Dr Emma Murphy (HERC) at inaugural Age Friendly University Conference at DCU

IRC funded postdoctoral researcher Emma Murphy presented a paper and led a workshop as part of the Age Friendly University Conference 2015, which took place on November 2-3 at the Helix in Dublin City University. The conference addressed the theme ‘Universities as engines for active and healthy ageing’.

Dr Murphy presented a paper entitled “Conceptual issues in the role and design of ‘age- friendly’ technologies to support lifelong learning communities “. This position paper addresses some of the key concepts related to technology and ageing from interdisciplinary perspectives of technology, gerontology and education. The paper was co-authored by Emma Murphy (DCU) Ina Voelcker (International Longevity Centre, Brazil), Rodd Bond, Julie Doyle (Dundalk Institute of Technology and Netwell Centre, Ireland), Dónal Fitzpatrick (DCU), Carmel Gallagher (DIT), Thomas Scharf (NUI Galway), Gustavo Sugahara (Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences), Maria Slowey (DCU). This collaboration arose from an RBI funded Age Friendly Technologies Working Group coordinated by Dr Emma Murphy, Professor Maria Slowey (HERC, DCU) and Ina Voelcker (International Longevity Centre, Brazil).

 
Professor Norma Rains trying out a banana piano created using a MaKey Makey toolkit as an example of multimodal interaction.

Dr Murphy also ran a workshop at the AFU conference entitled “Music and Inclusive Technology for Lifelong Learning”. This workshop involved a practical exploration and demonstration of her current IRC funded research project iTELL (Inclusive technology for lifelong learning). As part of the workshop Christina Whyte of the National Chamber Choir led an active warm up session involving singing and movement which was an excellent example of how learning can be interactive and engaging. Dr Murphy discussed the potential of interaction design and Universal Design for Learning to create inclusive representations of information to support older adult learners. She demonstrated practical examples of how she uses inclusive technology and principles of UDL in her music class for older students as part of the Intergenerational Learning Programme at DCU.