BARRIERS TO LEARNING: IS COLLABORATIVE LEARNING USING ICT AN ANSWER?

There are many barriers to learning that prevent or scare individuals to participate in lifelong learning. In the knowledge society that’s a serious obstacle for the personal development requested by the society which is undergoing profound changes. This means fewer chances for individuals to get work or employment, and could lead to social exclusion. That is even more pronounced with the older population, as it affects also the quality of their life, as non-participation means exclusion.

CPZ-International Centre for Knowledge Promotion has been developing methodologies for acquisition of basic competences for using Moodle (or any other internet) platform technology. The basis for it was the curriculum and the approach developed in the ROP project for acquiring basic ICT skills. In the programme design and realization the special emphasis was given on the development of competences. Beside the development of ICT competence, the programme also stimulated development of other competences as literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, communication and organizational skills, team work, creativity and innovativeness.

The target populations in this project were 50+ older adults and unemployed job seekers, who wanted to increase their opportunity for getting employment by acquiring new computer skills and at the same time increasing their computer literacy.

During the development process team was detecting and addressing different barriers that older adults are facing when learning new competences. Experiences will be presented, using a case study that will illustrate the process.