began to teach the Introduction to Computers! She said, " You don't have enough teachers. My teaching is the only way to keep from denying anyone an opportunity to learn basic computer technology in a non-threatening atmosphere. " Kathryn also helped us search for more teachers among her friends and acquaintences.
　When her arthritis finally prevented her from driving to the Learning Center, she bought her own PowerPC Mac, only to learn that there was new software on it that was not familiar. But, she said, "I have a book and I can learn it." Indeed, she did! Then she began to compile and write the history of her church and to prepare her memoirs for publication. She was awarded Savannah's Service to Mankind Award after she could no longer attend classes but continued to contribute from her home computer. Her previous students, all over age 65, called to congratulate her on her award.
　When she fell and broke her hip, she told me how much the phone calls and E-mail from her recently acquired student "friends" had helped her: "Now I know why I liked teaching so much. It was all the connections I made when I was able to be out and about!" The quality of her years were enhanced through SeniorNet.
　Cathryn died just three years after her first SeniorNet experience, but her last years were good ones. She never had time to feel sorry for herself or to focus on her arthritis.
　In a more personal vein, the 'connections' I have made since having being invited here have been delightful. I was euphoric the first time I successfully returned an E-mail to Mrs. Kondo. I learned through our correspondence that she was someone whom I would like to get to know better.
　In real life, we get to know people and then decide whether or not we would like them to become friends. In Cyberspace, I became acquainted with Mrs. Kondo and knew immediately - yet without ever having seen her - that she was someone with whom I would like to be friends. Because of my computer connection, I was also able to finish my doctoral dissertation at home in America in the German language. My computer "spoke German," a convenience allowing rapid correspondence with my professors in Munich, Germany. I was allowed to complete my work in America rather than remain behind in Europe after my husband's contract expired and he had departed Europe.
　No one is more enthusiastic about the benefits of technology than someone who has experienced direct benefits.
　When I finished the 700-page dissertation in German, I felt like dedicating it to the Macintosh Corporation! Correcting the grammatical errors when the chapters were returned to me from Munich was a simple word- processing task. The typing and retyping would have been an expensive, perhaps insurmountable, task for a fifty-year-old without a computer. To create the enthusiasm and willingness to learn, we must show seniors how computer technology can benefit them.
　A seventy-eight-year-old widower in our Savannah program developed a new role for his computer as he began to track hurricanes and rainfall. He would relay his information and numbers to the local weatherman, as well as to cyberspace friends. He has also been searching online for a long-lost relative. Geneology becomes increasingly important as we age. Tracing roots is a common endeavor among computer using seniors.
　Another senior, John Jones, recently remarked, "It's incredible what my computer is doing for me. I have computerized my household inventory, listing what I own, when it was purchased, the cost, serial and model numbers, and other necessary information. Keeping track of the items on my computer saves time and effort, particularly when items are replaced. When you remove something and buy a new item, it's easy to delete the old and add the new item on the computer.
　It's not such a chore with the computer, but I could never seem to accomplish this on my typewriter.This convenience is very important to me in our hurricane-prone environment."
　Mrs. Jones said she had produced newsletters from the computer for her fraternity. She recently wrote a souvenir booklet for the Georgia Women's Club and printed it directly from her computer disk. She also keeps the active membership list for her club up to date.
　Raymond Davis kept all the letters that his nephew wrote him from the foxholes of World War II. He began to log them into his computer and categorize them according to different European battles. He had them bound and then he gave a copy to each relative at Christmas. John Appeldoorn keeps up with his investments and stock growth on his computer.
　My husband logs the monthly income and expenses from our rental property in three different states on the computer. Before the computer, it was difficult to remember who was living in which property, if the rent had been paid on time or if the leases were ready for renewal. For an at-home business in retirement, the computer is a modern necessity.
