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- Bjursell, Cecilia, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Continued growth later in life – older adults learning
- 2021
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The demographic changes have resulted in an increased proportion of older people in the population in several countries. To have a large proportion of older people in the population is a situation that is historically unique and basically something positive. Despite this, the aging population is discussed as a problem as it puts pressure on pension systems and health care systems. As education and learning have contributed to positive development in several ways, the interest for older adults learning has increased. Education that occurs later in life can be considered as a means of supporting participation in an extended working life, as a democratic citizen, and as a way of promoting well-being.Research on older adults learning is considered the fastest growing branch of adult education in post-industrial countries and one of the most crucial challenges facing current adult European education (Formosa, 2000). Older adults learning focuses on the diverse provision of late-life learning, the motivations and interests of older learners, participation in and emancipatory policies for older adult learning, and the benefits of learning at different levels (Schmidt-Hertha, Formosa & Fragoso, 2019). Research in a Swedish context has provided insights into different aspects of older adults learning, such as intergenerational relationships, motivations and benefits, inclusion and participation, online and offline learning, working-life and guidance. The presentation will engage in a dialogue about these topics.
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| 2. |
- Olsson, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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At risk of exclusion? : Degrees of ICT access and literacy among senior citizens
- 2019
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Ingår i: Information, Communication and Society. - London : Taylor & Francis. - 1369-118X .- 1468-4462. - 9788090665507 ; 22:1, s. 55-72
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Drawing on data derived from a nationwide postal survey (n = 1264) with a simple random sample of Swedes between ages 65 and 85 (response rate: 63%), the article analyses the general patterns of: (a) degrees of information and communication (ICT) access and (b) ICT-literacy among Swedish senior citizens. The overall patterns of access and literacy are analysed in light of senior citizens’ assets – conceptualized as material, discursive and social resources – and their age and gender. The analysis reveals a positive correlation between levels of material (e.g., income), discursive (e.g., English skills) and social (e.g., social networks) resources and access to ICT. With greater resources, the average number of devices increases. The analysis also reveals a positive correlation between discursive and social resources and ICT-literacy. Gender has no bearing on access to devices, but might have some effect on ICT-literacy. The correlation between age, access and literacy is negative. With increasing age, both access and literacy decreases. In this respect, the study reveals a generational effect. However, since all three resources tend to decrease over the life cycle, the results are also discussed in terms of an age effect. These data and our analyses are contextualized by a critical discussion that reflects on the implications of these general patterns: What do they mean for senior citizens’ abilities to be included and participate in a continuously digitalizing society?
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| 3. |
- Olsson, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Not a Generation of Non-Users : Variations in Elderly’s Online Practices
- 2017
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Ingår i: NordMedia 2017, Tampere, Finland. ; , s. 1-26
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Within both research and public debates, internet based media are mainly perceived as young people’s media. This becomes particularly obvious in popular conceptualizations such as “the Digital generation”, “the Internet generation”, or “the Facebook generation”. When referring to statistical studies of internet use and internet usage, this perception is also to some extent verified; younger users present both more and more varied patterns of usage. Young people in Sweden, between 16 and 25, spend an average of nearly 40 hours a week on the Internet. However, 50 percent of the elderly (75+) are still non-users. Hence, there is some substance in the generational view of users of online media.There are, however, at least two different but interrelated problems affiliated with such a view. Firstly, the generational view very easily overlooks differences in-between young users. For instance, the notion “Facebook generation” implicitly treats all contemporary individuals in their early twenties as habitual users of social media. Nevertheless, within this category there are in fact also very modest users of social media, and even absolute non-users. Secondly – and most importantly within the frames of this paper – a generational view of internet based media implicitly, by default, treats older people in general and senior citizens in particular as non-users.Rather than understanding senior citizens as a coherent generation of (non-)users, this paper departs from an ambition to illustrate variations in use of online media among senior citizens. It draws on a large scale Swedish survey (n=1264, response rate 63%). The paper deploys multiple regression analysis in order to map overarching user profiles among Swedish senior citizens. More specifically, it identifies and elaborates on five profiles: administration, consumption, welfare service, media usage and production. The analysis further relates these varying profiles to senior users’ assets in terms of material, discursive and social resources. The latter analysis reveals, for instance, how discursive resources (such as “skills in English”) have a positive impact on all five user profiles, while social (for instance “having children”) and material resources (such as “income”) have a positive impact on three and two profiles respectively.The paper concludes by reflecting on the potential implications of these varying user profiles among senior citizens. What do the variations between different segments of senior citizens mean in terms of their inclusion in or exclusion from a society in which both commercial and public services are reshaped from analogue to digital formats?
