The proposed work will address the problem of encouraging and nurturing digital take-up amongst older citizens who have not previously had access to digital technology. The target group (over 55 years and not digitally literate) typically consists of individuals who have reached an advanced stage in their lives without learning to use any digital technology. Our approach will use touch-table games to introduce such individuals to digital interaction that provides confidence motivation and skills that can subsequently support exploratory-based learning of other digital technologies. The approach will be to pilot and validate a new approach to learning digital skills that targets affective barriers to technology adoption as well as the cognitive and physical process of learning and skill acquisition. Progression from initial exploration of a table-top application through the practical comprehension of system principles to automatic competence and full literacy can be achieved through a combination of playful exploration and light guidance through engagement with games. Players motivated to engage with games are effectively engaging in incremental learning about, for example, the behaviour of digital objects, the principles of object and area selection and the relationship between analogue metaphors and degrees of movement on digital space. Helping and persuading participants to overcome reluctance is a priority as facilitating the cognitive progress of learning, and the playability, engagement and sociality of games is key to this strategy. The use of the social dimension weakens resistance to educational activities that learners may be reluctant to engage in. For older users this includes reversing a social stigma when contemplating digital technologies (where there is a sense of disenfranchisement, a sense that it is not ‘their’ technology). The overlay of a sense of social activity through gaming is likely to produce behaviour change. The mission of organisations such as The UK and numerous regional online centres in the UK is to provide an environment that supports a positive approach to technology, as well as more instrumental help in overcoming difficulties.A threshold of 210 users and 35 individuals engaged in mentoring users in day centre environments will take part in two round of studies using touch-table games, followed by longitudinal monitoring of their progression to use of a wider range of digital utilities, principally using tablets. This will lead to the generation of a best-practice guide for promoting the approach to inspiring digital adoption for older users. This will disseminated in the three partner countries and trans-nationally through organizations concerned with promoting digital adoption for excluded citizens.The EU acknowledges the need for every citizen to have at least basic digital skills in order to participate in the modern society. Although the percentage of people online has increased rapidly in recent years we are now faced with the fact that there remains a percentage of people who for a combination of reasons are harder to reach and more difficult to provide with digital skills. Acquiring initial digital literacy involves learning basic manipulations, translating thoughts and intentions into specific input actions. This is a skill that is learned through adoption, exploration and repeated practice. The WIMP interfaces that are typical of the second generation of interactive systems have proved difficult to learn for many citizens. Therefore our approach is to provide pathways to digital literacy that has playful and social interaction as a key first phase. The gentle introduction gradually encourages exploratory learning of tools such as social network and communication, and more task-based applications such as e-mail, form filling and manipulating security features. This may be by transferring learned and practiced competence not interaction with tablets (in order to exploit touch and manipulation skill acquired through game play). This segmentation of the learning process allows the acquisition of key interaction and exploratory-learning skills based on ludic engagement. This will build up digital confidence and familiarity with touch interfaces, and removes the stigma associated with digital technology, using ludic engagement to positively reinforce familiarity and confidence the technology. Furthermore it helps to redefine the role of those who are charged with mentoring and helping those individuals, by redefining the nature of learning. It is anticipated that the work will disseminate best-practice through its relationships with practitioner organizations established at EU level and in three of the partner countries (UK, Austria, Slovenia) where organizations targeting wider digital participation already exist. It will also promote and provide grounding for establishment of similar initiatives in Macedonia and other EU countries.
The GIRDA project addressed the problem of encouraging and nurturing digital take-up amongst older citizens who have not previously had access to digital technology. The target group (over 55 years and not digitally literate) typically consisted of individuals who have reached an advanced stage in their lives without learning to use any digital technology. This may be due to lack of exposure to it, bad experience in previous attempts to learn, or simply fear and reluctance. Our approach used touch-table games to introduce such individuals to digital interaction. The approach was designed to build learner confidence and basic skills, in turn nurturing positivity, motivation, and willingness to engage in exploratory-based learning of further digital technologies. Partners piloted and validated a low-pressure social approach to learning digital skills that targets affective barriers to technology adoption as well as the cognitive and physical process of learning and skill acquisition, using a combination of playful exploration and light-touch guidance through engagement with games. Players motivated to engage with games rapidly mastered basic manipulations such as tapping, dragging and rotating objects. They were also shown to be learning about, for example, reversibility, resizing objects and degrees of movement on digital space. This helped learners with initial low self-efficacy to overcome their reluctance. This transformation was shown to be a positive effect of developing cognitive motor skills through play. The playability, engagement and sociality of games was shown to be beneficial in this process. Players learning together in our studies were shown to be mutually supporting through co-play, cooperative problem solving, verbal support and witnessing each other’s achievements. Our recruitment used a strategy of inviting people to try playing some games rather than emphasising the more stigmatising terminology such as ‘try using a computer’. Many of our learners indicated low-self-efficacy prior to trying the games and suggested the presence of a social stigma around digital technologies (where there is a sense of disenfranchisement, a sense that it is not ‘their’ technology). Therefore behavioural and attitude change were as important as acquiring skills. It was demonstrated that many participants who initially used phrases such as ‘it’s not for me and ‘I’ve no interest’ revealed an awareness of the potential usefulness of digital engagement only after they had reached a level of competence and confidence through playing the games. Our studies engaged over 300 individuals, including learners in community centres and also residents of care homes. We performed two rounds of studies. Firstly a pilot study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach for learnability and retention. We then applied our strategy for mentored learning using touch-table games in extensive studies in day centre environments, and in the residential care sector. The studies established strategies for mentors to play the appropriate and constructive role in game-based sessions. This included circumstances for direct intervention, providing encouragement to explore of try repeated actions, and verbal feedback and encouragement designed to engineer the generation of positive attitudes and the negation of attitudes that may cause reluctance and withdrawal. The studies were followed by longitudinal monitoring of their progression to use of a wider range of digital utilities. It was found that a significant number of participants had progressed to further use of digital facilities including tablets, smartphones and digital technologies in public spaces. Two best-practice guides were produced using the findings from our studies, for promoting the project’s approach to inspiring digital adoption for older users. These were a ‘Mentor Guide’ and a Mentor Protocol’. The mentor guide took those engaged in mentoring through key aspects of the role. This included advice on interpersonal skills, choosing appropriate games, the strategic role of the mentor at various points, and moving learners on to further adoption. The mentor protocol gave specific procedural advice on running game-based tutorial sessions, including an automated tool to help choose suitable games. The Mentor Guides were disseminated through practitioner organisations in the partner countries and to organisations representing the interests of older citizens. Further dissemination to practitioners, policy makes and academics broadened awareness of the project's work within and beyond the partner countries, and outside Europe. Feedback confirms that the guides are already influencing practitioners approaches to helping older citizens overcome initial barriers to adoption, changing the way that they engage with new learners.