　A Savannah-retired attorney said, "I can run my whole office at home without a secretary. I have computerized my calendar, appointment books, billings, and telephone listings. I can even print my own letterhead. I can access lawbooks and rulings from the Georgia Supreme Count and Court of Appeals via modem. Before, one had to look for hours for something, and usually it was under something else you would not expect it to be under." Another example: I was able to purchase my son's ticket to Tokyo for $1100., instead of the first-quoted $2900. because of my search of ticket prices on the computer.
　I discovered that the same flight on the same plane was half price because of my ability to log onto and search the area of travel service pricing.

　'Connection' - sociologically speaking - refers to a sense of belonging and closeness - to being 'connected' to a person and/or to a group. The words community, communion, and communicate all are derived from the words '/commune/communis.' Embodied in the word common is a sense of shared life, one of giving and receiving. We give and receive by being connected, by calling and answering.
　Researchers in the field of behavioral medicine (specifically psycho-neuroimmunology) have begun to recognize the healthful (immunological) effects of 'connection'. In an investigation of more than 5,000 adults in Alameda County, California, and another of 13,000 adults in Finland, researchers found that, independent of all other cardiac risk factors, individuals having had the fewest contacts also had a 2 to 3 timesgreater risk of death from heart disease than those who had numerous contacts. There is much more experimental evidence to support this link between health and "connection." For example, Jay Kaplan and colleagues from a North Carolina School of Medicine studied cynomolgus monkeys - monkeys which have social organization much like people. The team discovered, all other factors being controlled, that socially isolated monkeys had twice the incidence of coronary blockage as did those allowed to live together.
　There is even evidence of the benefits of 'connection' following illness: A Yale University study traced almost 3000 men and women over age 65. Those with at least two sources of emotional support before experiencing a heart attack were twice as likely to survive as those who had little or no social support. 'Connection' is so important to our physical health. We must look at what we can do to foster it.
　This is of great value as we enter the "Third Age.
　" SeniorNet fosters 'connection.' 'Connection' is fostered by communication -- by talking and sharing. Recent work by Pennebaker and Glaser at Southern Methodist University showed that sharing one's feelings can boost the capability of the immune system. A group of adults was asked to spend 20 minutes each day writing details about disturbing events in their lives. They then were asked to describe their feelings about the events. A control group spent the same amount of time writing about frivolous matters. Blood tests revealed a strikingly improved immune response, but only in the self-disclosing group.
　Significantly, six months later, the self-disclosers still showed positive health benefits. The research team concluded, "Failure to confide traumatic events is associated with long term health problems." People often reveal themselves more intimately via computer than they would be inclined to in person. I shared some personal notes with Mrs. Kondo that I probably never would have during our first face-to-face meeting.
　Another study by Pennebaker investigated the effects of 'connection' on health following the most traumatic and stresssful event a person can encounter - death of a spouse. He studied men and women whose spouses had recently died and found those who bore their grief alone had a much higher-than-average rate of illness; those who could talk about their feelings with someone else, or express them in writing, had little to no increase in illness.
　The SeniorNet Mission is to provide older adults with access to computer technology to enhance their lives and empower them to share their knowledge and wisdom. I think this mission should include an additional objective - health promotion. We know that community is important to health and that isolation is detrimental.
　The SeniorNet community, as any community, is defined as having four elements:

1. Membership: a sense of belonging. SeniorNet offers this for a minimal fee of $35 per year.
2. In a community, one has feeling of personal influence. SeniorNet offers opportunities to share wisdom, to share responsibilities, and to share latent skills. Most SeniorNet leaders are volunteers - adults over age 65 searching for a way to be useful, to retain thier self-esteem by sharing their expertise with others and to make connections.
