Education for Digital Inclusion of Government Strategies

• In Event: Learning of Aging Population in Technology-Rich Environments During the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

The presentation addresses the issue of education for the digital inclusion of older adults as a response to demographic transition and the technological revolution. According to Eurostat's prediction, by 2050, the share of people aged over 65 in the total EU population will grow from 17% to 30%, while the share of population aged below 24 will drop from 30% to 23%. The current demographic situation of Poland also shows a similar trend.

At the same time, the technological revolution continues transforming the globe into an IT society. However, it is hard to unambiguously decide whether the global technological revolution favors social inclusion of the elderly. The presentation intends to help resolve this dilemma. Previous studies suggest that older adults and young people differ in their use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology, Information and Communications Technology, Wagner, Hassanein, & Head, 2010). Amongst Europeans, older adults (aged 55 – 65) use the Internet considerably less often than the younger population (Andreotti et al., 2017), due to significantly lower digital competencies of older adults (Hargittai & Dobransky, 2017).

Scholars are facing a “dividing society” of digital natives and digital immigrants, which should be considered when designing educational activities aimed at the elderly (Creighton, 2018; Kesharwani, 2020). On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the digital revolution, which, without proper education, may exacerbate the phenomenon of digital exclusion of older people.

The empirical part of the proposed study will present statistical data reflecting the scale of the threat of digital exclusion of senior Poles. The data analysis will be particularly focused on: 1) access to digital devices and infrastructure, 2) use of digital solutions by older people, and 3) their digital skills. Data will be obtained from the following sources: Eurostat, Statistics Poland, Ministry of Family and Social Policy, and Chancellery of the Prime Minister.

The theoretical part of the study will discuss the following phenomena: demographic transition of Polish society; technological revolution; digital exclusion and digital education of older people; public policy for the digital inclusion of the elderly (Blažič & Blažič, 2020; González, Ramírez, & Viadel, 2015; Martínez-Alcalá et al., 2018; European Commission, 2020; Pérez-Amaral, Valarezo, López, & Garín-Muñoz, 2021).

Overall, this study aims to present digital education as a method of reducing digital exclusion among the elderly in Poland and to analyze governmental strategies in this regard. The following four strategies will be analyzed: 1) Strategy for Responsible Development 2020 (with an outlook to 2030); 2) Social Policy for Older People 2030; 3) National Strategy for Regional Development 2030; and 4) Programm of Integrated State Informatization for 2014-2022. Analysis of government strategies leads to three main conclusions: 1) Polish government has put a strong emphasis on senior citizen policy; 2) Digital education activities for senior citizens planned and implemented in Poland in 2019-2020 are coherent, inclusive, and relevant; and 3) Methodology behind digital education addressed to Polish seniors is consistent with the recommendations of other researchers discussed in the theoretical part of the presentation.

Authors

• Justyna Przywojska, University of Lodz
  Presenting Author

• Aldona Podgórniak-Krzykacz, University of Lodz
  Presenting Author