Includes but not be limited to computer safety, “wired for monitoring” homes, AI, etc. (Hoping someone in Mary’s group will take this one). Covers high- and low-tech ways to make it easier for seniors to enjoy life and/or to age at home.
Fearrington’s Experienced Innovators & NCSU’s Graduate Students in Industrial Design
During March, April, and May 2019, a small group of Fearrington residents participated in a Fearrington Cares Experienced Innovators project under the leadership of Lee Anne McClymont, Fellow for the U.S. Southeast Region of The Global Institute for Experienced Entrepreneurship. Lee Anne designed the experience to be part of an innovative beta project to “reconsider the lifeline of multigenerational workplaces and learning communities.”
During these three months, this group of Fearrington Experienced Innovators worked closely with four graduate students in the NCSU Master’s Degree program in Industrial Design to evaluate their semester-long original design projects during the critical development stages.
The students met four times with the group at Fearrington Cares and a subset of the group also visited the NCSU’s College of Industrial Design in Raleigh, where they met all the other graduate students in the Industrial design class, toured the several well-equipped design labs where students work-up models of their projects, and spent 90 minutes reviewing the students’ projects, which had incorporated many of the suggestions the students had received during the earlier sessions back in Fearrington and making further suggestions for final refinements.
Near the end of the semester, the students returned to Fearrington to demo their finished products and to express their sincere appreciation for the valued contributions made by these Experienced Innovators. Overall, this was an amazingly productive beta project.
Visit this site to read Lee Anne McClymont’s wonderful overview of the project design and its significance for “restoring balance to the generation-stratified workplace” and to see samples of the results of the projects developed by the students.
Lee Anne is currently working with Fearrington Cares to design and launch the next Experienced Innovators group expected to be underway during the current fall term at NCSU. Watch for the forthcoming details!
Project participants included: STUDENTS: Sara Weir, Ryan Bolick, Yetong Xie, and Yimiao Xu. LEADERS: Lee Anne and Bill McClaymont, EXPERIENCED INNOVATORS (formerly known as Elder Innovators): Paula Easton, Gary Piontak, Diana Tasciotti, Jon Darling, Carl Angel, Dale Colson, Bob Colson, Cindy Kahler, John Tyrrell, and Amy Nullman.
Event Also Recognizes Elder Abuse Awareness Month
FearringtonEdge and Fearrington Cares presented a “Cutting the Cord” program on April 9th for an audience of 94 residents. Focusing on streaming services and internet and equipment requirements, Fearrington resident Mark Asman (with the collaboration of Tom Foss) explained options to conventional cable. While no one service exactly mirrors Spectrum or DISH packages, most offer access to major networks. Mark reviewed options for taking advantage of free trial versions of various streaming services and websites that compare channel availability and DVR services.