3. A community provides fulfillment of needs. Each of us has the need to share, to belong, to connect. SeniorNet acts as an open door toward fulfillment of the highest level of needs [as established by Maslow] -- the need for self- actualization. We are innately inclined to seek the fullest possible development of our unique potentials. When our needs is satisfied, the door to self-fulfillment is opened by sharing what we have become with others. OVERHEAD
4. In a community we can share emotional concerns. The compassion shown from widow to widow, from grandparent to grandchild, from isolated retired professionals to loving nieces and nephews, from a Parkinson's disease sufferer to an online associate who sent an emergency crew to save her life . . .

　There are limited places in today's community for sharing one's emotions. We must continue to create such opportunities through SeniorNet.

　Now, I agree that technology can never replace the warm feeling one can get following a neighborhood or family gathering, or the love one feels from sharing concerns with one's mate, caring sibling, or concerned child. Touch is also essential, and that is impossible via cyberspace. However, we know an infant's health suffers if it doesn't 'connect' via touch and physical affection. The absence of touch appears to depress growth- hormone levels and leads to the 'failure-to-thrive' syndrome found in some infants. We never outgrow our need to 'connect' by touching. All over Europe and Asia, women and men touch, embrace, and walk arm in arm . . . friends connected. Not so in the United States.
　A famous cafe study by Jourard and colleagues reinforces this point. A team sat in cafes around the world and watched adults interact. They recorded the number of times per cafe people, socially engaged in a friendly sort of way - not romantically - casually touched each other. The number of touches in Puerto Rico, an Island in the Carribean, 180; in Paris, France, 11; in Gainesville, Florida, 2; in London, England, 0. SeniorNet can follow specific paths to fulfill this need, also.I tell my teachers to shake hands with their students as they enter the classroom and to put their arms around them if they look as if they need attention. Of course, one has to be perceptive to know when a genuine need exists.
　Online chats within SeniorNet serves both the need to 'connect' and the need to laugh. Laughter is as good for seniors as it is for the rest of us. You can't be chatting online in SeniorNet for more than a few minutes before someone shares a joke or makes a humorous remark. Humor is essential in the lives of older adults. No one welcomes aging.

　It is a proceses of stripping away. But we do not have to grow old mentally or spiritually We have seen spiritual youthfulness in some elderly people, and we can see that in many more if we provide the opportunities for them to be mentally agile and socially involved. Many are still skeptical about the communal nature of online networks. Truly soul-satisfying 'connections' may be even more difficult to find on computers than they are in the physical world.
　However, online networks do offer a chance to establish links that can lead to true community, including physical contact. We saw this from the love shown between older adults after they met on cyberspace. Real communities can be oppressive and constrictive, although they can teach us how to live or coexist with people who are very different. Persons with whom one does not wish to associate are much easier to avoid in cyberspace. Networks are based on choice. When they get uncomfortable, it's easy to pull the plug.
　I believe that online networks provide valuable human 'connections,' and can help restore vitality to neighborhoods. Because we cannot readily see each other in cyberspace -- gender, age, national origin, and physical appearance are not apparent unless a person wants to make these characteristics known.
　Individuals whose physical handicaps make it difficult to form new friendships find that virtual communities treat them as they always wanted to be treated - as thinkers and transmitters of ideas and feelings, not as different people with a certain appearance and way of walking and talking ( or not walking or talking).
　In our youth-oriented cultures, there are obvious advantages to this type of 'communication' by elders. To those older adults who have unfortunately internalized the ageism in our society, the possibilities for exhanging ideas and concerns are no longer hampered by feelings of low self-esteem [sometimes brought on by handicaps and changing appearances]. In traditional communities, we are accustomed to meeting people, then getting to know them; in virtual communities, one gets to know people, then chooses whether or not to actually meet them. Because one logs into areas of true interests, cyberspace allows a person to affiliate rapidly with others whom you might have never known in the physical world.
　Online, one goes directly to where favorite subjects are being discussed, then gets acquainted with people who share similar interests . . . or with someone who uses words in a way we find attractive. You can't pick up the phone and ask to be connected with someone who wants to talk about bonsai or traveling with grandchildren or problems with adult children. Your chances of making friends withthose of similar interests are increased greatly over other technically obsolete methods.
