Bridging the ‘instruction gap’: how ICT instructors help older adults with the acquisition of digital skills

ABSTRACT

Existing research on digital inclusion has shown that older adults (65+) are, in general, less digitally skilled than other age groups. While older adults can gain digital skills through ‘cold’ (formal) training by ICT instructors or through ‘warm’ (informal) support from family and friends, studies have suggested that formal training is more effective. Drawing on qualitative interview data of 26 ICT instructors, we 1) examine how their support contributes to the acquisition of digital skills in later life, and 2) explore the ICT instructors’ role in the digital inclusion of older adults. The instructors in our study identify specific strategies to address the mental and ageing-related barriers faced by older adults in acquiring digital skills. The ‘warm’ support provided by family and friends is a double-edged reason behind the need for ‘cold’ training. On the one hand, they gift devices, encourage uptake, and shape learning desires. On the other hand, participants turn to ICT training due to the limitations of informal support in terms of time, patience, and expertise. Drawing on the instructors’ descriptions and existing literature, we argue that ICT instructors play a necessary role in the digital inclusion of older adults as they close the ‘instruction gap’ left by warm experts.

KEYWORDS:

• digital inclusion
• warm experts
• ICT training
• older adults
• later learning

Acknowledgments

The Digital Ageing consortium is composed of researchers from Vrije Universiteit Brussel and University of Antwerp: Ignace Glorieux, Dimitri Mortelmans, An Jacobs, Anina Vercruyssen, Nico De Witte, Ilse Mariën, Werner Schirmer, Bram Spruyt, Cora Van Leeuwen, Jorrit Campens, Nelly Geerts. The authors want to thank the other members of the Digital Ageing consortium. The authors also want to thank the participants of the TOR discussion at VUB for the useful comments on a previous version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders FWO [SBO-grant S005221N].

Notes on contributors

Nelly Geerts

Nelly Geerts is a doctoral researcher in the sociology department at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She works for the project Digital Ageing where she examines the digital inclusion of older adults. Her current research focuses on digital skills acquisition in later life and how different sources of support can mediate learning.

Werner Schirmer

Werner Schirmer holds a PhD in sociology from LMU Munich and a Docent title from Uppsala University. He teaches classical and contemporary sociological theory at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. His research focuses on the digitalisation of everyday lives of older people, in particular barriers to technology adoption and digital literacy.

Anina Vercruyssen

Anina Vercruyssen is a postdoctoral researcher at The Centre for Population, Family and Health (CPFH) at Antwerp University. She is currently valorisation manager of SBO-project Digital Ageing, providing methodological expertise and supervision of transfer of research results into practical applications. Her interests lay in research methodology, family sociology and well-being.

Ignace Glorieux

Ignace Glorieux is a Senior Full Professor in Sociology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. His research focuses on time use and time structure. He studied cultural participation and changing time-use patterns of older people. He is the president of the International Association for Time Use Research (IATUR).