AN EXPANDING "TELECOMMUNICATIONS" TECHNOLOGY NOW MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO PERFORM TYPESETTING OPERATIONS WHILE REMAINING IN THE HOME AND MAKING USE OF A RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE HOME COMPUTER AS AN INPUT TERMINAL.

AN EXPANDING "TELECOMMUNICATIONS" TECHNOLOGY NOW MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO PERFORM TYPESETTING OPERATIONS WHILE REMAINING IN THE HOME AND MAKING USE OF A RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE HOME COMPUTER AS AN INPUT TERMINAL. THIS OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OLDER PERSONS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO LACK TRANSPORTATION OR PHYSICAL MOBILITY, TO BE GAINFULLY EMPLOYED AT HOME AS TYPESETTERS OR TO PERFORM WORD PROCESSING IN OTHER BUSINESS RELATED CONTEXTS. HOWEVER, CURRENT TRAINING MATERIALS FOR WORD PROCESSING ARE ORIENTED TOWARD YOUNGER, COMPUTER-LITERATE ADULTS RATHER THAN OLDER ADULTS. OLDER ADULTS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE WORD PROCESSING INDUSTRY IF TRAINING MATERIALS DIRECTED TOWARD THE MIDDLE AGED AND OLDER ADULT ARE NOT DEVELOPED. SUCH TRAINING MATERIALS REQUIRE DATA ON THE UNIQUE PROBLEMS AND ASSETS THAT THE OLDER AND ELDERLY ADULT POSSESSES WITH REGARD TO TYPESETTING. UNFORTUNATELY, SYSTEMATIC DATA DO NOT EXIST. OUR PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE DEVOTED TO AN EVALUATION OF AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN ABILITY TO USE CURRENT INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND TO LEARN WORD PROCESSING FUNCTIONS. DIFFICULTIES WITH INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS WILL BE RELATED TO DIFFICULTIES WITH CERTAIN INPUT AND EDITING OPERATIONS COMMON TO WORD PROCESSING, PARTICULARLY WITH TYPESETTING APPLICATIONS. THIS INFORMATION WILL THEN BE USED TO CONSTRUCT AGE-VALID INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS TO BE EVALUATED IN TERMS OF COMPREHENSION AND PERFORMANCE (PHASE II). THE COMMERCIAL AVAILABILITY OF THESE MATERIALS SHOULD ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT, WHILE PROVIDING THE OLDER PERSON WITH AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN AN IMPORTANT NEW INDUSTRY.