　Can community exist even if it is not "place-based?" Ray Olderburg in The Great Good Places states, //there are three essential places in people's lives: the place we live, the place we work, and the place we gather for conversation.
　Although networking (online and otherwise) might lead some people to turn their backs on the place they live, it can also be a real source of solace and fellowship for those who cannot connect with their next-door neighbors. Instead of having the corner coffee shop in which to meet friends, instead of having to put on one's coat and walk down to the corner, it's now possible to launch a program and find willing listeners. It is a virtual coffee shop.
　Perhaps cyberspace is one of the informal public places where people can rebuild the aspects of community that were lost when the coffee shop became a mall! (Does Tokkyo have malls and coffee shops?)
　Community can also be stifling and repressive. But, in an increasingly fragmented society, it is important for us to find ways to support one another, whether we live together or not. And if we live together, it is important that older adults continue to expand their horizons, as the number of friends and relatives naturally dwindles, and as adult children become increasingly involved in their careers and their own families.
　I think we will contine to hear more about "virtual communities" - an exciting concept, because, after all, the real ones have nearly disappeared. In any case, older folks have to remain in the mainstream and we have to participate just to survive. It may well be that real life in a real community, in reality, is better than the virtual reality of the Information Highway, but we must learn to live with what exists and to establish ways to build community through technology.
　Today it is possible to expand our horizons through SeniorNet by obtaining information on a wide range of important topics and to share it with millions of persons at a very low cost. The SeniorNet communications are often interactive, allowing members to talk with each other, exchange feedback, offer pointers, and debate facts, strategies, and values.
　The structure of shared experience beyond that offered by family and passive consumerism is small and dwindling. The shared experiences offered by family are also dwindling as both parents become more involved in the work world. Experiences by grandparents and grandchildren via the computer begin to assume a more important role. Otherwise, the essential group experience will be replaced by the exaggerated self-consciousness of the individual.
　Older lifestyles are often plagued by boredom, loneliness, and alienation. Where else can we look for the connection we need to prevent plunging further into that condition of separateness which Nietzsche called sin? What is there to do but to dive further into the bramble bush of information?
　Cyberspace is not without some very real solace already: you saw that in the video about the lady who became disoriented online. Her online partner directed the police to her home which was located a thousand miles away. Perhaps some of you have experienced the immense security which can come from discovering that people are available around the clock if one needs them.
　A grandfather relates an experience in the Whole Earth Review: "Before this crisis, my computer screen had never been a place to go for solace. Far from it. But there it was. Those nights sitting up late with my grandaughter, I'd go to my computer and ramble. I wrote about what was happening that night. I didn't know anyone with whom I was communicating . But at 3 a.m. my real friends were asleep, so I turned to this foreign, invisible community for support."
　An older person's self-concept must come to grips with the many insults that may come in old age. It must also be realized that these changes are not inevitably tied to old age. The way a person deals with bodily changes, maintains his interests, keeps himself busy, attacks his problems, and above all, participates in the community is decisive about the aging process. Those who do not dwell on the past, but remain in the mainstream, are less burdened by problems of a difficult future.
　At a time when health and physical agility may be stripped away, the psychological stripping away - that of illusions- need not occur.Internet's World Wide Web connection, available at no extra cost through SeniorNet, allows seniors to continue to envision and to impact on a future that was never before possible.
　More importantly, mastery of technology - specifically, computer technology - brings a feeling of power and control to older adults. Older people are likely to perceive themselves as helpless and to believe that control over signifcant events lies in the hands of fate or of other people.
　The relationship between mental health and a sense of control seems to grow stronger with age. Research shows that changes in options for control may profoundly affect emotional and physical health. The elderly need to retain control, as loss of self-determination often leads to a painful sadness and a generalized lack of interest in life. When combined with general inactivity, a persuasive pessimism results that manifests itself as low self-esteem, a gloomy evaluation of one's present and future situation, and difficulty in making decisions - and other manifestations of anxiety.
