A Multilevel Model of Older Adults' Appropriation of ICT and Acquisition of Digital Literacy

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Nov 25;19(23):15714. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192315714.

Abstract

Digital literacy refers to a set of competencies related to the skilled use of computers and information technology. Low digital skills can be a barrier for older adults' full participation in a digital society, and COVID-19 has increased this risk of social exclusion. Older adults' digital inclusion is a complex process that consists of the interplay of structural and individual factors. The ACCESS project unwrapped the complexity of the process and developed an innovative, multilevel model that illustrates how societal, institutional, material and pedagogical aspects shape adults' appropriation of digital literacy. A holistic model describes factors contributing to older adults' digital literacy, acknowledging sociocultural contexts, environments, learning settings and instruction practices for learning digital literacy. Instead of seeing older adults' reasons for learning digital skills purely as individual choice, this model recognizes the interpersonal, institutional and societal aspects that implicitly or explicitly influence older adults' acquisition of digital literacy. The results offer a tool for stakeholders, the research community, companies, designers and other relevant stakeholders to consider digital skills and the given support. It demands diverse communication between different stakeholders about the things that should be discussed when organizing digital support in digitalized societies.

Keywords: digital literacy; digital skills training; multilevel model; older adults.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Learning
  • Literacy
  • Multilevel Analysis

Grants and funding

The work within the ACCESS project was supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) as part of the MissionERA programme under Grant 861953, by the Italian Ministry of Research under Grant 643850, by the Academy of Finland under Grant 318865, and by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under Grant 16SV7956K/16SV7957. JPI MYBL is supported by J-Age II, which is funded by Horizon 2020—the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under Grant No. 643850.