We provide free training and access to almost anything that has ‘digital’ in its
name. So it's really not just about computers – it's also about mobile phones,
digital cameras, digital radio, digital TV, digital video, the World Wide Web, email, Skype
and much more – but mainly it's about how you can use the virtual world of digital
technology and media to enhance the real world you already know so well.
This is the home page of the Agewell Computer Club – free training and
support for Hackney mid-lifers (50 to 65), and their partners or carers. If you are new to this sort of thing, you might want
to begin by looking at some of these pages first …
If you are not a Hackney midlifer (50 to 65), there are many alternative activities at Hackney Silver Surfers, which is also based at The Lawns computer centre. Remember though, that partners and carers of Hackney midlifers are welcome at the Agewell Computer Club.
By the way – most of this page is underneath this section – scroll down to see it all …
ITV Daybreak at Agewell Computer Club.
TV film crew at The Lawns, Monday 30 January.
A film crew from the Daybreak TV program will visit Agewell Computer Club next Monday afternoon. They want to include us in a wider piece about digital inclusion. They especially want to talk to people who are learning about the Internet for the first time. So …
If you are up for a TV show, come to The Lawns a bit earlier than usual. The front shutter will stay down until 2 pm, but the back door will be open from 1:30 pm.
If you are nervous about being on TV, come anyway as usual. They will not film or interview anyone who is reluctant.
If you are really keen to be interviewed, you can reserve a place by sending an email to acc@lawns.org.uk .
Agewell Social Network – Grooveshark for beginners.
Agewell Social Network:
Monday 30 January 2012.
Internet for beginners (2 to 3.30 pm).
Help and support for beginners. No need to reserve a place – just come.
Workshop: Grooveshark for beginners (3.30 to 5 pm).
Grooveshark is an international online music search engine and music streaming service, allowing users to search for, and stream, music that can be played immediately or added to a playlist. Unlike other music streaming services (for example – Spotify, We7, Deezer) Grooveshark does not require you to login through a Facebook account.
At the workshop, we will …
Show you how to get started with Grooveshark.
Search for and play music you like.
Create a Grooveshark account so you can make your own playlists.
Agewell members can reserve a place at the Grooveshark workshop by sending an email to acc@lawns.org.uk .
In February, we will continue activities requested or suggested by our members in the end-of-quarter evaluation forms. Not just the content, but especially the way we deliver it. This month, we will replace the normal single-session workshops with short informal courses, so you can learn with more continuity and depth. Reserve your places in an email to acc@lawns.org.uk .
Mondays (Agewell Social Network).
2 to 3:30 pm (teaching area).
First Click Food (Internet for beginners).
This is not really a course – more like a series of workshops for beginners. Absolute beginners will have priority, and may reserve their place by asking Rick personally. First Click Food starts Monday 6 February, and will continue until the end of March
(» Read more about the ‘First Click’ course »).
3:30 to 5 pm (teaching area).
Learn how to blog easily and creatively.
This course consists of five consecutive sessions aimed at helping you to a better understanding of basic Internet concepts, email attachments, digital pictures, photo editing, audio recording, YouTube video, and how to combine them into a personal web presence or a group blog. The course starts Monday 6 February, and will continue until 5 March. We are asking people to sign up in advance for all 5 sessions
(» Read more about the ‘Blog creatively’ course »).
2 to 5 pm (front area).
Mobile phone digital clinic (until 4 pm). Monday 6 February and 20 February.
This replaces open drop-in on the first and third Mondays of February and March. People who have problems or queries about their mobile phones may reserve a place at 2 pm. Unreserved computers will be available for normal Agewell drop-in
(» Read more about the ‘mobile phone’ clinic »).
Agewell drop-in. Monday 13 February and 27 February.
Drop-in as usual.
Citrus fruit at the Hackney Healthy Eating Project.
On the menu, Thursday 2 February 2012 …
Citrus fruit, sending email attachments, YouTube, recording audio files, finding free photos on the web..
What do you know about citrus fruit?
Do you know how nutritious citrus fruits are?
Would you like to share your citrus fruit recipes and knowledge?
Would you like to know how to find citrus fruit recipes and other information on the World Wide Web?
Come to the next Hackney Healthy Eating Project at The Lawns,
Thursday 2 February (2 to 5 pm).
Every Thursday afternoon session is different, but from 2 to 5 pm …
We talk about healthy food, recipes and shopping.
We record what we say, and make audio files that we can send by email and post on a web site.
We take digital photographs and we scan drawings or paintings.
So our focus is on food, but we are learning more about the Internet too.
Each person is doing something a bit different, according to their own background and skills.
There is room for you to join in as well.
How to join us.
If you want to, you can just turn up next Thursday 2 February at 2 pm. But it would be better to tell us in advance that you are interested, so we can reserve a place for you. You can do that in an email to hep@lawns.org.uk, or a phone call to 020 7254 2183 (leave a very clear message if there is no answer).
Eligibility.
All Hackney residents aged 50 or better.
By the way.