　Depression from feeling helpless and viewing the present and future as hopless is the most common cause of suicide. The older person who masters computers has been empowered to take control of new aspects of life that were not previously possible.
　All agree that expanding one's circle of friends is perhaps one of the most important advantages of computer conferencing. It is a way to meet people, whether or not you feel the need to affiliate with them on a community level. It is a way of making contact with, yet maintaining a distance from others, if that is what you choose. Control and choice are important as we age. Older people can maintain control and enjoy choice on their computer at a time in life when losses may exceed gains.
　The various ages through which mankind has lived - The Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, the Ice Ages -- each brought us closer to the triumph of technology that we now enjoy as The "Age of Aging." Throughout the stages of history man moved forward through the eras of oral history, the written word, the printing press, telegraph and telephone, radio, TV, computers and now - digitized, multisensory communications. Each of these periods of history also had its impact on society. Each drew the world closer together. At the present time, we are much more likely to know what is going on in Tokyo than we did in 1885. However, we are also less likely to know our neighbors' names. We must find a way to rebuild the fabric of society...to recreate a place where civility and shared responsibility are the norm. We must reconnect with each other.
　I see SeniorNet's reach extending beyond older people. We have started classes in local public schools in Savannah, with the idea that some retirees will then want to volunteer to work with students. Some older adults who live in retirement homes rarely see any children at all, and this presents program an option to do so if they choose. We are allowed to hold computer classes after 3 p.m. when the school children have left for the day, but the school buildings are still unlocked. We place SeniorNet sites in community schools which are convenient for the elderly to attend, as transportation is a serious problem for many older adults.
　I, as well as Dr. Furlong, envision older people volunteering as "techno-guides," teaching younger people about computers. I envision a future filled with sages who, instead of being intimidated by this new technology, will elevate their level of knowledge and control and will quicken the desires of younger people to keep pace with them. Working with older people means interacting with those who are dealing with decreasing energies, abilities and sensory perception. We must weigh carefully what kinds of aids they truly need.
　Many wonderful advances in technology are autonomy enhancements - I can do it for myself, even if I can't hear, see well, or move with grace. Older people need as much control as technology can provide. What else do older adults really need? When I asked Seniors in America what their chief concerns are, I found the same results both in California, on the West Coast, where I first established senior programs, and in Savannah, Georgia on the East Coast. In this order of significance, the list was medical concerns, financial concerns, loneliness, and transportation concerns.
　During her visits to Japan, the Rev. Dosia Carlson said that, when older adults in Japan were asked the same question, the major concerns were "finding meaning and purpose in life." Japanese elders and those who care for them wrestle with a sense of lack of purpose and usefulness in old age, with no easy way to find them.. This is the real problem with many older adults everywhere.
　Dependence will never lead to an abundant life. However, the abundant life does not come from independence, but, rather, from interdependence. In healthy interdependence, respecting the personhood of others develops.
　Autonomy is an acclaimed goal in our society, but we must not forget to enable ourselves and others to move beyond concepts of independence and dependence to embrace interdependence. There has always been intergenerational interdependence in our societies, and we must strive to keep this balance.
　Older adults can help younger people gain perspective. They can share their experiences of living through other equally dramatic times -- the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement.
　Interaction between generations can give the elderly confidence that their lives have meaning -- that their struggles to improve their lot and the lot of future generations were not in vain. Hillel said "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? We need to concentrate on "we" instead of "I," and to project, onto society, solutions which are beneficial to all generations.
　In The Fountain of Age, Betty Friedan says, "It would be a violation of our own wisdom and generativIty to empower ourselves in age only for our own securtiy and care. It would be a denial of the true power of age. "It is only by continuing to work on the problems confronting our society right now with whatever wisdom and generativety we have attained over our lifetimes that we leave a legacy to our grandchildren, helping to shape the future, expressing and conserving the generativity of the human community...
