| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 成人及繼續教育所 === 94 === The purpose of this research looks into the difficulties older people have when learning through the Internet and the coping strategies that are adopted by then in the process. I hope the conclusions and suggestions reached in this research can offer the educational institutes some ideas about how to help older people use the Internet as a leaning method in our society.
My research is mainly based on interviews. Six older people who use the Internet as a leaning tool and method were interviewed to establish understanding of this subject group. The purposes of my research include: (1) Probing into the obstacles impeding the effective use of web-based learning of older people. (2) Analyzing the coping strategies that were adopted by elderly users when facing the problems. (3) According to the conclusion of my research, practical suggestions are made to improve the involvement of elderly Internet users.
1. The obstacles impeding the effective use of web-based learning of older people might result from physical or mental problems, a lack of family support or computer basic skills, or other factors. The strategies of overcoming these difficulties include problem-solving, self-adjusting ,or support-searching.
2. Older people suffer from many physical problems due to ageing. Among them,a decline in vision is the biggest obstacles impeding the effective use of web-based learning for elderly users. To cope with this problem, older people have developed different strategies according to individual health condition.
3. Older people usually have high self-esteem and low leaning confidence when facing the challenge of learning through the Internet. This kind of attitude became the biggest mental problem in the learning process. The most efficient strategy to solve the problem is to encourage and help Older people adjust their attitude toward web-based learning.
4. Older people’s families usually hold a negative attitude toward their web-based learning and can’t offer them support on time. Therefore, to gain the support and help from their family is the most important strategy for older people when encountering the obstacles to impeding the effective use of web-based learning.
5. The most common strategy to overcome the problem of lacking of computer basic skills is to consult other people as much as possible.
6. In addition to physical problem, mental problem, the lack of family support and computer basic skills, there are more other factors that might result in difficulties in web-based learning for older people. The older people will use different strategies of problem-solving based on individual needs.
At last, I will offer practical suggestions especially aiming at the relevant educational institutes serving older people, elderly learners themselves, families of older people and future study based on the conclusions reached in this dissertation.
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