We do a lot of digital photography and sound recording, and sometimes filming too. It’s all part of our digital learning. Some of those photographs and videos will be on our web site. So we ask everybody who comes to Talking Food (including visitors) to sign a photo consent form.
A course for Agewell beginners: Email Essentials with Henry.
Agewell super-volunteer Henry has been persuaded to lead a five-week email course at The Lawns.
When, exactly.
Five Tuesday afternoons, 2.30 to 5 pm.
Starts: Tuesday 31 January.
Ends: Tuesday 28 February.
Enrolment finished: Tuesday 24 January –
the course is now full.
Course Content.
Understand email better.
Get a better of idea of where emails are stored, how it all works, different ways to access emails. Find out how your email is sent through ‘thin air’!
Overcome common problems.
Such as “Why didn’t my email send?”, ‘Where has my email disappeared to?’ ‘This computer is different to what I am used to’, and more.
Completely master attachments.
We’ll practice attaching music, video clips, text documents, or a variety of different things attached to one email. Also we will learn great tips for tracking down the picture or file which you want to attach! And anything else you want to know about attachments.
Privacy and spam.
Make sure your email is not at risk in any way, and learn how to make sure you are not receiving too many junk emails.
Make emails look pretty.
Try out different coloured text in your emails, highlighting text, using bullet points, making text bigger and smaller, using different fonts and text styles.
Taking it further.
Get to grips with forwarding, emailing multiple recipients, reply to all and other useful techniques.
Get under the bonnet.
Learn how to change the settings to suit you! – the way your inbox looks, the size of the text on the screen, how to ‘label’ emails to make your inbox more easy to keep track of.
Any questions.
If we are making good progress, we can cover any aspects of email people are baffled by, or keen to learn more about. That way everyone can impress their ‘email contacts’ by sending fantastic messages all around the globe from the comfort of The Lawns!
Who it’s for.
It’s for Agewell beginners who already know a bit about email, but sometimes still get stuck or even baffled. So that means not absolute beginners, but also not people who have been using email for years. Most Agewellers are in between, so we expect most Agewellers to be interested.
Also, you should be able to commit yourself to those five Tuesday afternoons from 2.30 to 5 pm.
How to get on the course.
The course is full.
By the way.
We really can’t take everybody on Henry’s email course. But there will also be a new Monday afternoon course during the same period – ‘Learn how to blog creatively’.
A course for Agewell beginners:
Learn how to blog easily and creatively.
This is the promised follow-up to our earlier workshop ‘Photo blogging for beginners with Posterous’ – but extended to five consecutive sessions, to help you reinforce what you have learnt. We will use the very easy Posterous blog system, so you can do everything – if you choose – just by sending emails.
Blogging is about connecting with people – perhaps one of the reasons you started learning about the Internet in the first place. We will start by creating a group blog for the Agewell Social Network, then help you make your own blog (if you want to).
The course will replace the next five Monday workshops – 3:30 to 5 pm, starting Monday 6 February, ending Monday 5 March. If you want to join the course, sign up by sending an email to acc@lawns.org.uk – but quickly, because we can take only 12 people.
Course content will include …
Signing up with Posterous.
Understanding how Posterous works.
Learning (or remembering) how to send an email with attachments.
Easy photo editing to make your picture suitable for email or the World Wide Web.
How to put links to YouTube videos in your emails.
How to make short audio recordings of your own voice, then attach them to emails and to your blog.
A final look at the popular Picnik photo-editing website (it’s going to disappear in April).
How to edit your blog online.
How to make an online slide show.
How to change your blog ‘theme’ (what it looks like).
How to invite your friends to follow, or even contribute to, your blog web site.
How to make your own blog just for your friends and family – your own private Facebook.
A look at other micro-blogging systems, such as Tumblr.
A review of the basic computer and Internet skills you need to do all this.
When, exactly.
Five Monday afternoons, 3.30 to 5 pm.
Starts: Monday 6 February.
Ends: Monday 5 March.
Please reserve your course place.
If you are able to attend all five Monday afternoon sessions, please reserve your place by sending an email to acc@lawns.org.uk .
Agewell in Hackney eligibility.
Our funders expect that everyone attending the courses they pay for should be eligible for other Agewell in Hackney services – that they should be Hackney residents aged 50 to 65. However, sometimes we invite other people to join us.
Learn how to explore your passion for food and cooking online.
Our next series of First Click classes …
Begins on Monday 6 February 2012 (2 to 3.30 pm).
Continues with weekly sessions (2 to 3.30 pm).
Ends on Monday 26 March 2012.
Happens at our computer centre at 52 The Lawns, Matthias Road, N16 8QB.
You will learn basic computer skills, then move on to using the World Wide Web and email. After that we will help you explore food online – recipes, cookery techniques, ingredients, healthy eating, nutrition – using the excellent BBC website.
Eligibility.
Hackney residents in the pre-retirement age range 50 to 65. First Click is for beginners; absolute beginners have priority.
How to sign up, or get more information.
Contact us on 020 7254 2183 or 020 7272 5512 (or, if you want to refer sombody, send an email to acc@lawns.org.uk ).