　Through our actions we will create a new image of age --free and joyous, living with pain, saying what we really think and feel at last-- moving with wonder into that unknown future we have helped to shape for the generations coming after us."
　Envision a world of elders where 60 or 70 years of accumulated knowledge and experiences is further enhanced by being connected to worlds of knowledge through forums and libraries at their fingertips........ imagine a world where we have advanced to a state of physical fitness beyond that known previously to aged human beings - (we know this is already happening) - a world where we have advanced to a state of intellectual fitness through exposure to new experiences through multimedia technology, -- a world of social fitness, where we learn to connect with each other via multimedia technology.

　The ultimate peak of our development would then be to share this expertise and advanced stages of fitness - to leave a legacy of optimum development to those who follow us. We pioneers in this field have the responsibility to help the elderly realize their potentials, just as our ancestors had the responsibility to pass along the traditions of their cultures to us.
　The second phase, or the last half of life, should see an advance toward a new fulfillment. The purest form of our abilities surfaces only in old age when we are challenged with the limitation of time and the unavoidability of death. Only then can we make the maximum use of our abilities and accumulated knowledge. Only with the gift of our brains can we overcome the limitations of our individuality and limited existence.
　Old age can be made meaningful through intellectual or creative pursuits. The basis of the creation of the higher world of culture is found in the brain. Physical reproduction creates only more life, but intellectual work can create more than life. The discrepancy between physical limitation and spiritual eternity challenges us to overcome and accept this phenomenon.
　Jung states that success in the second stage of life is a matter of intelligently grasping the meaning of individual life. What youth found outside its body, the older person should find inside. The older person has the time to get to know his internal values , to deepen them, to lead a fuller life, and to share the results of extended awareness. It is only in facing the challenges of the changes of old age that we establish continuity with our past life.
　Our society seriously lags in finding new roles for healthy, as well as for fragile, older people. There are many PROscriptions for behavior as we age, especially for women. We must create new roles and the only PREscription that we have to date is SeniorNet. It can actually improve your health!Questions???How did we do it?
　Once funding is located for a computer learning center, the location, transportation, parking, and access should be given much consideration. I like to start programs in several different locations within different communities, to make them more convenient for older adults. In America, churches represent an excellent location for senior programs. Going back to school, at a university or college, seems threatening to some older adults.
　We seem to be more comfortable in churches, community centers, or elementary schools. It is important that the building chosen has an entrance for the handicapped, and one that is protected from the weather.
　Accessibility to public transportation lines is also important for those who do not drive. In Savannah, special public transportation is available to seniors in wheelchairs or with walkers.
　Comfortable learning center computer chairs are important for seniors, since they must sit in front of monitors for the duration of a two-hour class. The first year, there was no money available for comfortable chairs; then a donation enabled us to buy some. Lighting and room temperature must be controllable, since seniors frequently react adversely to temperature changes.
　I establish class times primarily during the day or early evening because many seniors have difficulty driving at night and because of the greater potential for crime ( for personal safety reasons). Seniors seem to prefer morning classes, but will attend at any hour of the day. We require a break at the end of each hour.
　It is important to simplify access to class registration. Waiting in long lines to register discourages older learners. We set up registration teams to serve 6 or 8 lines of seniors simultaneously. The logistics of registration can be quite simple, but require planning. In every on-going class, we pre-register existing students for their next courses. This planning avoids another registration process. We assign students to classes as the registration packets, by class, are drawn randomly from a basket. Once the program is accepted and off to a good start, telephone registration becomes possible for new students.
