caise

Join Russell Morgan of the SPRY Foundation, October 5-8, for an online discussion in the CAISE Forum, The Longevity Revolution: Opportunities for Informal Science Education.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans 65 and older is projected to increase from 40 million in 2010 to 55 million a decade later—and the prospects are similar in many other countries. As more people live longer, with higher levels of education, there is both an opportunity and a need to develop creative approaches for engaging older adults in a range of informal science learning activities.

Taking as a starting point the recent publication A Lifetime of Curiosity: Science Centers and Older Adults, and an earlier NSF-funded conference, The Longevity Revolution, the discussion will touch on what's known about adult audiences' interests and capacities and examples of successful programming for older adults. Russell Morgan, organizer of the 2006 conference, will offer background and moderate the discussion about the potential for expanding informal science learning opportunities for the growing population of older adults.

To participate in the discussion, go to connect.astc.org, set up an account, then sign yourself into the "CAISE Forum" area by entering the keyword "informal." You’ll receive an email from Russell as we get started on Monday. The discussion is asynchronous. You can set your own schedule for when you join the discussion. Relevant reading material is available on the CAISE Forum site.

If you can't join this discussion, keep an eye on the CAISE website. We are setting up more online discussions for November and December.