Starting Monday 6 February 2012, we will be holding a mobile phone clinic every other Monday afternoon at The Lawns. The clinic will happen in the front drop-in area of our training centre, from 2 to 4 pm. Here are the first 4 dates … 6 February, 20 February, 5 March, 19 March.
We will have new volunteers coming in especially to help with these clinics – so it’s OK to come along with any mobile problem you have – no matter how difficult or how trivial. It doesn’t even have to be a problem – if it’s something you can’t do, bring it to the clinic.
Music Online – a short course at Hackney Silver Surfers.
The Hackney Learning Trust is funding two more short courses about Music Online. They are free to Hackney residents aged 50 or better. There will be five sessions in each course. The two courses have identical content. The tutor is Julie Usher.
Course content.
Finding and listening to music on the internet.
Learn about iTunes, iPods, online music stores, YouTube.
Internet radio.
Downloading and purchasing music from the internet.
Internet music forums.
Staying safe and copyright.
Music Online A (January – February).
This course has been postponed.
Music Online B (March – April).
Exactly the same as Music Online A, except …
Starts: Wednesday 7 March.
Ends: Wednesday 4 April.
Enrolment: Wednesday afternoon, 29 February (2 to 5 pm).
Assessment and enrolment.
Hackney residents involved in the MiCommunity Intergenerational Project will not be able to attend the enrolment for Music Online B on 29 February – so we will arrange a separate enrolment session just for them on a convenient day.
More information.
If you cannot attend for enrolment on the days and times arranged, or if you need further information – please contact Rick by email to courses@lawns.org.uk or phone 020 7254 2183.
Several people have asked how to find and play the Internet Radio stations we play at Agewell Computer Club.
They are all ‘SHOUTcast’ stations. SHOUTcast is a very wonderful Internet project that helps to restore flagging faith in humanity – free software enabling almost anyone to set up an Internet Radio station without expensive equipment. There is more info on the Wikipedia SHOUTcast page.
The easiest way to play SHOUTcast stations is to use a web browser to open http://www.shoutcast.com/, then use the search form near the top of the page. The streams with the highest bitrate have the best quality sound.
A better way is to download and install ‘Winamp’ (a media player designed for SHOUTcast) from http://www.winamp.com/. Winamp is very ugly to look at, but works well.
A very short excerpt from a much longer TV documentary in 2010. The old hardware shown in the clip has all gone now. The facetious background music was dubbed. Everyone makes sense.
Click on the triangular ‘play’ button to start the video.
Hello, I’m Gillian and I find free events and activities for seniors in our neighbourhood, in the 5 London 2012 boroughs.
Transport gets easier as we get ready for the Olympics and Paralympics. We live right on top of the Games and can share in the excitement. We keep fitter by getting out and about. I find classes, workshops, shows, outings, dances, all manner of things, just for you, just for me!
If you would like to receive from me the free listing every 10 days please email me ( gillianamuir@aol.co.uk ). I will then have your email address and can respond.
This sounds almost too good to be true – but it is true – here is the text of an announcement from Age UK London and Zenos IT Academy …
Computer Help Desk Telephone Number: 08451 770568.
Sometimes we all need a little bit of help and support with our computers. Perhaps the computer might not appear to be working as you want or expect, maybe you want to try something that you haven’t done before or, like many people, you can’t remember how to do something that you haven’t used your computer for in a while.
That’s when you need IT (Information Technology) Support – and that’s where we at Zenos want to help. Zenos is a company that trains young people in IT Support, and many of the people who graduate from our Academies go on to provide a telephone help service for computer users in business.
We thought it would be great if they could practice their skills in this area by offering to provide a telephone support service to you – and so that’s what we have created.
The service is completely free – apart from the costs you would pay to make a local phone call.
You can telephone the Help Desk at our Academy in West London any time between 9.30 am and 12.30 pm on Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays, and there will be someone to speak to you who will do their best to help you.
As the person you speak to is still learning themselves, they may not be able to answer your question immediately, but thay will take a number and always come back to you. Occasionally it may be that we cannot solve your query, but we will always do our best to help and to provide you with the best solution we can.
Please don’t hesitate to call us on 08451 770568 or email your question to helpdesk@zenossupport.com whenever you think we can help.
TV film crew at The Lawns, Monday 30 January.
Agewell Social Network:
At the workshop, we will …
In February, we will continue activities requested or suggested by our members in the end-of-quarter evaluation forms. Not just the content, but especially the way we deliver it. This month, we will replace the normal single-session workshops with short informal courses, so you can learn with more continuity and depth. Reserve your places in an email to acc@lawns.org.uk .
On the menu, Thursday 2 February 2012 …
We record what we say, and make audio files that we can send by email and post on a web site.
A course for Agewell beginners: Email Essentials with Henry.
A course for Agewell beginners:
Food-focussed First Click for beginners.
Get answers to all your mobile phone problems.
Music Online – a short course at Hackney Silver Surfers.
Several people have asked how to find and play the Internet Radio stations we play at Agewell Computer Club.
Digital Inclusion at Hackney Silver Surfers.
Did you know that some of our people here have their own personal or community websites?