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| 4. |
- Olsson, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Resources and repertoires : elderly online practices
- 2019
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Ingår i: European Journal of Communication. - : Sage Publications. - 0267-3231 .- 1460-3705. ; 34:1, s. 38-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inspired by the theoretical notion of media repertoires, this article analyses what online repertoires Swedish senior citizens construct in everyday life. It answers two research questions: What online repertoires do elderly users have? How do elderly users’ online repertoires vary depending on their access to material, discursive and social resources? The article draws on data from a large, representative Swedish survey (n = 1264, response rate 63%), and uses correlations and multiple regression analysis to identify and analyse online repertoires with reference to elderly users’ access to resources such as income, infrastructure, level of education and social networks. The analysis reveals a significant element of selectivity in the online repertoires of elderly users. It also shows strong connections between different Internet activities. In addition, it offers substantial evidence in support of the proposition that individuals who are resource rich have broader repertoires and higher frequency of usage than other users.
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| 5. |
- Olsson, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Senior Citizens’ ICT Access, Use and Literacy : How Material Resources Matter
- 2016
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Ingår i: ECREA 2016 Abstract Book. - Prague : CZECH-IN. - 9788090665507 ; , s. 37-37
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- According to international statistics, Sweden is one of the world’s most internet connected nations. The most recent data reveal that approximately 90per cent of all Swedes have online access through various devices, such as computers and/or mobile phones. The fact that online access is widespread hasbeen interpreted as a useful opportunity. Among governmental agencies it has been referred to as an opportunity to make public services more availableand effective. Also healthcare has become a part of this. With the advent of online portals for health information and communication, Swedish healthcareagencies hope to be able to provide better services, but also to make their contacts with care seekers and patients more efficient. The ambition to make allkinds of societal services more accessible and effective via online applications presupposes a number of important prerequisites. It presupposes widespreadaccess to devices and ICT-applications. It further presupposes that all citizens, who are the inscribed users, have competence and skills enough to also makeuse of them. For research, senior citizens make up a specifically interesting category of citizens in this context. They have lived through the transformationsfrom analogue to digital services and are also expected to start to adapt to them. According to general, national statistics, however, their levels of access toand use of ICT-applications are clearly lower than for younger people. Meanwhile, senior citizens are by no means a coherent group of ICT-users. Hence, it isvital to attend to differences between and similarities within the overall category “senior citizens” in order to gain insights into what these transformationsmean in terms of “inclusion in” or potential “exclusion from” for varying groups of citizens. In this paper we depart from and aim to further develop the conceptmaterial resources (Murdoch et al., 1992; Warschauer, 2003; Olsson, 2007) – here measured by an index including household income and home ownership– when analysing different groups of senior citizens as ICT users. To what extent do senior citizens’ varying access to material resources influence…• …their access to various ICT-devices (computers, smart phones, iPads, etc.)? • …the ways in which these devices are put to use? • …their perceivedlevels of ICT-literacy? The paper presents and analyses data from a recent Swedish survey (November 2015-January 2016). Data are derived from a nationalSRS of 2000 senior citizens (+65 years), with a response rate of 64 percent. Out initial analyses reveal that access to material resources are influencing allof the above mentioned aspects (access to devices, use of devices, perceived literacy, and more). The correlation is, as expected, positive: with increasingresources, follows increasing access, use and sense of literacy. In the light of these data the paper problematizes emerging patterns of digital inclusion andexclusion among senior citizens and their potential societal consequences.
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