streetwise

Learning Together – Smartphones

A beginner-friendly introduction to using a smartphone

4 Monday afternoons — 9, 16, 23 & 30 January, 2 to 4 pm — at Mildmay Community Centre.

What would you like to do or learn?

Think of this as a consultation exercise

There are many ways for you to tell us what you want. Would you like to try our online consultation form? It’s very easy — but if you have never done one before, please come to the next Wednesday afternoon drop-in and get some help.

Here is the link to the form — tap or click on it » Course Consultation «

Online safety first …

For your personal security – you will not use your own device, your own email address or your own phone number as part of the course.

Everyone will use our safety-first smartphones – set up for older people who don’t have a lot of internet experience – so we can all focus together on what is really important.

When and where

  • 4 Monday afternoons – 9, 16, 23 & 30 January, 2 to 4 pm.
  • Mildmay Community Centre, N6 8NA

Who is this for?

  • If you are an occasional internet user – wanting to learn more – but perhaps not totally confident about what you are doing – this is for you!
  • But probably not if you need 1:1 help.
  • If you are uncertain, or have a question – please email to learning@50pd.uk

Advance sign up will be essential

  • We are not ready yet to accept sign-ups. We have to finish our consultation exercise first.
  • This will be a sign-up first event, not a drop-in. That means we must know who you are before you come — and we must be able to contact you with further information before and during the course.
  • We have training smartphones for maximum 12 people.

See also page: Learning – courses and workshops

How to be safe on the internet

Learn to use the Internet safely and sensibly

Enjoy all the advantages of being online – avoid the risks

A beginner-friendly course at Whitmore Community Centre — Friday afternoons in December

NB: The course list is now full – we have reached our maximum 12 learners

You are an internet citizen now, so wouldn’t it be nice to spend your online time in those parts of the internet where there are no risks, no exploitation, no deceit?

It’s easily done, because that is still most of the internet. It’s still about contact and communication with friends, family and people you could never have met in any other way — inhabited by optimists who are expanding their horizons and learning more about the real world that they return to safely when they switch off their device.

Join our course, and use our safe smartphones to explore and understand how the internet works – for you.

Online safety first

This is about your safety concerns, not about devices. For your personal security – you will not use your own device, your own email address or your own phone number as part of the course.

Everyone will use our safety-first smartphones – set up for older people who don’t have a lot of internet experience – so we can all focus together on what is really important.

You are welcome to bring your own device if you want to – but we cannot offer 1:1 help with it. That’s because we don’t have time to help individuals when there are 11 other people on the course. This approach always works best for everybody.

When and where

  • 4 Friday afternoons – 2, 9, 16 and 23 December, 2 to 4 pm.
  • Whitmore Community Centre, N1 5NU (location info below).

Who is this for?

  • If you are an occasional internet user – wanting to learn more – but perhaps not totally confident about your security and privacy while online – this is for you!
  • But not if you need 1:1 help.
  • If you are uncertain, or have a question – please email to learning@50pd.uk

Advance sign up is essential

NB: The course list is now full – we have reached our maximum 12 learners

  • This is a sign-up first event, not a drop-in. That means we must know who you are before you come — and we must be able to contact you with further information before and during the course.
  • We have space for maximum 12 people.
  • You can sign up in person at Mildmay Community Centre on Wednesday afternoon.
  • Or send an email to learning@50pd.uk or a text message to 07423 162019 — then wait for a reply that confirms your attendance.

Where is Whitmore Community Centre?

See also page: Learning – courses and workshops

The Perception Census

Do you see what I see?

A really interesting online research project that needs your help and participation.

A message from Jane Wells (Collective Act)

We (Collective Act) are based at Hackney Downs Studios, and we recently launched The Perception Census – a new scientific study into the unique ways we each experience the world around us. Led by world-leading academics Professor of Neuroscience Anil Seth from the University of Sussex and Professor of Philosophy Fiona Macpherson from the University of Glasgow.

The online survey is made up of fun interactive tasks exploring how participants perceive colour, music, time, illusion and more.

By taking part, participants will learn about their own powers of perception while helping our team of scientists and philosophers uncover why, and how, we all experience the world in unique ways.

The Perception Census is made up of 10 topics. Each section takes approx. 20 minutes to complete, and we recommend starting with The Fundamentals of Perception. To begin, participants need to create an account and navigate through the prompts on screen.

You might have seen an article by our Lead Scientist on the Perception Census, Anil Seth: The big idea: do we all experience the world in the same way? I think this gives a great bit of additional framing for the project.

A focus group for older people

I have been thinking about our engagement of people over 60 and have got approval to run a focus group. I am looking to recruit a small group of over 60s. The focus group discussion will happen online and everyone will be paid £25 for their participation

I have more information and a place where people can register their interest in participating here: Perception Census Over-60s Focus Group.

We hope the Focus Group session will be an open and dynamic discussion where everyone is welcome, regardless of background, experience, ability, or expertise.

Ahead of the discussion, please visit the Perception Census landing page

  • have a look over this landing page
  • sign-up to start the Perception Census
  • complete the first section, Fundamentals of Perception

Our discussion will focus on how accessible the website and the task are, and the language we are using to describe it. You may find it helpful to make notes as you move through the visitor journey.

