Posted on 03/17/2007 4:11:09 PM PDT by blam
Source: University of Alberta
Date: March 17, 2007
Why Computers Frustrate Older Adults
Science Daily — A number of evolving social changes highlight the importance of making computer technology accessible and usable for older adults. For instance, older adults are using email increasingly to keep up their social contact with others and are using the Internet to look up health information.
An innovative research study was conducted at the University of Alberta which analyzed the performance outcomes of older adults when being tested on the computer and Internet.
What researchers found can be applied as a 'best practice' when teaching older adults how to use computer technology. Research found that older adults feel less confident about their computer knowledge than younger adults. Older adults are also concerned about how memory issues may impact their performance.
"This lack of confidence is a major factor in older adults' ability to become proficient with computer technology, which unfortunately results in less computer use," said Dr. Patricia Boechler from the University of Alberta.
The study also highlights the obstacles older adults experience such as a significant decrease in sensory keenness, particularly with vision and hearing, as well as a decrease in motor skills due to health problems, such as arthritis and tremors.
Dr. Boechler notes, "Often a large challenge for older adults when using the computer is navigating the mouse and keyboard, which is commonly due to a health problem like arthritis."
Boechler, Foth, and Watchorn studied approximately 40 older adults by having them complete computer exercises and measured their results to undergraduates who previously completed the exercises. The study gives a list of recommendations to help even the playing field for older adults such as increasing font sizes to accommodate vision problems, ensuring that verbal instructions are delivered at an appropriate volume with minimal noise distractions and giving demonstrations of the tasks ahead of time to reduce anxiety.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Alberta.
These issues are real.
In other words, the study didn't prove much of anything, so the authors had to rely on good old fashioned common sense.
bump
My Dad is 71 and loves his computer. However, I have to admit that the my laptop's touchpad gives me tendinitis when I use it too much. I had to stop playing so many games!
It's how they scheme behind your back, when they think you are asleep, then hatch their evil "Missing .dll" messages that gets me.
That's why I keep a gun on top of the computer, just in case.
Signed,
Geezer.
Buy him a trackball, and if your system supports it, a USB/optical (laser) mouse to take with you on the road.
Buy more. In most systems it is less than $50 to double the amoun of memory. /s off?
What is an older adult?
Rim Shot
An older adult is one who cannot type as fast as I can.
Texican
"What is an older adult?
And what are computer skills?
I know quite a few guys over 50 who can still code in C++ and assembler quite easily. There aren't that many young people who can do that any more.
I was wondering the same. I am 63 and suspect it includes me, lol.
My 38 year old PhD son just got DSL because he didn't want to be lower-tech than his old man, me, who already had it.
Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. ~Author Unknown
Now that IS brilliant
I learned to type in high school, before PC's were in use. I learned to use a PC one little step at a time, at work (with an orange-font monitor against a black background and the use of little floppy disks), but most of what I know I learned on my own at home on my own PC, the hard way: trial and error. FreeRepublic was a Godsend as far as starting to learn HTML.
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