For more than 50 years, Prof. Durlak worked on applied research and development projects internationally. He introduced innovations ranging from hybrid corn in Costa Rica to agricultural television programs in Guatemala and connected intelligence in education in Maderia to聽 symmetrical broadband networks in Canada.

Right: Jerry Durlak

He also created and taught more than 20 courses at 91亚色 in the faculties of education and environmental studies, including courses in urban studies, communications studies and for the Graduate Program in Communications & Culture. Prof. Durlak was a faculty member in the Interactive Art & Entertainment Group in the Canadian Film Centre鈥檚 media lab and director of 91亚色鈥檚 Digital Media Lab.

From 1987 to 1990, he was the editor of Minds in Motion, a collaborative publication between 91亚色 and Apple Canada that explored leading edge software developments in Canada. Throughout his career, Prof. Durlak wrote extensively on interactive media, communication networks, new communication technologies, machine mediated learning, computer gaming and simulation, distance learning and urban design.

Prof. Durlak leaves his wife Reccia Mandelcorn and children Alex, Caitlin and Meagan Durlak and step-daughter Rachel Rosen.

A service of meditation and remembrance will take place tomorrow at 11am at The Simple Alternative, 275 Lesmill Road, Toronto. In lieu of flowers, Prof. Durlak鈥檚 family requests that memorial donations be made to聽.

Republished courtesy of YFile.

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In February, Barbara Crow will meet with her mother-in-law鈥檚 quilting bunch in Peterborough, her mother鈥檚 synagogue friends in Toronto and a group of retirees in Duncan, British Columbia. She and co-researcher Kim Sawchuk of Concordia University want to know whether and how seniors use cellphones.

Right: Barbara Crow

鈥淢any senior citizens use these mobile technologies, yet they are completely absent from any discussion on their use,鈥� says Crow (BA Hons.聽鈥�84, MA 鈥�86, PhD 鈥�94), a communications and women鈥檚 studies professor and now associate dean of research for 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Seventy-two per cent of Canadians have access to cellphones, and wireless carriers offer coverage to more than 99 per cent of Canadians. More than a phone, it is increasingly versatile 鈥� the communications device of choice for sending text messages, taking photos, surfing the Internet, listening to music, playing games and updating a calendar.

The industry markets almost exclusively to youth and middle-aged professionals. And researchers studying cellphone use have also focused聽on the young and upwardly mobile.

Left: Kim Sawchuk

Crow and (PhD 鈥�86, PhD 鈥�91) have begun preliminary research to find out if, how and why seniors are using mobile technologies. 鈥淲e both have aging parents and we鈥檝e been watching how cellphones are changing everyday lives,鈥� says Crow. They have received a three-year聽standard grant totalling $103,903 to complete this research by 2011.

鈥淜im and I argue that individuals over 60 are soon going to make up a larger proportion of the population than youth,鈥� says Crow, who has been studying digital technologies and their social, cultural, political and economic impact since the early 1980s.

鈥淪o many government services are online,鈥� says Crow. Yet many older people, especially impoverished women, have no way to access those services. 鈥淒o we think because people can鈥檛 afford them, they shouldn鈥檛 have access to them?鈥� The question is, 鈥淗ow can we ensure their needs are going to be served?鈥�

Compared to other countries,聽information and communication technology services in Canada 鈥� including cellphone and Internet 鈥撀燾ost more and deliver less, says Crow. A 2009 by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society ranked Canada in the bottom third among 30 countries for speed and cost.

If these new communications devices are so critical and costs are high, who is being penalized? Those on lower incomes, including the elderly, suggest Crow and Sawchuk.

鈥淲ith our research, we鈥檒l be able to say to government, here鈥檚 a list of things you should think about when designing public services,鈥� says Crow, who, believe it or not, doesn鈥檛 own a cellphone.

鈥淭his is about making a group who can provide us with wisdom and reflection a part of significant changes that are happening,鈥� says Crow.

This research could lead to other projects. For Crow and Sawchuk, the growing popularity of cellphones raises questions around communications policy: What portion of the spectrum of airwaves used to transmit digital signals should be public and not commercial? How do we address privacy issues? Cellphones work best in urban areas, but should the government ensure rural and remote parts of Canada also have access?

Crow and Sawchuk are also co-directors of the , which supports interdisciplinary research into wireless communications and mobile technology. They聽are co-editors, along with 91亚色 Professor Michael Longford, of聽The Wireless Spectrum:聽The Politics, Practices, and Poetics of Mobile Media, to be published by聽 the University of Toronto Press this year.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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