THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE LEARNING PROCESS ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES COURSES FOR SENIORS

Background

Seniors (55+) do not learn Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to get a better job; they learn ICT because they want to be up to date in this technology society (e.g. to take advantage of all the options the net offers). Their learning pace is different from younger generations. They often begin the courses without any experience of computers and the internet. Although they can feel highly motivated at the beginning of the course, they often become discouraged or disappointed, firstly because they find the new skills to be acquired and concepts to be understood too difficult for them, and secondly because they expected more from the Internet.

Motivation

Communication in the classroom is a key factor to take into account because of the special goals of these learners (motivated by pure personal interest) and their involvement in the classes (as a challenge). In an ICT class, communication is not usually as fluent as in other subjects where the learner feels more confident and relaxed (e.g. humanities subjects); they often feel bewildered, disorientated and intimidated as their learning requires a high practical involvement and interaction with the computer. Trainers should be aware of the communication role that can be applied in an ICT learning environment, but also which techniques are most useful to overcome the barrier that can exist and that prevents the learners gaining confidence and learn efficiently.

Methodology

This study focuses on senior students attending the Senior Citizens’ University (SCU, in Castellon -Spain) ICT courses (281 students, average 66 years old). Computer and internet courses have been run since 2002 for seniors, since then, 793 students have registered. At the start of each year, a user-needs analysis is carried out by the teacher. At the end of the course, the students give feedback on the teacher’s didactic skills. All these data plus the teachers’ observation are gathered and constitute the basis of the results.

Results

In this paper we first define the characteristics of and the role communication has in the learning process in the ICT senior learner context. Secondly, we outline all the potential, qualities and possible benefits and influence of communication. We propose how to guide the learning process to promote and open ways of communication at various levels (group, individually, between learners), media (verbal, visual and written), and aims (feedback, evaluation, motivation). Finally we focus on barriers (tension, attitudes) that interrupt communication and must be foreseen and eliminated.