Abstract:

It is undeniable that we inhabit "an increasingly digital reality", where it is possible to communicate in real time with people who may be at the other end of the world, in this "global village" that today constitutes our planet. Where it is possible to read news, or listen to a song or enjoy a movie with just a “click” of the mouse or a “touch” on a tactile screen. In recent years, homes have undergone a digital transformation where a “router” is an inseparable part of the furniture and the television is connected to the Internet. Virtual reality even allows us to "walk" or "visit" a museum without leaving the living room of the house. Smartphones and tablets have come to stay and references to social networks are a common topic in the media. We inhabit cities that are becoming more and more intelligent every day where with various mobile applications we can know where we are, make payments, consult information, take photographs, record videos, etc. Wearable devices are advertised as part of the not too distant future and new words such as "Internet of Things", "cloud", "artificial intelligence", "algorithms", etc., have expanded our usual vocabulary.

These and many other considerations suggest the need for the acquisition of digital skills by elder people, in a reality that is already glimpsed "hyperconnected" and where, step by step, we will stop being digital "Users" to become Digital "citizens".

That is why the SENIOR University of the Polytechnic University of Valencia has been teaching, for several academic years, training monographs that address these issues. However, the pandemic has forced us to rethink the traditional way in which students learned. That is, it has been necessary to add to the training Curriculum skills of online teaching that are not normally related to this student profile. Tools such as TEAMS, Zoom, Google Meet, etc., were necessary to master in order to continue with the development of the class sessions as normally as possible.

The results obtained during a recent training experience with 20 students, aged between 65 and 80 years, are presented during the delivery of the 20-hour monograph entitled “Elder People and Digital Reality”, which turned out to be quite a challenge, both for students and teachers. The students had all the contents in “PoliformaT”, the platform for distance learning of the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Through an initial survey on the use of technologies, the group's average skills were defined. TEAMS being the main tool for the delivery of the sessions, at all times the students also had other communication “channels” such as email, WhatsApp, mobile phone, etc., thus avoiding any possible connection difficulties during the online session. In the last session, a survey was conducted to find out the degree of satisfaction with the contents, the procedure followed during the 10 class sessions, possible difficulties with the use of TEAMS, or distance learning itself. Among the results obtained, it should be noted that this student profile prefers to receive face-to-face classes, which enables interaction and sociability with other people of the same age.

Keywords:

Elder people, Digital society, SENIOR University, Traditional learning, Online learning, Pandemic, Corporate Social Responsibility, TEAMS, Zoom, Google Meet