The scientific literature has highlighted the benefits of technology access for the quality of life and health across all social groups, including older adults. However, not all older adults have the same opportunities to access technology and benefit from its positive effects due to a lack of digital literacy. The digital divide primarily affects older adults, especially women with limited academic knowledge.
UNESCO defines digital literacy as the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, evaluate, and create information safely and appropriately through digital technologies. It encompasses computer skills, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), information literacy, and media literacy.
An article published in the Research on Ageing and Social Policy journal presented a successful case study on the digital literacy of older women through the ‘ALL WOMEN. The empowerment of all women through adult education for a sustainable development’ R&D&I project. The study involved a digital learning environment, analyzing the use of smartphones by women aged 74 to 90, with no higher academic qualifications, in a two-year digital literacy course.
The key findings indicated that the dialogical approach of the course helped create a learning environment based on equal interactions and mutual support. This approach helped participants overcome their initial fear of using smartphones, develop essential skills for daily use, and become more connected with family and friends. The article notes that participating in this digital literacy course with a dialogical approach increased the participants’ self-confidence as learners. These women moved from lacking certain digital competencies and feeling fear or shame in asking questions about ICT to independently deciding what, when, how, and with whom to exchange or search for information through their smartphones.
Article translated from Periódico Educación journal
Predoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona