Abstract

As digital multimedia devices further pervade the lives of everybody including the older adults, the need for relevant training for these age groups of people grows. Older adults, not due to their frailty or age, but because accessing and using digital devices like smart phones can be difficult for them due to a lack of digital skills required in use of multimedia devices, do experience the digital divide sharply. This paper intends to present the use of gaming on touch screen multimedia devices in learning digital skills for the elderly. The case study was carried out with a group of older adults in four European countries with multimedia tablets before they attended the training process for learning how to use smartphones. A parallel group was not exposed to the same devices and the tablet game playing. The comparative results from both groups have shown that gaming on multimedia devices improves the skills necessary for active use of digital skills in everyday life and foster their adoption.

Keywords: gaming, older adults, education, training, digital skills

#### 1. Introduction

As nowadays digitalization is permeating all sectors and everyday life, citizens require more digital skills to participate in modern society, manage their lives and advance their professional careers. According to the factsheet of EU-based facts presented at the Digital Summit in 2017, 44% of the European population lacks even basic digital skills, although in the near future 9 out of 10 jobs will require digital competence. It is moreover predicted that in 2020 the Information and Communication Technology sector in Europe will face a lack of 500,000 experts. Despite the improvements in data and the clear commitment on the political side, Europe still lacks the digitally-skilled citizens needed to fill the gaps. In addition, the problem with the older adult population seems to be even more crucial as only 55% of individuals aged 65 or older use the Internet, according to investigations reporting on the developments in some European countries [1], while around 80% of the entire European population uses the Internet [2]. The importance of digital skills among older adults rose in parallel with the new Internet-based services, such as e-health and others, with the purpose of extending their stay at home before they need to move to retirement homes. The problem of missing digital skills among

older adults is related to the fact that older adults have no experience in using digital devices where the communication with the user most frequently uses an interface based on touchscreen technology. Among these devices, of major importance for older adults is the use of smartphones for social communication but also for the tasks of their everyday life. It is a well-known fact that social inclusion with the help of modern communication technology strengthens social contacts and reduces loneliness [3]. The problem of learning digital skills among older adults come from the way they have learned in their youth and from the feeling that they are outsiders to the digital culture. Older European adult citizens may either be retired or middleaged, and they often lack the skills required to use the services accessible with modern smartphones or similar devices with touchscreen interfaces. Digital skills are increasingly required for performing instrumental tasks such as searching for contacts, medical help, measuring medical indicators in e-health services or paying bills, and taking part in democratic processes. To use them, older adults often visit public day centers where they can find assistance to perform even simple tasks. In EU 63% of the population is accessing internet via mobile phones and as a part of the access is the use of Digital Public services that are becoming important source of data, support and help. Measured by dimension indicators they show growth in 2017 in most of the EU countries, where Austria is among the leading, followed by Slovenia and UK [4].

The chapter briefly introduces the theoretical background of the research, the research setting, and the presentation of the findings accompanied by discussion

Interactive Multimedia Touch Screen Tablets and Gaming as a Vehicle That Fosters Learning…

A literature review on gaming by Connolly and co-workers [5] shows that different academic papers deal with the benefits of playing digital games, and that gamebased learning "is used across many curricular areas, most notably in health, business, and social issues". It was found as well that the interest in games within a learning context is based on motivational reasons. Games seem to be "motivating and enjoyable" for the players. On the other hand, playing games can coincide with learning. This is true especially if the learnability property of the game is high [6]. Studies have found that cognitive abilities (knowledge creation, organization, and application) are mainly related to games that present solvable problems and challenges when used for obtaining a specific learning outcome. They are usually designed to be adaptable to the skills and the level of the learner's knowledge. The game-learning components associated with technical or motor skills are related to the game's attributes, known as the learner's participation and interaction, learner engagement, control and navigation [7]. Motivation has positive relations concerning the game's attributes that specify the goals and rules of the game, its fantasy component and the provision of specific feedback to the learner. Given the positive effects of gaming, older adults are

considered a "great potential to accept" digital game-based learning [8].

rience in gaming on a touchscreen device.

45

Kaufmann also describes the motivational aspects and other additional benefits for older adults who play digital games, including the "mental experience", "dealing with loneliness or depression" or "developing confidence" [5]. Since playing digital games "does not require specific skills" [9], learners can start playing at a low competence level and can "gradually accumulate other types of skills while improving their gaming skills. However, the reported studies did not examine the effects of digital games on acquiring digital skills beyond the self-reporting of participants. The study presented below explored the effects of playing games on touchscreen tablets on the performance in using a smartphone after completing a training workshop, compared to another group of older adults without game expe-

Rather than testing existing assumptions about the behavior of older adults when facing digital technology, the decision was made to apply the Grounded theory as the theoretical background. According to several authors this theory is ideal for exploring integral social relationships and the behavior of a group of people where little exploration of the contextual factors that affect individual's lives are known. The Grounded Theory [10, 11] developed by Martin and Glaser in late 1970s enables exploratory studies to resolve different research questions, but equally importantly it allows to generate issues and questions during the ongoing investigation that may be answered after the experiment. The approach enables the simultaneous collection and analysis of data, the creation of analytic codes and categories developed from data without pre-existing conceptualizations. The theoretical sensitivity of the methods enables discovery of the basic social processes within the data, theoretical sampling to refine categories and writing analytical memos as the stage between coding and writing the integration of categories into a theoretical framework. The initial approach of the study was to look at categories related to the behavior of older adults toward digital technology, for example the emotions expressed by the participants during and after the gaming experiment. The type of the positive emotions that was supposed to formulate the categories was

and conclusion.

2. Theoretical background

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82724

In Europe, several initiatives were undertaken for overcoming this problem. Among them is the European Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices dedicated to establishing cooperation between educations to exchange skill practices. The recently launched action known as Skill Agenda contains several initiatives that seek to improve the digital skills at all levels and among all citizens, with specific focus on older adults. One of the active projects that address the education for learning digital skills is the project GIRDA Gameplay foR Inspiring Digital Adoption from the ERASMUS+ program.

The work presented in this paper is aimed to provide another aspect and approach of learning digital skills by older adults by focusing on older adults with no prior experience with digital technology. These were offered game-playing on large tablets with touchscreen interfaces offering multi-media experience and touch screen use. The gaming was applied as an entertaining lessons prior the course for learning how to use smartphone.

This chapter provides an overview of the results and findings from the exploratory study carried out by the GIRDA partners. The focus of the study was on the use of an alternative learning approach expecting this to facilitate the adoption of digital literacy by older adults. At the same time, the study tried to find the underlying reasons for the older people's low pace in the adoption of the necessary digital skills and to prepare some guidelines for the mentors or instructors helping the learners in their effort to learn. The learning games offered to the groups of older adults were selected based on the different skills needed in game-playing. The study was carried out in four European countries, the UK, Austria, Slovenia and Macedonia, and the results were collected from 107 adults aged between 57 and 84, later elaborated, studied and compared. The country selection was based on the percentage of aged population in particular country and the portion of aged that used internet. UK and Austria have relatively high portion population with digital skills above basic e.g. 42% in UK and 35% in Austria. Slovenia portion of population is 27% and in Macedonia the number is even smaller (13%) [4]. The percentage of population of adults over 65 years in the EU population is between 16 and 18% in most of the EU countries, but the portion of this population that uses internet differ very much among the selected countries, from 63% in AT and UK, 43% in Slovenia and 21% in Macedonia.

Interactive Multimedia Touch Screen Tablets and Gaming as a Vehicle That Fosters Learning… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82724

The chapter briefly introduces the theoretical background of the research, the research setting, and the presentation of the findings accompanied by discussion and conclusion.
