Breaking Digital Barriers: A Social-Cognitive Approach to Improving Digital Literacy in Older Adults

Author(s):  
Kelly S. Steelman ◽  
Kay L. Tislar ◽  
Leo C. Ureel ◽  
Charles Wallace
2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-24
Author(s):  
Kelly Steelman ◽  
Charles Wallace

In entering the digital realm, older adults face obstacles beyond the physical and cognitive barriers traditionally associated with accessibility. One of these obstacles, technology related anxiety, is particularly problematic because it discourages exploration and way finding, two behaviors critical to the development of digital literacy. We see opportunities to address this issue and bring isolated older adults into a larger digital community, while simultaneously offering our students with valuable first-hand experience learning about and addressing the challenges faced by capable people struggling with unfamiliar technology. Here, we describe our social-cognitive approach to training digital literacy skills, pairing university student tutors with learners from the local community.


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Georg Weber ◽  
Hans Jeppe Jeppesen

Abstract. Connecting the social cognitive approach of human agency by Bandura (1997) and activity theory by Leontiev (1978) , this paper proposes a new theoretical framework for analyzing and understanding employee participation in organizational decision-making. Focusing on the social cognitive concepts of self-reactiveness, self-reflectiveness, intentionality, and forethought, commonalities, complementarities, and differences between both theories are explained. Efficacy in agency is conceived as a cognitive foundation of work motivation, whereas the mediation of societal requirements and resources through practical activity is conceptualized as an ecological approach to motivation. Additionally, we discuss to which degree collective objectifications can be understood as material indicators of employees’ collective efficacy. By way of example, we explore whether an integrated application of concepts from both theories promotes a clearer understanding of mechanisms connected to the practice of employee participation.


Author(s):  
Lauren Kuykendall ◽  
Lydia Craig ◽  
Melissa Stiksma ◽  
Katie Guarino

2020 ◽  
pp. 089124242097375
Author(s):  
Brandon Ofem ◽  
Samuel J. Polizzi ◽  
Gregory T. Rushton ◽  
Michael Beeth ◽  
Brock Couch ◽  
...  

There is currently a severe shortage of teachers in the U.S. workforce. The problem is especially acute among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers and exacerbated by high turnover among new teachers—those with less than 5 years of teaching experience. In this article, the authors investigate one piece of the puzzle. The authors model a social cognitive approach to understanding self-efficacy, a key precursor to job performance and retention. Their interactionist approach accounts for both demographic (i.e., gender and age) and relational variables (i.e., social networks). The authors test their ideas on a sample of 159 STEM teachers across five geographic regions in the United States. Their analysis reveals patterned differences in self-efficacy across gender that are contingent on the communities of practice in which the teachers are embedded. Together, their theory and findings highlight the value of taking a holistic, interactionist view in explaining STEM teacher self-efficacy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Indah Nurmahanani

This study developed a learning model to improve students’ early reading skills in Indonesia. The model is based on social cognitive learning theory and is implemented using interactive multimedia. The research method uses Design-Based Research (DBR) and the subjects are 195 first and second graders of an elementary school in Bandung, West Java. The findings of the study show that social cognitive learning can be integrated and implemented through interactive multimedia and that interactive-multimedia-assisted social cognitive model (IMAS Model) can improve early reading skills. Students’ average early reading skill scores were measured using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) instrument before and after intervention to see the effectiveness of the model. Pre-test – post-test results comparison showed that students’ average early reading scores increased after learning using IMAS Model. Students’ average scores of reading letters, reading syllables, reading words, reading sentences, and reading comprehension skills at pre-test were 78.06, 67.06, 60.92, 55.21, and 44.95, respectively. These scores respectively increased to 92.71, 92.45, 88.58, 74.60, and 87.08 at post-test, indicating that IMAS Model is effective to increase early reading skills.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia I. Martínez-Alcalá ◽  
Alejandra Rosales-Lagarde ◽  
Yonal M. Pérez-Pérez ◽  
Jose S. Lopez-Noguerola ◽  
María L. Bautista-Díaz ◽  
...  

The current sanitary crisis due to COVID-19 has further evidenced the enormous digital exclusion of older adults. Furthermore, the crisis has urged older adults to adopt new technologies to facilitate their tasks, as well as to provide them with an effective means against loneliness and social isolation caused by the confinement. In light of this, Digital Literacy is necessary for all those excluded from the digital era, who are characterized mainly by little or no ability to effectively use technologies. Nevertheless, detailed studies showing the leap from mixed (Blended Learning, BL) to digital literacy in the elderly have not been published. The objective of the present research was to analyze the level of Digital Literacy with the Digital Literacy Evaluation (DILE) of two groups of elderly adults with different levels of literacy (Group 1: G1, and Group 2: G2) during three stages: BL (Aug–Dec 2019); Transition (Feb–Jun 2020); and Digital (Aug–Dec 2020). Comparisons were made before each educational level (pre-pre-pre) and after each educational level (post-post-post) and during consecutive periods before and after each semester (pre vs post) and throughout different educational levels (G1: Basic 1, B1; Basic 2, B2; and intermediate 1, I1; and G2: Intermediate 1 to 3, I1, I2, and I3). Subsequently, considering all the elderly who had passed at least one of the literacy levels, we worked with a total sample of 176 older adults. The comparisons showed that, before the pandemic, G1’s pre digital literacy levels increased between B1 and B2 and that the differences continued with that increasing trend between the B1 level and the I1 completely digital treatment, and the same was observed for post measurements. On the other hand, for the G2, the differences in the DILE were statistically significant between the pre-condition of I2 (before the pandemic) and the I3 (completely digital treatment); and between the pre-conditions of I1 and I3; the same results were obtained for post treatments. Also, pre vs post scores on the DILE were statistically significant and older adults increased progressively their digital literacy despite the COVID-19 pandemic and jumped to the digital age.


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