Creative Hut: an open learning context for elderly people in a remote rural community

In this paper, we explore the idea of an ‘open learning context’ for elderly people. The idea of an ‘open learning context’ is closely associated with Web 2.0 technologies that are seen to facilitate certain types of behaviours amongst people – for example innovative explorations, experimentations, and purposeful tinkerings that often form the basis of a situated understanding emerging from action, not passivity (Brown & Alder 2008, p.30). Ideas about the relationship between technology and exploration, experimentation and purposeful tinkering are also seen in the theoretical basis for CoCreat a lifelong learning project funded by EACEA, which seeks to investigate new solutions for promoting creative collaboration in terms of new and innovative learning models based on social media and mobile technology. We evaluate the notions of ‘open learning context’ and ‘technology to support creative collaboration’ in the context of an of elderly people in a rural community in Finland, named Creative Hut.