| Director of AOSC Dr Alison Wicks with Interactive Multimedia lecturer... Director of AOSC Dr Alison Wicks with Interactive Multimedia lecturer Jo Law, Giullia Bonacina who features in the Migration Heritage Program and Graphic Design student Samantha Meurer. |
Digital stories benefit young and old
18 Jun 2008 | Kate McIlwain
Design students and older members of the Illawarra community have worked together to create digital stories that promote the health benefits of older people participating in community projects.
The Australasian Occupational Science Centre (AOSC), which is located at UOW’s Shoalhaven Campus, commissioned third year graphic design students from the School of Art and Design in the Faculty of Creative Arts to develop digital stories featuring older people from the Illawarra region.
Students developed the interactive digital stories on six community programs in Wollongong, Shellharbour and the Shoalhaven. The programs featured were Berry Men’s Shed, Bomaderry Bowling Club, Shellharbour Dolphins, the Ulysses Club, Migration Heritage Project and the Macedonian Aged Group.
The stories, which were presented to the community members and other invited guests at a function today (June 18), will be used by AOSC in presentations to promote an occupational perspective of health and in funding submissions for new activity programs for older people.
Dr Alison Wicks, AOSC Director, said she is extremely pleased with the project outcomes.
“The students have designed some really interesting and stimulating pieces,” she said.
“I look forward to presenting their work at conferences in Taiwan and Kentucky later this year.”
Dr Wicks also said that it was good to see collaboration between UOW’s Wollongong and Shoalhaven Campuses and between the normally unrelated disciplines of Health and Creative Arts.
The AOSC projects were also valuable for the graphic design students, allowing them to develop their professional skills by working to a real client brief. Design student Samantha Muerer worked on the Shellharbour Dolphins digital story to produce an interactive interface that includes audio, video and animation.
Many of the older people involved, such as 88-year-old Giullia Bonacina from the Migration Heritage Project, were featured in video or audio sections of the digital stories, allowing them to make a personal contribution to the promotion of community activity programs.
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