SENIOR STUDENTS IN VIRTUAL SPACES; THE TREASURE WITHIN
Lipphardt AM, Escuder-Mollon P, Adell J, Cabedo S, Esteller-Curto R (2015)
Publication Type: Conference contribution, Original article
Publication year: 2015
Pages Range: 1569-1571
Conference Proceedings Title: ICERI2015 Proceedings
Event location: Seville
ISBN: 978-84-608-2657-6
Abstract
Virtual learning spaces are offered to students to acquire competences
and skills regardless of time and space. Even the most usual
configuration is the blended learning (virtual and physical teaching
mixed), educational institutions also offer 100% virtual learning,
mainly to adults in very specific subjects in specialization courses, or
other job skills subjects. Even we are aware of the limitations of full
virtual learning, it is necessary to acknowledge the enormous
advantages it provides, increasing the access of people to education
(mostly if those life in rural areas, or disabled). Furthermore, it is
also worth mentioning that nowadays, because of the great extend of
technology in everyday life, the virtual socialization deserves as much
attention as the real life socialization.
Senior students are
enrolled in educational institutions mainly because of personal
motivations (not because of job skills or competitiveness) and they
attend to courses because they want to keep active and up-to-date,
sharing the time with other classmates, enjoying and learning from this
experience. This interaction is reached thanks to physical learning
environments, for this reason it is not usual to offer full virtual
learning spaces, furthermore when statistically senior citizens are not
so ICT skilled as younger (Information and Communication Technologies,
that is mainly computer and internet use).
The Senior Citizens'
University (SCU), started in the course 2011/2012 a pilot curse (using
Moodle) with 30 students (senior learners over 55), after this
experience, each year the number of subjects and students have been
increasing reaching to 12% (that is 114 learners) of the total students
from the SCU (in the course 2014/2015 954 students were enrolled in the
SCU). Each of the subjects lasts for a semester (45 months)
This
papers aims to show the results of the use of virtual learning to senior
citizens, the difficulties that have appeared and how we tried to solve
them year after year. We consider that the virtual teaching is now
consolidated with enough quality as a viable approach for senior
citizens that do not have possibilities to attend real classes, or that
want to use computer mediated learning (a e-inclusion characteristic)
Specially
remarkable has been noted in teaching-learning process; it has
increased in complexity enormously, allowing senior learners to acquire
competences difficult to reach in real classrooms; therefore we
recommend its implementation by other educational institutions focused
on seniors. We show in the paper how the senior learners acquired
competences not only related to the content of the subject (that usually
was related to history and society areas) but new ways of
communication, collaboration, learning and sharing using the ICT. Their
feedback (using qualitative research) and also the teachers’ experience
has showed the impact the participation in this kind of education had in
their technological attitudes and competences. This kind of teaching,
when designed based on senior learners needs and requirements,
implementing instructional, constructivism, and connectivism pedagogies,
showed that made them to learn the course content, but also learn to
share, learn to do and learn to learn in the information age society.
The
results of this research are framed in the “European home learning
service for seniors association” (http://ehlssa.odl.org/) KA2 Erasmus +
Strategic partnership project.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
How to cite
APA:
Lipphardt, A.-M., Escuder-Mollon, P., Adell, J., Cabedo, S., & Esteller-Curto, R. (2015). SENIOR STUDENTS IN VIRTUAL SPACES; THE TREASURE WITHIN. In ICERI2015 Proceedings (pp. 1569-1571). Seville, ES.
MLA:
Lipphardt, Anne-Marie, et al. "SENIOR STUDENTS IN VIRTUAL SPACES; THE TREASURE WITHIN." Proceedings of the 8th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville 2015. 1569-1571.
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