Abstract:

The arrival of new mobile devices has changed the way we perceive and understand the world around us. The ability to connect and interact anytime and anywhere through these devices has changed the way we process the information. These devices have the same functionality as the conventional PCs and have revolutionized the world of telecommunications and therefore the way we communicate. As a result, this new form of technological communication has influenced everything around us; our personal lives, our work and our academic life.

The main importance of this technological revolution in education lies not in content by itself but in its own technology. The device that provides us the contents determines the manner in which our brain learns. Also, another very important key fact is that the user interface has been altered. In the case of tablets, the typical mouse and keyboard has been replaced by a touch screen. Depending on our student’s profile, the touch screen will present a set of advantages (or disadvantages).
In our case, students are elderly. One of the most important features of this student profile is that they possess special physical characteristics. This makes it hard to define “the elderly” as one consistent group, and presents a challenge for designers of computer technology. Facing this challenge, however, can ultimately provide benefits for both elderly people and society. For example, older people have a number of significant motor difficulties. In our work has been seen that the use of tablets has had a very positive influence in this situation. We could appreciate that the learning time needed to manage mouse and keyboard has been drastically reduced through the use of touch technology.

Another important aspect to consider is the type of software that has been shown to improve the benefits of the use of these new devices. On the one hand it has encouraged the acquisition of basic skills in the use of the touch screen through games and word processors. On the other hand, older people have been able to navigate through the network using these devices. It has been observed a considerable difference in user response time versus device events compared to the same events if they occur on a conventional PC.

Finally, the device has been as a motivation element by itself. Until the beginning of the course this technology was distant for the elderly. The basic computer knowledge that the elderly already had combined with the use of these devices had created a very positive learning environment in the classroom. For example, among other duties, older people have accessed to their social networks accounts or checked their personal email through the tablets.
That is reason this paper aims to present the experience achieved in a course which has combined the use of tablets and the use of conventional PC's. After the course we obtained some interesting conclusions about the importance of the kind of devices used during the learning process. However, the most important fact is that older people have been able to absorb this new technology quickly, dynamically and effectively. It has also been a significant improvement in the learning curve of these people.

Keywords:

Tablet, elderly, TICs.