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Strategies for teaching older people to use the World Wide Web

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Abstract

Information is increasingly displayed digitally, yet less than half of the population of the UK use the Internet. Older people are especially unlikely to be Internet users and the consequent risks of digital exclusion must be addressed. A training course in computers and web use for older adults took place at the University of Dundee, with 15 participants. The course approach was to simplify application interfaces and to ensure that basic skills were learnt before more complicated tasks were presented. As part of this process, there was a focus on learning to use the computer before learners were introduced to the web with its wide variety of content. The course outcomes were positive and the authors report them here in order to reflect upon the experience and help others who set out to provide training for older people in web use.

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Notes

  1. The Discovery Award is an achievement award for people over 50 intended to encourage them to take up new challenges and contribute to their communities. More details can be found at: http://beehive.thisisessex.co.uk/default.asp?WCI=SiteHome&ID=4009

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Applied Computing, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK, DD1 4HN

    Anna Dickinson, Roos Eisma, Peter Gregor, Audrey Syme & Scott Milne

Authors
  1. Anna Dickinson
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  2. Roos Eisma
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  3. Peter Gregor
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  4. Audrey Syme
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  5. Scott Milne
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Correspondence to Anna Dickinson.

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Dickinson, A., Eisma, R., Gregor, P. et al. Strategies for teaching older people to use the World Wide Web. Univ Access Inf Soc 4, 3–15 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-003-0082-6

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