Older people becoming successful ICT learners over time: challenges and strategies through an ethnographical lens

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2013-04Suggested citation
Sayago Barrantes, Sergio;
Forbes, Paula;
Blat, Josep;
.
(2013)
.
Older people becoming successful ICT learners over time: challenges and strategies through an ethnographical lens.
Educational gerontology, 2013, vol. 39, núm. 7, p. 527-544.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2012.703583.
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A growing ageing population and an increasing reliance on Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) to conduct activities associated with daily living
means that addressing how older people learn to use ICT is timely and important. By
drawing on a 4-year ethnographical study with 420 older people in two different
environments, this paper shows that they adopt three strategies to become successful
ICT learners, whilst at the same time dealing with the effects of age-related changes
in fluid memory: (i) linking learning to real-life needs, (ii) learning collaboratively
and informally, and (iii) adopting appropriate memory aids. This paper also addresses
the question of how valid these results will be when today’s ICT-literate adult people
grow older. The longitudinal aspect of the data gathered shows that older people
become confident ICT learners over time, the learning strategies and cognitive-related
difficulties are mostly time-persistent, and their life experience is always important in
learning transfer. Implications for providing older people with a more integrated
approach to ICT learning are discussed.
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Educational gerontology, 2013, vol. 39, núm. 7, p. 527-544European research projects
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