This paper presents the results of a series of innovative workshops held with older people (65 and older) in Montreal, Canada on aging with technology. Titled "The Digital Data Swamp" the workshops ask participants to "map" their digital connections and devices using the metaphor of the swamp as a prompt. Why a swamp? First, it is a term familiar to most Canadians; second, it conjures living in an environment where digital users sense that there are hidden, unseen forces lurking beneath the glossy surface of their devices; third, it has invited a reflection of past interactions that influence present engagements. Briefly, workshop participants are given a large sheet of paper to draw their "swamp". In the debrief that follows, participants discuss their drawings, sharing stories and insights. To date over 50 people have engaged in the exercise. The workshops have been a non-threatening way to open up a conversation about the pleasures, fears, and anxieties about how older adults, particularly those living in situations of income insecurity, experience and manage their digital lives. What has emerged in the drawings are stories about their affinities with specific devices and the content they seek, as well as encounters with companies and service providers that produce feelings of "being overwhelmed". I will present the visual data generated by participants and reflect on these workshops as a method for including older adults in discussions of living in a digital data world.

Authors:
Kim Sawchuk, Concordia University, Canada

---

Conference Comments & Feedback

Place a comment using your LinkedIn profile

Comments

Share on activity feed

Post with LinkedIn

Powered by WP LinkPress

Share this Presentation

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

Last updated: 2023-02-23 23:45:00

All Posts