Year: 2008
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The paper discusses the computer usage and skills of older people.Different fields which indicate the importance of this skill for older people were looked into and a study on how older people learn to use computers was also carried out.Technological advances have resulted in massive social changes in the late twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first.Demographical estimates expect a huge increase in the numbers of old people, longevity and better health.A digital divide exists in the lives of many old people.Therefore it is important to examine how older individuals learn to use computers, what the learning process is like.Participation in life-long learning seems to decrease with age.Explanations for this are sought in studies and theories.What motivates older people to learn to use computers and what prevents them in their endeavour?The study is qualitative and based on field studies in a computer course for beginners, in a service center for older people and on an interview with a psychologist who assisted the people in the service center.Participants in the computer course were 10, three men and seven women.Four of them were approximately 70 to 80 years old and the other six circa 40 to 60 years old.Most of the participants in the service center were circa 70 to 80 years old.The results of the study suggest that the main motivation for old people to learn to use computers is the family, their children and their grandchildren.Older people want to be able to read and send email, and see the digital pictures that the family shares with one another.Older people's attitude to computers and the possibilities of the Internet is very positive and computer skills are highly valued.Various things can have a negative effect on the learning process.A lot of older Efnisyfirlit Formáli ....
Source: Skemman
Author: Kristín Runólfsdóttir
Language: Danish
Subfield: Geriatrics and Gerontology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1603874540