ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
Technology is advancing rapidly worldwide and is considered a necessity to be adapted into our daily lives, due to it being very useful and helpful to people. A fact that is known to many is that technology, especially the ones that are catered for the elders can bring many advantages to the said group of people, thus making some of their daily activities more convenient. However, much past research has identified the elders as people who adopt technology at a relatively slower rate than other people in different age groups due to circumstances of aging, such as the decline in cognitive and physical abilities, lack of exposure to technology, and even has low self-efficacy and self-confidence to use said devices. This study conducted a focus group discussion with a total of six participants who were experts in gerontology and the information technology fields, with the aim of strategizing methods that could enable the elderly to learn technology in a more convenient way. The discussion resulted in the obtainment of five strategies that could be used to help elderly people in Malaysia to learn better, thus improving their acceptance of technological devices in their lives, thus achieving active aging
Agarwal, R., & Prasad, J. (1999). Are Individual Differences Germane to the Acceptance of New Information Technologies? Decision Sciences, 30(2), 361–391. doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.1999.tb01614.x
Ahmad, N. A., Abd Rauf, M. F., Zaid, M. N. N., Zainal, A., Shahdan, T. S., & Abdul Razak, F. H. (2022). Effectiveness of Instructional Strategies Designed for Older Adults in Learning Digital Technologies: A Systematic Literature Review. SN Computer Science, 3(2). doi.org/10.1007/s42979-022-01016-0.
Al-Shorbaji, N. (2013). The World Health Assembly resolutions on eHealth: eHealth in support of universal health coverage. Methods of information in medicine, 52(06), 463-466.
An, S. Y., Cheung, C. F., Cheng, M. N., & Willoughby, K. (2021). A Roadmap of Information and Communication Technology-Oriented Product-Service Systems for Older Adults in Hong Kong. 2021 9th International Conference on Information and Education Technology (ICIET). doi.org/10.1109/iciet51873.2021.9419663.
Andreasson, K. (2015). Digital Divides: The New Challenges and Opportunities of e-Inclusion. New York: CRC Press.
Askari, M., Klaver, N. S., Van Gestel, T. J., & Van de Klundert, J. (2020). Intention to use Medical Apps Among Older Adults in the Netherlands: Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e18080. doi.org/10.2196/18080.
Ayamany, K. (2021). As life in Malaysia turns digital due to Covid-19, elderly may be left behind. Malaysia | Malay Mail.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/09/24/as-life-in-malaysia-turns-digital-due-to-covid-19-elderly-may-be-left-behin/2007956.
Calvo, I., Elorriaga, J. A., Arruarte, A., Larranaga, M., & Gutiérrez, J. (2017). Introducing computer-based concept mapping to older adults. Educational Gerontology, 43(8), 404–416. doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2017.1309635.
Chang, D. F., and Lin, S. P. (2011). Motivation to learn among older adults in Taiwan. Educational gerontology, 37(7), 574-592.
Changizi, M., Kaveh, M. H. (2017). Effectiveness of the mHealth technology in improvement of healthy behaviors in an elderly population-a systematic review. mHealth, 27(3), 51–51. doi: 10.21037/mhealth.2017.08.06.
Chen, K., & Chan, A. H. S. (2014). Gerontechnology acceptance by elderly Hong Kong Chinese: a senior technology acceptance model (STAM). Ergonomics, 57(5), 635–652. doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2014.895855.
Chipps, J., Jarvis, M. A., & Ramlall, S. (2017). The effectiveness of e-Interventions on reducing social isolation in older persons: A systematic review of systematic reviews. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 23(10), 817-827.
Dauenhauer, J. A., Heffernan, K. M., & Cesnales, N. I. (2018). Promoting intergenerational learning in higher education: older adult perspectives on course auditing. Educational Gerontology, 44(11), 732–740. doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2018.1555358.
Erlingsson, C., & Brysiewicz, P. (2017). A hands-on guide to doing content analysis. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(3), 93–99. doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2017.08.001.
Farage, M. A., Miller, K. W., Ajayi, F., & Hutchins, D. (2012). Design Principles to Accommodate Older Adults. Global Journal of Health Science, 4(2). doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v4n2p2.
Gilhooly, M., L., Gilhooly, K. J., & Jones, R. B. (2010). Quality of life: Conceptual challenges in exploring the role of ICT in active ageing. Gerontechnology, 9(2), 283.
