scholarly journals How Older Adults Learn ICT—Guided and Self-Regulated Learning in Individuals With and Without Disabilities

2022 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Schlomann ◽  
Christiane Even ◽  
Torsten Hammann

Learning to use information and communication technologies (ICT) may be more difficult for older people due to decreases in fluid intelligence, generational effects, and other age-related effects. Especially older people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at a high risk of digital exclusion. To enable all older adults to use ICT, individualized technology training may be provided. However, little is known about the ICT learning preferences among older people with ID. Based on semi-structured interviews with older adults (n = 7, mean age = 76.6 years) and older adults with ID (n = 14, mean age = 62.4 years), this paper analyzes learning strategies, preferences, and learning settings. The results from content analysis show that guided learning with personal explanations in a one-to-one setting is the most preferred learning format in both groups of older adults. While many older adults without ID additionally favor self-regulated learning (i.e., learning with manuals or videos), older adults with ID mostly rely on guided learning with personal assistance. The differences can be explained by different abilities (e.g., reading skills) and social networks (e.g., living situation, having children). Not all older adults have a family or an institutional support network to help them learn ICT and community organizations may provide additional support. Researchers and practitioners should be aware of the diverse knowledge backgrounds and competencies in the group of older adults. ICT training in old age should be ideally composed in a modular way embedding self-regulated learning formats into guided learning modules.

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan-Marie Harding ◽  
Narelle English ◽  
Nives Nibali ◽  
Patrick Griffin ◽  
Lorraine Graham ◽  
...  

Students who can regulate their own learning are proposed to gain the most out of education, yet research into the impact of self-regulated learning skills on performance shows mixed results. This study supports the link between self-regulated learning and performance, while providing evidence of grade- or age-related differences. Australian students from Grades 5 to 8 completed mathematics or reading comprehension assessments and self-regulated learning questionnaires, with each response ranked on a hierarchy of quality. All assessments were psychometrically analysed and validated. In each cohort and overall, higher performing students reported higher levels of self-regulated learning. Still, age-related differences outweighed performance differences, resulting in significantly lower reported usage of self-regulated learning skills in Grade 7 students compared to those in Grades 5, 6 and 8. These findings suggest that either age or school organisational differences mediate students’ self-regulated learning, counteracting ability-related associations.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e049829
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Tyler ◽  
Fiona Lobban ◽  
Rita Long ◽  
Steven H Jones

ObjectivesAs awareness of bipolar disorder (BD) increases and the world experiences a rapid ageing of the population, the number of people living with BD in later life is expected to rise substantially. There is no current evidence base for the effectiveness of psychological interventions for older adults with BD. This focus group study explored a number of topics to inform the development and delivery of a recovery-focused therapy (RfT) for older adults with BD.DesignA qualitative focus group study.SettingThree focus groups were conducted at a university in the North West of England.ParticipantsEight people took part in the focus groups; six older adults with BD, one carer and one friend.ResultsParticipant’s responses clustered into six themes: (1) health-related and age-related changes in later life, (2) the experience of BD in later life, (3) managing and coping with BD in later life, (4) recovery in later life, (5) seeking helping in the future and (6) adapting RfT for older people.ConclusionsParticipants reported a range of health-related and age-related changes and strategies to manage their BD. Participants held mixed views about using the term ‘recovery’ in later life. Participants were in agreement that certain adaptations were needed for delivering RfT for older adults, based on their experience of living with BD in later life. The data collected as part of the focus groups have led to a number of recommendations for delivering RfT for older adults with BD in a randomised controlled trial (Clinical Trial Registration: ISRCTN13875321).


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (15) ◽  
pp. 2685-2693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilse Bloom ◽  
Wendy Lawrence ◽  
Mary Barker ◽  
Janis Baird ◽  
Elaine Dennison ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveTo explore influences on diet in a group of community-dwelling older adults in the UK.DesignData were collected through focus group discussions with older people; discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and transcripts analysed thematically.SettingHertfordshire, UK.SubjectsParticipants were sampled purposively from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study, focusing on those whose diets had been assessed at two time points: 1998–2001 and 2011.ResultsNinety-two adults participated (47 % women; 74–83 years) and eleven focus groups were held. A number of age-related factors were identified that were linked to food choices, including lifelong food experiences, retirement, bereavement and medical conditions, as well as environmental factors (such as transport). There appeared to be variability in how individuals responded to these influences, indicating that other underlying factors may mediate the effects of age-related factors on diet. Discussions about ‘keeping going’, being motivated to ‘not give up’, not wanting to be perceived as ‘old’, as well as examples of resilience and coping strategies, suggest the importance of mediating psychological factors. In addition, discussion about social activities and isolation, community spirit and loneliness, indicated the importance of social engagement as an influence on diet.ConclusionsInterventions to promote healthier diets in older age should take account of underlying psychological and social factors that influence diet, which may mediate the effects of age-related factors.


eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hoffman ◽  
Ekaterina Loginova ◽  
Asatta Russell

The ability to speak coherently is essential for effective communication but declines with age: older people more frequently produce tangential, off-topic speech. The cognitive factors underpinning this decline are poorly understood. We predicted that maintaining coherence relies on effective regulation of activated semantic knowledge about the world, and particularly on the selection of currently relevant semantic representations to drive speech production. To test this, we collected 840 speech samples along with measures of executive and semantic ability from 60 young and older adults, using a novel computational method to quantify coherence. Semantic selection ability predicted coherence, as did level of semantic knowledge and a measure of domain-general executive ability. These factors fully accounted for the age-related coherence deficit. Our results indicate that maintaining coherence in speech becomes more challenging as people age because they accumulate more knowledge but are less able to effectively regulate how it is activated and used.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 451-459
Author(s):  
Linda Nazarko

Age-related changes lead to an increase in skin problems, and around 70% of older people have a treatable skin condition. However, ageing and poor physical health can make it difficult for older people to care for their skin. Eczema, a chronic inflammatory skin condition, where the skin becomes red, inflamed, itchy and scaly, can develop easily in older adults. This can, in turn, become infected and cause discomfort and health problems. This article explains how ageing affects the skin, how eczema can develop and how it can be treated, also touching upon the different types of eczema. It aims to equip community nurses with knowledge about this common condition and how to recognise and manage it.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wändi Bruine de Bruin ◽  
Andrew M. Parker ◽  
Baruch Fischhoff

Decision-making competence refers to the ability to make better decisions, as defined by decision-making principles posited by models of rational choice. Historically, psychological research on decision-making has examined how well people follow these principles under carefully manipulated experimental conditions. When individual differences received attention, researchers often assumed that individuals with higher fluid intelligence would perform better. Here, we describe the development and validation of individual-differences measures of decision-making competence. Emerging findings suggest that decision-making competence may tap not only into fluid intelligence but also into motivation, emotion regulation, and experience (or crystallized intelligence). Although fluid intelligence tends to decline with age, older adults may be able to maintain decision-making competence by leveraging age-related improvements in these other skills. We discuss implications for interventions and future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 1895-1908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wuying Chen ◽  
Hui Feng ◽  
Chunlan Lv ◽  
Jiamei Lu

We focused on the relationship between testosterone levels and empathy in older people and how this relationship changes with age and between genders. Participants comprised 45 younger (30–39 years) and 144 older (50–75 years) individuals who completed an empathy test and whose free testosterone (FT) levels in a blood sample were measured. Results showed that women scored significantly higher in empathy, and that FT levels were negatively correlated with emotional and cognitive empathy. However, women had a stronger emotional empathy relationship with FT, and a cognitive empathy relationship with FT was observed only in men. In addition, the effect of FT levels on empathy showed an age-related decline from middle to late adulthood, and this effect may vary by gender and by both components of empathy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 232-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan D. Castel ◽  
Kou Murayama ◽  
Michael C. Friedman ◽  
Shannon McGillivray ◽  
Ian Link

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 561-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
NEIL SELWYN ◽  
STEPHEN GORARD ◽  
JOHN FURLONG ◽  
LOUISE MADDEN

Social commentators in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States are beginning to recognise that encouraging older adults' use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is essential for the creation of bona fide information societies. To date, however, few studies have examined in detail older adults' access to and use of ICTs. This important aspect of the interaction between population ageing and societal change is more complex than the published literature's portrayal of a dichotomy between ‘successful users’ and ‘unsuccessful non-users’. The paper examines the extent and nature of ICT access and use by older adults in their everyday lives. Information was collected from a sub-sample of 352 adults aged 60 or more years taken from a large household survey of ICT use in England and Wales among 1,001 people. The findings suggest that using a computer is not only a minority activity amongst older adults but also highly stratified by gender, age, marital status and educational background. Conversely, non-use of computers can be attributed to their low relevance and ‘relative advantage’ to older people. The paper concludes by considering how political and academic assumptions about older people and ICTs might be refocused, away from trying to ‘change’ older adults, and towards involving them in changing ICT.


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