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INTERNET REALITY AROUND US

- we visited internet cafés , we surfed the web and we read books about the Internet.

From Seniors of the Istituto Rezzara

INTERNET CAFES - There are a lot of Internet cafés scattered in towns and villages: they are also called Internet Centres, Internet Points. "Internetteria" is another funny name for an Internet Café. They are usually meant for young people and offer a variety of services: videogames, e-mail, chats, research, and … drinking.
However, a virtual Internet-Café on TV (RAI Educational), is a programme, set in a real café, with a special guest interviewed each time on a topic of interest, among other people sitting at tables; a young man surfing the web looks for information helping the interviewer enlarge upon the theme with news and images from all over the world. It s a good example of internet usage for cultural purposes.

SURFING THE WEB - According to our research in the Veneto, unlike in the other regions of the North and the Centre, there are very few facilities where the Internet is taught to senior citizens at reasonable prices, as confirmed by the Veneto region database “InformaEd.A.Veneto”. Indeed, a lot of courses are organized by private schools and institutions, but at such prices that few retired people can afford them. They usually offer computer courses for beginners and Internet courses, including on line courses.
Quite a few websites are intended for the elderly's health problems: old age diseases and institutions (public and private) running homes for the elderly.
Some public institutions also offer information on old age pension laws, insurance, taxes, etc. but also on art, museums, cooking, medicine.
Milan, Rome, Brescia, Turin, Bologna, Pescara, Trieste are the most active towns in offering courses for the third age. In general, courses run by local councils are free, courses run by private institutions, must be paid for. We have selected four interesting experiences.

INTERNET SALOON, Milan, run by Microsoft and supported by other important sponsors, is addressed to the over 60 and is free: http://www.webaccessibile.org/default.asp
Net economy corporations have understood that senior citizens are going to be the best market.
It started 2 years ago involving thousands of people and it was such a success that it is already fully booked for 2003. Microsoft decided to repeat the experience in other towns.
Courses are full immersion: from 10 am to 3 pm every day with university students as instructors, groups of 18 people in each class. In another room, computers can be used for free practice.

LE CAMBUSE, Rome, http://www.intrage.it, supported by CISL trade union, offers a lot of services to its retired members: from Internet Centres, to learning on line, forum pages, franchising contracts, etc a portal full of options for the elderly people, in many towns.
The philosophy behind this website is to fill the gap between those who possess information and those who don't. Their commitment is for "an open information society".
"Le Cambuse" (ship storerooms) are internet centers, where people go to chat, send mail, download music, films and software, assisted by the young "Cambusieri" (storeroom dispensers). The virtual Intrage community involves about 200 to 300 people that daily exchange information, share feelings, buy and sell things, etc. Both experiences have fixed equipment and facilities specially set up for elderly people, and rely on both intergenerational and peer learning, after an introductory course, made easy for the elderly.

SENIOR ON LINE ITALIA, http://www.iperbole.bologna.it/senioronline/, run by Bologna Council for the over 60. You can enter it through the Council Home Page. The Portal is part of a European Project started in 1998. There are courses in many social centres (at present ten, each involving 100 to 150 elderly) organised by the Council. Young instructors help at the beginning, then in turn "cybergrandparents" become instructors themselves.

DAL LICEO AL MUSEO, http://www.ashmm.com/pigafetta/, finally, a local experience: from the young students of Liceo Pigafetta, in Vicenza, to senior citizens . The idea is to overcome the generation gap, and help young people think in terms of parents and grand-parents' needs: a virtual, two-hour walking tour, mainly along Corso Palladio, through history and art, starting from their school to Palazzo Chiericati (Vicenza's art gallery). Twenty-six palaces and the lives of famous people (architects, decorators etc) are illustrated by the students in a simple way.

BOOKSHOP BROWSING
A lot of books on the use of the Internet are available, not specifically intended for adults or elderly people: however, we have selected a few good reference books (10), easy and clear enough for 3A people; they include also translations from English.