Age-appropriate training will help seniors do daily tasks and avoid misinformation
Canadian seniors haven’t been the focus of many digital media literacy initiatives, despite being a rising population demographic — more than 7.5 million Canadians are aged 65 and over — and an increasing presence online.
According to Statistics Canada, five in 10 Canadians over 65 (new window) are regularly on social media, while more than eight in 10 (new window) are on the web generally.
But with more everyday tasks requiring digital fluency and misinformation swirling online — and given the influence this cohort wields — experts say older adults want and need more digital literacy education and support.
‘Benevolent ageism’ widens digital divide
Common generalizations that adults 65 and older are hopeless with new technology or particularly gullible against online misinformation serve only to increase the digital divide between seniors and other demographics, according to education researchers Claire Ahn and Natalia Balyasnikova (new window).
Too many people have a mentality of benevolent ageism
— a notion that seniors aren’t knowledgeable, require hand-holding or need things done for them, explained Balyasnikova, an assistant professor at Toronto’s York University.
Older adults are, in fact, eager to embrace digital tools when they’re provided with the right training and support,
she said, adding that seniors are often ignored in adult education programming.
Immigrant seniors, a group that Balyasnikova and Ahn have worked with, in particular, are completely invisible,
she said.
Some educational programming for this segment can be quite infantilizing
as well, Balyasnikova noted.