University of Kwazulu-Natal

A Digital Media Literacy Intervention For Older Adults Improves

Bonisiwe Shabane
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a digital media literacy intervention for older adults improves

Older adults are especially susceptible to fake news online, possibly because they are less digitally literate compared to younger individuals. Interventions for older adults have emerged to improve digital literacy, although there has been little evaluation of their effectiveness in improving older adults' resilience to fake news. We report the results of a digital literacy intervention for older adults administered during the 2020 U.S. election. The intervention was a 1-hour, self-directed series of interactive modules designed to teach concepts and skills for identifying misinformation online. Consistent with our pre-registered hypothesis, older adults (Mage = 67) in the treatment condition (N = 143) significantly improved their likelihood of accurately discerning fake from true news from 64% pre-intervention to 85% post-intervention.

In contrast, older adults in the control condition (N = 238) did not significantly improve (from 55% to 57%). The treated older adults were also more likely to employ strategies for identifying misinformation online compared to pre-intervention and the control group. The authors declare no competing interests. Predicted probabilities of correctly judging… Predicted probabilities of correctly judging news headline veracity. Note: Predicted probability of accurately…

Predicted values of skill levels and probability of researching headlines. Note: Panel ( … Scientific Reports volume 12, Article number: 6008 (2022) Cite this article Older adults are especially susceptible to fake news online, possibly because they are less digitally literate compared to younger individuals. Interventions for older adults have emerged to improve digital literacy, although there has been little evaluation of their effectiveness in improving older adults’ resilience to fake news. We report the results of a digital literacy intervention for older adults administered during the 2020 U.S.

election. The intervention was a 1-hour, self-directed series of interactive modules designed to teach concepts and skills for identifying misinformation online. Consistent with our pre-registered hypothesis, older adults (Mage = 67) in the treatment condition (N = 143) significantly improved their likelihood of accurately discerning fake from true news from 64% pre-intervention to 85% post-intervention. In contrast, older adults in the control condition (N = 238) did not significantly improve (from 55% to 57%). The treated older adults were also more likely to employ strategies for identifying misinformation online compared to pre-intervention and the control group. Recent research has identified older adults as a demographic group especially susceptible to fake news online.

For example, during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, people 65 and older were twice as likely to be exposed to fake news on Twitter and seven times more likely to share fake news on Facebook than 18–29 year olds1,2. Analyzing across a nationally representative sample’s mobile, desktop, and television media consumption for a nearly 3 year period, Allen et al. found that older individuals were substantially greater consumers of fake news than younger people3. Scholars have postulated that older adults’ limited digital literacy may explain their heightened susceptibility to fake news online4. Here, we use “digital literacy” to refer to what researchers have also called digital information literacy, or the ability to analyze and evaluate information encountered online, including judgment of information reliability or evaluation of...

In general, research has shown that older adults possess lower levels of digital and internet-related skills relative to younger individuals7,8,9. Several factors likely contribute to this pattern. For instance, unlike younger individuals, older adults are not “digital natives” and may have less experience using contemporary media technologies and platforms as they were not as large a part of their professional and... Further, technologies themselves are often designed in such a way that are more difficult for older adults to use (e.g., small text sizes, reliance on touchscreen inputs)11. With these digital challenges in mind, organizations have begun developing digital literacy training programs for older adults to aid them in sorting fact from fiction online, although to date there has been little formal... In this paper, we report results from our collaboration with MediaWise, a non-profit journalism organization, who administered a digital literacy training program for older adults, MediaWise for Seniors, during the 2020 presidential election in...

This intervention was a 1-h online course which, through the use of text, videos, interactive exercises, and short quizzes, taught skills important for verifying the credibility of information encountered online, such as “lateral reading”... Relative to other digital literacy training resources, MediaWise for Seniors was designed specifically for older adults—the training progressed at a slower pace, employed trusted instructors that would be familiar to the population (e.g., Joan... Developing digital literacy (DL) is essential for older adults to keep pace with the rapid advances of technologies. This review took an evidence-based approach to examine the effectiveness of digital training programs designed for older adults. Adopting the PRISMA guideline, a systematic search was conducted on Web of Science, Scopus, and EbscoHost, which yielded a total of 4552 empirical articles. Of these, 46 were further examined based on the DigComp 2.2 Framework to identify digital competencies for older adults.

Results showed that wealthier nations have greater technological adoption, with their older adults having better access to learning resources and training. Despite various barriers faced by some older adults, it would be beneficial to design exemplary solutions that group learners with similar levels of digital competency. This review identified that providing step-by-step instructions and pacing the lessons carefully can greatly enhance the learning experience. Other approaches, such as intergenerational learning, personal tutoring, game-based learning, dialogic learning, and peer learning, can effectively address the cognitive, social, attitudinal, and health-related needs of older adults. In future lesson design, it is worth implementing training on a long-term basis, personalizing the learning experience, and eliminating any practical barriers that might hinder the learning process. Moreover, future research should consider geographic diversity when recruiting participants, customize lessons for different cultural backgrounds, integrate technologies further into the daily life of older adults, and examine how emerging technologies could enhance the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access. Price excludes VAT (USA) Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. No primary data was used for the research described in the article. Abarghouie, M. H. G., Omid, A., & Ghadami, A.

(2020). Effects of virtual and lecture-based instruction on learning, content retention, and satisfaction from these instruction methods among surgical technology students: A comparative study. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 9(1), 296. Introduction: Older people are the group with the greatest digital gap, so their digital literacy is important to improve the conditions in which they age. Methods: A study was conducted with pre- and post-evaluation of a digital literacy (DL) intervention in people aged 60 years and over. A total of 56 participants (experimental group N = 32 and control group N = 24) were recruited for convenience in community centers.

The intervention was adapted to the needs of the participants, there were five face-to-face sessions and remote reinforcement for three months, carried out by trained university students for five months. Sociodemographic variables such as self-perception of socioeconomic level and education, among others, were evaluated. The impact was assessed using the digital literacy scale (MDPQ16), indicators of frequency and types of internet and mobile phone use, health literacy (SAHLSA and NSV), quality of life (SF-12), hedonic well-being (Diener's SWLS... Results: The intervention had a significant impact with an effect size of r = 0.27 on digital literacy, separate t-test comparisons revealed a markedly significant change for digital literacy in the experimental group, before... No direct impact on health literacy, health-related quality of life, and hedonic well-being was identified. We examined the indirect impact of change in digital literacy and found that it correlated with improvements in well-being and social support, as well as quality of life.

Individuals with significant changes were detected and compared with those who did not change. Discussion: Evaluation that contributes by identifying elements for improvement in future interventions and discusses the importance of culturally adapting continuing education in older people. Keywords: culturally tailored intervention; digital literacy; health literacy; older people; quality of life; well-being.

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