 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Video course brings USF to retirees
By ALEX LYNCH TAMPA -- The University of South Florida is reaching out to seniors in an effort to further their education and keep them mentally active by offering university courses that don't require travel to campus. The 30-minute, distance-learning course will be taught every Friday via television at University Village, a retirement facility close to USF's Tampa campus, while facilitators will orchestrate discussion after the video ends. The pilot telecourse, "American History 1945-1963" was taught by USF professor of history Gary Mormino and videotaped during the fall semester 2001. The current pilot program is modeled after last year's "Art of the Western World" class offered by USF at Freedom Village in Bradenton. Residents participating in the course will meet once a week for a two-hour period and discuss America's role in the Cold War, Vietnam and the post-Cold War period. When the course is over, seniors will receive a certificate recognizing their effort. The eight-week class is set to begin Jan. 25. "This will benefit seniors because intellectual engagement helps them stay healthy and maintain physical and cognitive function," said Lee Levengood, assistant director of the Institute on Aging. In addition to having the classes brought to them, seniors do not have to pay for the course. The Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver Program of Florida allows people age 60 and older to attend university classes on a space-available basis with no tuition. Past complaints by seniors include the difficulty in traveling to and from the university and finding parking. The university's shuttle system is often difficult for seniors, while other seniors are place-bound and unable to travel and attend classes. According to a statement by a public relations firm for University Village, the average age of residents in communities around USF is 55. "(USF has) not adequately addressed the needs of seniors who cannot come to campus to take advantage of the Tuition Waiver Program," Levengood said in a prepared statement. In the fall 2001 semester at USF, 160 seniors registered in the Tuition Waiver Program, but with the classes coming straight to the retirement facility, those numbers may climb. "The objective is to help encourage participation of the university's facilities with members of the community," said Katherine Hyer, a professor of gerontology at USF who helped put together the $13,600 grant. Katie Hammond and Fred Barthmus, two graduate students at USF in the gerontological and adult education fields, helped put together the grant with Hyer and organized a training manual for retirees to facilitate conversation among students after the 30-minute video ends. "The intention is for the retirement community to do it with their own facilitators," Barthmus said. Currently, though, only one senior facilitator has been recruited. Ten are needed. "No matter what, the class will go as planned," Levengood said. By picking a topic of relevance to seniors in the comfort of their own facility, the hope is seniors will become stimulated through memories as well as learning. "The subject matter and the location is particularly tailored to the needs of local seniors," Hammond said. One of the aims of the distance-learning video is to create an innovative model for educating place-bound seniors while testing its results on the improvement of life through cognitive stimulation. "We have more and more highly educated seniors these days and we're trying to bring university courses into the retirement community," Barthmus said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times |
