Carol Hillsdon, Eastern Projects Manager, VICNET
This discussion/presentation will address an initiative where remote rural women who have considered using technology but were afraid to take the plunge and have a go.
The participating focus group were the Victorian Country Women's Association (CWA) where 70% of the members are over the age of 55 and as old as 84.
Carol Hillsdon, the traveling Trainer from Ballarat Online/Vicnet West chose this group because of the forward vision on her part seeing how technology can enhance and enrich these women's lives breaking down the digital divide.
Many family members move away from rural towns to obtain employment, travel overseas, and attend university or boarding school for educational purposes. Technology brings these families together via e-mail and the Internet.
Health and Government services were accessed and web pages made for the purpose of exchanging information across the state and the world. The most important part of the project was training mentors who in turn are now continuing to train other members in their region. This empowered the women to take charge of the learning process and encourage other women in their regions to take the plunge. After all if you have walked the walk you can talk the talk.
Strong friendships and old friendships have been rekindled through this initiative. Having been told by many people in the IT industry that Carol had chosen an extremely challenging group, the success rate has been wonderful and is still continuing today and will continue because it is lead by the women themselves.