Teaching Older People Using Web Technology: A Case Study

The scenario of rapid development in Information Communication Technology and the increasing population of older people in this twenty-first century has urged more Human Computer Interaction researchers to endeavor study pertaining how technology can assist older people in their lives. Older adult generally experience some significant changes as they grow older including physical, cognitive and behavioral changes. The increasing number of older people globally motivates researches to find out how web technology can help the older people in their daily activities instead of their disability. Therefore, a total number of 14 older people were invited to attend a web technology workshop and learn how to use the government application known as MyEG and a social network application which is Facebook. Through researchers´ observation, older people prefer to use applications that they are interested in and easy to use. Learning method is even better using face to face coaching and ample time is needed in understanding new technology. Besides, older people need additional tools such as notes to help them remember things they learn easily. This study can be extended in future to identify the preferable method and technology design to teach older people using not only Web technology but the mobile applications as well.