　All of our computers, be they IBM, IBM clones, or Macintosh, contain the integrated software program, Microsoft Works. We have five different sites in five different public schools. We have four sites in churches for Senior Friendship Days Programs, which have proven to be a fertile source of senior student computer learners. The friendship programs provide opportunities for seniors to 'network,' learn, develop living skills, and assume leadership roles. One church site is preparing a computer class facility which will be our sixth computer learning center.
　Marketing our program by word of mouth was successful. If the program is enjoyable and effective, seniors will bring their neighborhood friends and relatives to see what they can do! We started small, but the word gradually spread that computers were not threatening, but could be a very helpful companion.
　Problems arise in training staff and volunteers to work with older adults . Many volunteers wish to teach, but do not necessarily possess the essential skills nor do they wish to be trained. Many teachers are retired corporate executives, professionals, or other older adults who are not comfortable being told about age changes.
　However, through newsletters, bulletins, and occasional social gatherings, I am able to distribute information and suggestions that are important in the classroom of older adults. I emphasize the important of understanding the slowdown in the reaction time of older adults, the need to organizematerial and provide handout guides for them, and the need to repeat, repeat, repeat, and summarize.
　I post lists of teachers' responsibilities in their classrooms, and expect student learners to help with administrative details. I believe that responsibility and cooperation enhance any learning experience, and I do not hesitate to ask students to help after they have been a part of the program for a year.
　They respond favorably every time. I have 20 volunteer teachers and 7 staff teachers who are paid $10. an hour. I emphasize the importance of the classroom atmosphere. It must be friendly and non-threatening. We do not pretend to "finish the material" in each class, but to make each older adult glad that he or she has risked a new learning experience.
　At present, very few older adults come to class to re-train for a job. I expect this situation to change in the future, as more older adults realize that they are capable of continuing to function. Many come to gain enough computer knowledge to understand the basic technical language.
　Many only want to be comfortable around their children and grandchildren when computer technology is the topic of converation. Many want to learn only the word-processing application. Others want to share their thoughts and to learn everything.
　Everyone wants control. Lists of birthdays aid the declining memory, lists of new acquaintances make it easier to avoid the embarrassment of forgetting, and computerized calendars remind one of appointments. The computer is the best aid to declining memory that technology has ever provided. It is also an asset as an organizer of one's obligations, responsibilities, and written demands.
　A psychological climate of mutual respect, collaboration, trust, support, openness, and pleasure will enrich the learning atmosphere. The diminshing energy level of older adults must be considred in the classroom because they put significant energy into attention and involvement in a class setting - trying to compensate for pphysiological ailments, sensory deficiences, muscular coordination. Maximum learning occurs in short classes when interest, alertness, reception and energy are at their peak.
　Educational programs, especially computer training, should provide warmth, a feeling of acceptance, support, and dependability. The physical and psychological climate is especially important for older adults. The initial climate is set by the way the instructor deals with the learners individually and collectively.
　By cooperative goal setting, by the manner in which the students are addressed, the attention paid to their comments, the way their experiences are used in instruction, and the patience with those who speak or learn slowly, an older adult will learn to like or to dislike a new learning experience. They vote with their feet. If you motivate them, they will return.
　As I have said SeniorNet is the one prescription for older adults that we know works. They'll love technology, if teachers make learning a risk worth taking. They won't "rust out" if they stay mentally agile and in the mainstream. Resting is rusting, but ageing is "sageing."

Introduction of ICS Project

　ICS Project of IEICE (Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers) has been studied how we use the Advanced Technology will to support the elderly and the people with disabilities since 1993. We have invited Ms.Deborah Kaplan Vice president of WID(World Institute on Disability ) in 1994, Dr.Garrett in 1995, Mr.Yu from Wollobang(Korean Seniornet) Mr.Daniel Ben-Horin the president of CompuMentor 1997. The President of ICS Project is Dr.Keiichi Tsukada. This speech has delivered in the Hi-Vision Hall Panasonic Co.ltd. Special Thanks to Mr.Winston Willis and Ms. Keiko Suehiro.