Golding, B. G. (2011). Social, local, and situated: Recent findings about the effectiveness of older men’s informal learning in community contexts. Adult Education Quarterly, 61, 103-120. doi:10.1177/0741713610380437.
Haan, M. D., Brankaert, R., Kenning, G., & Lu, Y. (2021). Creating a Social Learning Environment for and by Older Adults in the Use and Adoption of Smartphone Technology to Age in Place. Frontiers in Public Health, 9. doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.568822.
Hansen, R. J., Talmage, C. A., Thaxton, S. P., & Knopf, R. C. (2019). Enhancing older adult access to lifelong learning institutes through technology-based instruction: A brief report. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 41(3), 342–351.
doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2019.1618852.
Hasan, H., & Linger, H. (2016). Enhancing the wellbeing of the elderly: Social use of digital technologies in aged care. Educational Gerontology, 42(11), 749–757. doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2016.1205425.
Hickman, J. M., Rogers, W. A., & Fisk, A. D. (2007). Training Older Adults To Use New Technology. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 62(Special_Issue_1), 77–84. doi.org/10.1093/geronb/62.special_issue_1.77.
Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687.
Hur, M. (2016). Empowering the elderly population through ICT-based activities: An empirical study of older adults in Korea. Information Technology & People, 29(2), 318–333. doi.org/10.1108/ ITP-03-2015-0052.
Ishihara, T., Kobayashi, M., Takagi, H., & Asakawa, C. (2013). How Unfamiliar Words in Smartphone Manuals Affect Senior Citizens. Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Applications and Services for Quality of Life, 636–642. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39194-1_73.
Jarvis, M. A., Sartorius, B., & Chipps, J. (2019). Technology acceptance of older persons living in residential care. Information Development, 36(3), 339–353. doi.org/10.1177/0266666919854164.
Jin, B., Kim, J., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2019). Informal Learning of Older Adults in Using Mobile Devices: A Review of the Literature. Adult Education Quarterly, 69(2), 120–141. doi.org/10.1177/0741713619834726.
Jo, H. S., & Hwang, Y. S. (2021). Psychological factors that affect the acceptance and need for ICT services for older adults with chronic diseases. Gerontechnology, 20(2), 1–11. doi.org/10.4017/gt.2021.20.2.411.01.
Kasim, A., & Rozaini, S. S. (2021). Factors That Influence Acceptance of Information Technology Towards MySejahtera Apps During Covid-19 Pandemic among Older Adults in Kedah. International Journal of Law, Government and Communication, 6(26), 90–107. doi.org/10.35631/ijlgc.626008.
Khamseh, F., Movahedi, M., Ebadi, A., Hajiamini, Z., & Navidian, A. (2018). Comparison of group motivational interviewing and multimedia education on elderly lifestyle. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 7(1), 133. doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_59_18.
Kim, S., Gajos, K. Z., Muller, M., & Grosz, B. J. (2016). Acceptance of mobile technology by older adults. Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services. doi.org/10.1145/2935334.2935380.
Kohn, L., & Christiaens, W. (2018). 3.1.3 Focus groups | Process Book. KCE Process Book. https://processbook.kce.fgov.be/node/349.
Li, J., Ma, Q., Chan, A. H., & Man, S. (2019). Health monitoring through wearable technologies for older adults: Smart wearables acceptance model. Applied Ergonomics, 75, 162–169. doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2018.10.006.
Li, L., Peng, W., Kamp, K., Bowen, M., Cotten, S. R., Rikard, R., & Kononova, A. (2017). Poster: Understanding Long-Term Adoption of Wearable Activity Trackers Among Older Adults. Proceedings of the 2017 Workshop on Wearable Systems and Applications, 33–34. doi.org/10.1145/3089351.3089819.
Lin, Y. -Y. (2011). "Older Adults’ Motivation to Learn in Higher Education," Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2011/papers/60.
Lindenberger, U., & Baltes, P., B. (1994). Sensory functioning and intellegence in old age: A strong connection. Psychology and Aging, 9(3), 339 – 355.
McGaughey, R. E., Zeltmann, S. M., & McMurtrey, M. E. (2013). Motivations and obstacles to smartphone use by the elderly: developing a research framework. International Journal of Electronic Finance, 7(3/4), 177. doi.org/10.1504/ijef.2013.058601.
Mishra, L. (2016). Focus Group Discussion in Qualitative Research. TechnoLearn: An International Journal of Educational Technology, 6(1), 1. doi.org/10.5958/2249-5223.2016.00001.2.
