The Most Frequent Difficulties Encountered by Senior Citizens while using Information and Communication Technology

Abstract

Many senior citizens are keeping in touch with modern times and put modern technologies to good use. They attempt to adapt to this era and don’t avoid computers or smart devices. Such senior citizens often also educate themselves further in ICT, but are not immune to troubles that come hand in hand with ICT, or even psychological issues that stem from learning new skills in high age. Many even reconsider, asking themselves if all the effort is worth the outcome. Courses they attend might not be the best suited for them and can be very different from one another. Taught operating systems, teacher's individual attitude, accessibility of the course itself and learning environment have huge impact on both senior's attitude and quality of gained skills. This article aims to describe areas and issues senior citizens feel are most limiting in their access to quality education in ICT, and how they are tackled. The results come from a qualitative research among a selected sample of senior citizens that took part in our ICT courses.