Older Learner Needs and Requirements for Learning with ICT

The emergence of the knowledge society implies that every citizen must be digitally literate in order to be on a better footing in terms of equal opportunities in a world in which digital functions are proliferating (Merchant 2004). In the knowledge society, those who can use the new media are more advantaged than those who do not. While the possession of basic ICT skills is now taken for granted in the younger age groups, it is often the starting point for the older ones, especially those who did not use the new media in their profession. In today's society these persons are disadvantaged. the population in Germany used the Internet at least occasionally, the number of older people not-using the internet (offliners) is still very large. In Germany the percentage of offliners in 2006 was 39% for 50-59 year olds, 64% for those aged 60 to 69% and 87% for those 70+. Similar situation exists in Austria. In Lithuania, the Internet/email usage for people over 56 years old is only 6.2% (the majority of them in Vilnius – 18.1%) 1. Also in Spain, where only 3% of the elderly have some experience with the Internet 2 , and nearly 90% of young people between 15 and 24 years old have used the Internet at some point 3 , the difference in usage of the Internet between older and younger people is very large. The digital divides are determined not only by age, but also by gender aspects, educational backgrounds and income levels and also geographical locations. In Germany 78% of the offliners are older than 50 and only 7% have Abitur (GCEs) or academic qualifications. 63% of the offliners have a monthly income of 2000 EUR or less, 56% are retired, the share of women amongst the offliners is with 61% higher than average. (Special analysis of the (N)ONLINER Atlas 2006). For the older learners the new developments mean the need to acquire media literacy, the basic know-how of using the new technical tools for information, communication and exchange, but also digital literacy, which means the possession of knowledge how to 4 evaluate the information for accuracy and value to personal needs and how to integrate and to apply the accessed information with an awareness of ethical, social and economic issues. Furthermore, there are currently not many activities for older adults that concentrate on the provision of digital literacy or …