Molinari, D., Blad, P., & Martinez, M. (2005). Seniors’ Learning Preferences, Healthy Self-Care Practices and Computerized Education Implications. Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care, 5(1), 48–58. doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v5i1.190.
Mulenga, D., & Liang, J. -S. (2008). Motivations for older adults' participation in distance education: A study at the National open university of Taiwan. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 27(3), 289-314.
Nagle, B., & Williams, N. (2013). Methodology brief: Introduction to focus groups. http://www.uncfsp.org/projects/userfiles/File/FocusGroupBrief.pdf.
Nederlandse Zorgautoriteit Monitor - Zorg voor ouderen 2018. 2018. [2019-10-06]. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2018/04/19/monitor-zorg-voor-ouderen-2018.
Nelson, E. A., & Dannefer, D. (1992). Aged Heterogeneity: Fact or Fiction? The Fate of Diversity in Gerontological Research. The Gerontologist, 32(1), 17–23. doi.org/10.1093/geront/32.1.17.
Officer, A., Schneiders. M., L., & Wu, D. (2016). Valuing older people: time for a global campaign to combat ageism. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 94(10): 710–710A. doi: 10.2471/BLT.16.184960.
Pang, C., Wang, C. Z., McGrenere, J., Leung, R., Dai, J., & Moffatt, K. (2021). Technology Adoption and Learning Preferences for Older Adults: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445702.
Pappas, M. A., Demertzi, E., Papagerasimou, Y., Koukianakis, L., Voukelatos, N., & Drigas, A. (2019). Cognitive-based E-learning design for older adults. Social Sciences, 8(1). doi.org/10.3390/scsci8010006.
Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (2002) Motivation in Education: Theory, research, and applications (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Purdie, N., & Boulton-Lewis, G. (2003). The Learning Needs of Older Adults. Educational Gerontology, 29(2), 129–149. doi.org/10.1080/713844281.
Rev. (2021). How to Analyze Focus Group Data. Rev. https://www.rev.com/blog/how-to-analyze-focus-group-data.
Salthouse, T. A. (1992). Mechanisms of age-cognition relations in adulthood. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Selwyn, N. (2004). The information age: A qualitative study of older adults’ use of information and communications technology. Journal of Aging Studies. 18(4), 369-384. doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2004.06.008.
Smith, D., Zheng, R., Metz, A., Morrow, S., Pompa, J., Hill, J., & Rupper, R. (2019). Role of cognitive prompts in video caregiving training for older adults: optimizing deep and surface learning. Educational Gerontology, 45(1), 45–56. doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2019.1580442.
Statista. (2021). Smartphone users in Malaysia 2010–2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/494587/smartphone-users-in-malaysia/.
Tams, S., Grover, V., & Thatcher, J. (2014). Modern information technology in an old workforce: Toward a strategic research agenda. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 23(4), 284–304. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2014.10.001.
Tenneti, R., Johnson, D., Goldenberg, L., Parker, R. A., & Huppert, F. A. (2012). Towards a capabilities database to inform inclusive design: Experimental investigation of effective survey-based predictors of human-product interaction. Applied Ergonomics, 43(4), 713–726. doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2011.11.005.
Tyler, M., de George-Walker, L., & Simic, V. (2020). Motivation matters: Older adults and information communication technologies. Studies in the Education of Adults, 52(2), 175–194. doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2020.1731058.
Wah, Y. C. (2021). Make technology senior-friendly. NST Online. https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2021/12/753284/make-technology-senior-friendly.
World Economic Forum (WEF). (2015). Global Information Technology Report 2015. Available at: http:// www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_IT_Report_ 2015.pdf.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2018). BE HE@LTHY BE MOBILE A handbook on how to implement mAgeing. Geneva: World Health Organisation. Available at: http://www.who.int/ageing/health-systems/mAgeing/mAgeing-handbook.
Zhao, S., Kinshuk, Yao, Y., & Ya, N. (2021). Adoption of mobile social media for learning among Chinese older adults in senior citizen colleges. Educational Technology Research and Development, 69(6), 3413–3435. doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10048-x.
In-Text Citation: (Zaid et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Zaid, N. N. M., Ahmad, N. A., Rauf, M. F. A., Zainal, A., Razak, F. H. A., Shahdan, T. S. T., & Pek, L. S. (2022). Strategies to Help Elderly Learning Technology in Malaysia: A Focus Group Study. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(4), 975–985.
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode