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Hong Kong seniors take to cyber space "Hi! Everyone, My name is Au Yuen- han. I'm a student of a computer class for the elderly. I would like to share with you my interest and unforgettable memories through the web," an elderly introduce herself on the personal website. From Senior Web, a website set up by Cyber Senior Network Development Association Limited in 2001, one can browse through the personal websites designed by Hong Kong elderly people. The elderly web designers talked about what happened in their daily life: some shared with others their Taiji learning experience and some even posted their photographic masterpieces on the web. The establishment of Senior Web has opened up a new channel for old people in Hong Kong to express themselves. The web provided elderly users with the rudiments of using the Internet as well as a variety of information and services on the net. Cyber Senior Network Development Association Limited has set up a computer learning center in Kwun Tong to facilitate elderly learners, who can gather together at the center to share their learning progress. Learners can also update their computer knowledge by taking courses offered by the center from time to time. Members of Hong Kong Legislative Council responsible for the elderly's welfare said learning Internet can enhance the elderly's psychological health. It is believed that knowing how to use the computer can make elderly people feel that they can catch the trend of the society. It also allowed old people who lived alone to keep in touch with their children who have either moved out or emigrated overseas through e-mail or web-camera. Elderly computer users can widen their social circles and scopes of interest through the Internet. They can also upload or download pictures from the web and produce their own CDs which is generally thought as the patent of young people. However, it is not easy for old people to take the first step of computer learning due to their relatively low literacy level. "Quite a number of the old people in my class did not receive proper education before, some are even illiterate which made it hard for them to catch up with the progress," said Bena Chan who had been a tutor of a elderly computer class organized by Hong Kong Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. Although elderly learners are facing such limitation, their strong interest in and passion of learning new things have helped them open up a new page of life. "I think it is important for old people to keep updating themselves with the latest information, and as for the difficulties they encountered, I believed it could be solved by improving the course design and teaching resources," said Chan.
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