Project number: NPAD-2017/10097 TAU project

Seminar 3 Material [Part 1]

New Technology for Older Learners
Psychological aspects of middle
aged and elderly people
Document details

Country: Finland

Company: Learnmera Oy

Elaborated by: Inês Messias

Seminar details
Seminar date June 2018

Partners present
Åsa Kajsdotter – SE
Åsa Hedlin Olsson - SE
Yulia Bazyukina - FI
Marja-Liisa Helenius - FI
Inês Messias - FI
Veronica Gelfgren - FI

Responsible All partner countries. Activity to be held by each partner in their institution for its
participants.

Result Participants will improve their educational and management competence.

Topics addressed

1 Using new 2 Teaching 3 From Digital

technology for digital skills Immigrants to
older learners to seniors Silver Surfers
Topic 1
Using new technology for older learners
 What is a senior citizen?

When a person reaches

When a person changes
When a person become a certain age (most
their activities or their When a person retires
grandparents times when a person
role in society
turns 60)
Active aging!

Because the third life period of a person is not dependent of, inactive and passive! Because senior
citizens get the chance to spend their time doing new forms of activities, benefiting the society.

Therefore the phrase “active aging”, which means continuous activity of seniors in the economic, social,

cultural and civic areas, is becoming very common in the societies.

 Senior citizens vulnerabilities

Limited
mobility due to
different
becoming loss of various
diminishing worsening in lower level of diseases,
lower financial isolated from goods, Loneliness and
social the quality of independence getting weaker,
position the rest of the reputation and isolation
connections life and autonomy financial
society power
problems or
fear of outer
world
 Time Experience

Senior Citizens value

Volunteering Economic and social benefits

“Go digital! Culture at your fingertips” was a project between six European
organisations for the common aim – to exchange experience and learn from
each other in order to create an offer of activities supporting development of
digital skills in adults aged 50+, by means of cultural activities. Each activity
was designed in a way that allows to use the participants' creative potential in
the process of learning.
http://www.cultureatyourfingertips.eu/
https://www.facebook.com/GoDigitalproject/
Topic 2
Teaching digital skills to seniors
While learning ICT skills, seniors face many issues and obstacles.
They are usually insecure, have a feeling that computer was not
built for them to use and are afraid that pressing the wrong
button will destroy the computer or telephone. It usually takes
some time for them to get used to computers and other forms of
technology, but once they do, digital competences become an
indispensable part of their everyday lives.
Strategies to teach digital technology to senior citizens

1. Initial hours are spent doing various direct activities

with technological equipment, so that the participants 2. Time for learning basic use of
get acquainted with the technology and overcome the the electronic devices
initial fear and frustration they are facing

5. It is not necessary for them to

3. Adapt the program to their 4. Motivate them with know every little thing about
communication and information technological equipment, such as
wishes and needs
online computers or telephones, but only
enough for them to be able to use it
Strategies to teach digital technology to senior citizens

7. Be prepared to repeat and

6. Know that older students might be facing various
physical and mental limitations, which could reduce their
ability to judge, decide and receive the information they
are getting
revise the same things several times,
try to explain the same things in
different ways and adapt the courses
entirely to the needs and capability
of the group of seniors

8. Remember that people tend to
learn easier and with more
enthusiasm when the subject they
are learning is connected to
something they are interested in and
passionate about
9. Get to know her/his students
and their interests at the beginning
of the classes and try to involve all
the subjects they mention into
her/his classes
10. Activities used in the project
“Go digital! Culture at your
fingertips”, for the target group of
adults 50+. Can be found on
http://www.cultureatyourfingertips.
eu/catalogue
Topic 3
From Digital Immigrants to Silver Surfers
Digital Immigrant:

According to Prensky (2001) it is everyone that had their first contact with technology as
an adult, he stated that learning how to use technology at the age of 30 is not the same as
to use it from 4 years old. He then compared it to adult language learning, were you can
reach proficiency but always with a slight pronunciation.

They can learn how to use new technology, but unconsciously, they tend to limit their
learning to the automation of daily tasks, ignoring other skills that could be beneficial to
them. Prensky even found a name for this characteristic: digital accent.
The silver Surfers profile

It is as if the
They tend to exhaustively More worried about
Successfully learning curve fro
master all the tools they doing it right, and
integrated technology new technology is a
>60 learn how to use, even with full attention,
in their lives, and use little bit more
though it takes them a little as to master what is
it autonomously round, but also,
bit more time to learn required to excel
more solid.

They will make questions, they will resist a bit,

For seniors the main concern
They do not but if you take your time, to teach them step
is to integrate them into the
multitask, but they by step and the benefits of what they are
technological basis of IoT
are extremely learning and the improvements that they will
(Internet of Things) and
focused receive from it, they will give you their best to
Smart cities.
excel.
Seniors, IoT and Smart cities
The use of smart cars will soon become a reality, as soon as we resolve the ethical issues
concerning accidents and drive-control. Governments are seeking to become more
ecological by reducing the use of paper at the same time as they improve their information
database, by making all bureaucracies accessible via internet.
Even our appliances are now becoming connected to our smart phones, so we can control
them remotely. These are the aspects that need to be mastered by our seniors, in order for
them to become Silver Surfers, and most of all, so that they remain active citizens, and not
forgotten, forced to be off grid, just because they were born before computers.
Giving them the knowledge they need to master these skills will not only help them with
their mobility, but also will make them less prone to deceit, and of course, will allow them to
remain active as citizens, at the same time it will make their household tasks less time
consuming, grocery shopping less physical, and even contact with family more friendly, as it
can be done by video conference.