In last month's "Adult Learning," the authors introduced the notion of "the silver surfer", a third-age learner adept at using the internet and other technologies for a mixture of formal and informal learning episodes. They suggested that neither this image nor its obverse, the truly disconnected older adult, is helpful in understanding the ICT…

Over two and a half years, the authors conducted a detailed survey of 1101 adults in England and Wales, 100 follow-up interviews and year-long case studies of 25 families. The data have led them to construct a rich and often thought-provoking picture of how adults are using information and communications technologies (ICTs) in their day-to-day…