TY - JOUR
T1 - Keeping up with the times in Ireland: Older adults bridging the age-based digital divide together?
AU - Flynn, Sandra
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024/2/29
Y1 - 2024/2/29
N2 - In 2021, data on Internet usage for those aged 75 years and older in Ireland indicated that almost half of this cohort (46%) had never accessed the Internet. This study examines the role of informal peer learning in the digital lives of older adults in Ireland. A mixed methods case study methodology was employed. Data were collected from 100 participants by means of an online survey, followed by interviews with 12 participants who opted in from the survey. Interview data were collected and analysed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. My findings indicate that questions surrounding digital technologies were best addressed on an individual level, often from a same generation peer, whether household member, family or other relative, friend or member of one’s social environment. There was evidence of indirect reciprocity from these learning exchanges to a participant’s peers. Research into peer learning in informal social and community environments for older adults has been scarcely addressed heretofore. This research highlights that it is here that much later-life learning relating to digital skills takes place. The principles of intergenerational learning: learning with one another, learning from one another, learning about one another, offer a useful lens for future consideration of informal peer learning related to digital skills development amongst older adults.
AB - In 2021, data on Internet usage for those aged 75 years and older in Ireland indicated that almost half of this cohort (46%) had never accessed the Internet. This study examines the role of informal peer learning in the digital lives of older adults in Ireland. A mixed methods case study methodology was employed. Data were collected from 100 participants by means of an online survey, followed by interviews with 12 participants who opted in from the survey. Interview data were collected and analysed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. My findings indicate that questions surrounding digital technologies were best addressed on an individual level, often from a same generation peer, whether household member, family or other relative, friend or member of one’s social environment. There was evidence of indirect reciprocity from these learning exchanges to a participant’s peers. Research into peer learning in informal social and community environments for older adults has been scarcely addressed heretofore. This research highlights that it is here that much later-life learning relating to digital skills takes place. The principles of intergenerational learning: learning with one another, learning from one another, learning about one another, offer a useful lens for future consideration of informal peer learning related to digital skills development amongst older adults.
KW - Digital literacy
KW - Digital skills
KW - Peer learning
KW - Informal learning
KW - Older adults
UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2023.2298388
U2 - 10.1080/02660830.2023.2298388
DO - 10.1080/02660830.2023.2298388
M3 - Article
JO - Studies in the Education of Adults
JF - Studies in the Education of Adults
ER -