We are offering a £25 voucher (Amazon, Sainsburys or Tesco) or £25 paid via invoice to every participant as reimbursement for taking the time to participate in the task and the focus group. We will confirm details of this after the session.

People are also welcome to email me directly with any questions or to register their interest – jane.wells@collectiveact.co.uk 

NB from 50+ Digital

About the Perception Census

  • This is what the internet is for — but you can’t do it on a phone or tablet.
  • You could do it on one of our drop-in laptops — if you bring your own headphones.

Wednesday Winter Warmer lunch breaks

Free food at Mildmay Community Centre

Hot soup and stew, 12:30 to 1:30 pm, every Wednesday

This is a perfect fit to our Wednesday afternoon Digital Drop-in, 1 to 4 pm.

The food is served in the café area, next to the kitchen (not in the Main Hall).

Our suggestion – get there early at 12:30 – replenish your vitamins and stamina for the drop-in starting at 1 pm.

The free food is organised by Mildmay Community Centre, not by Fifty-Plus Digital.

How to be Smart with a Phone

Everything you always wanted to do with a smartphone

A beginner-friendly course at Whitmore Community Centre, Friday afternoons in November 2022

NB: this course has finished.

Plus quite a lot you didn’t know you could do

Think of this as a general-purpose smartphone course where we tackle the needs and interests of everyone in the group — and introduce creative new ideas for you to do or think about.

On your phone learning menu — choose from

  • Privacy and security (because so many people have justified concerns)
  • Music and radio
  • Maps and travel
  • YouTube and other video (including making it)
  • World-Wide Web
  • Photos
  • Podcasts and other audio (including making it)
  • Health and fitness
  • BBC
  • Languages
  • Plants, trees & bird identification
  • Reporting problems to your local authority
  • Documents, slides and spreadsheets (including making them)
  • WhatsApp
  • Your suggestions …

See also page: Learning – courses and workshops

Email on your phone or tablet

Get on top of email

Friday 28 October

NB: this workshop has finished.

Improve your life in one afternoon

Email is arguably the most important internet technology, because it’s the key that opens the door to everything else that you might need – including all transactions – shopping, health, utilities, work, education, local & national government – and all social media.

Email has been with us for a long time – but it was never intended for a small screen. Although the app designers have done their best, most older people struggle with phone-sized email.

At the workshop we will unpick your experiences — whatever they are — and find solutions – so you can go home at least one rung further up the email ladder, hopefully feeling better about yourself.

See also page: Learning – courses and workshops

Hardeep’s World

Hardeep has her own podcast show

The best place to listen is radiotogether.uk/hardeep — but as you are here now, try the playlist below …

You could be a podcast host too

No technical skills required — just the ability to tell a story about your life or ask someone else to tell you a story.

We take care of the tech, but you can learn that as well if you really want to. There are many ways to make your own podcast show, even if all you have is a smartphone.

If you are interested, come over to the regular podcast learning session …

  • Thursday afternoons, 2 to 4 pm.
  • Thingy Café (at Arbeit Studios), 1 Trowbridge Gardens, E9 5LD
  • The entrance is actually in Chapman Rd.
  • Nearest bus stop: 30, 488 (both very close). 276 Berkshire Road stop is also close.
  • Rail: Hackney Wick (7 minutes walk).
  • Google Map – g.page/thingypeople
  • Refreshments for participants when you get there.

If you are uncertain, send an email to rick@radiotogether.uk

Radio Together is not organised by MRS – Independent Living.

How to search the World-Wide Web on your phone or tablet

Find information about the cost of living crisis and how to survive it

21 October 2022

NB: this workshop has finished.

It’s not always easy on a small screen

The primary content of the World-Wide Web is information, advice, opportunities, inspiration, contact and communication — for everyday life as well as education and business. This workshop is about how you can actively search for what you need.

We will start with basic beginner-level web search, and then progress as time allows. We suggest a focus on the cost of living because it is a major concern now, but we can follow up any topic that interests the group.

Search engines have become very sophisticated — but sometimes quite challenging on a small screen. Formulating a good search query requires practice and a basic understanding of how search engines work.

Try these five cost of living search queries in the Google search engine —

Different results of course, but are they the results you would need for your search on cost of living information? If you put the same searches into other search engines (eg: Bing, DuckDuckGo) you might notice even greater differences.

If you use a small screen, you probably want to keep web search as simple as possible, and you might like to feel that you are in control — and perhaps you would appreciate results that are genuinely useful, accurate and unbiased. This workshop will help you get there.

See also page: Learning – courses and workshops

How to manage photos on your phone or tablet

Move your photos from your device to somewhere else

14 October 2022

NB: this workshop has finished.

Easy solutions to a hard problem

This workshop will tackle one of the most common problems for people who take photographs on a smartphone or tablet — what to do when the device is full — and anyway, how to manage hundreds, or even thousands, of photos.

There are many solutions for people who are not professional photographers. We will look at the easy solutions first because there is almost certainly one for you.

See also page: Learning – courses and workshops

50-Plus Databank – free SIM cards for older people

50-Plus Digital has joined the National Databank scheme

The National Databank

You can read about this scheme at the main website – goodthingsfoundation.org/databank

In their own words …

“The National Databank provides free mobile data, texts and calls to people in need … Think of it like a food bank but for internet connectivity data.”

Our local 50-Plus Databank

The scheme has started. You can read about it on page The 50-Plus Databank.

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