Interactive Multimedia Touch Screen Tablets and Gaming as a Vehicle That Fosters Learning Digital Skills

Abstract

As digital multimedia devices further pervade the lives of everybody including the older adults, the need for relevant training for these age groups of people grows. Older adults, not due to their frailty or age, but because accessing and using digital devices like smart phones can be difficult for them due to a lack of digital skills required in use of multimedia devices, do experience the digital divide sharply. This paper intends to present the use of gaming on touch screen multimedia devices in learning digital skills for the elderly. The case study was carried out with a group of older adults in four European countries with multimedia tablets before they attended the training process for learning how to use smartphones. A parallel group was not exposed to the same devices and the tablet game playing. The comparative results from both groups have shown that gaming on multimedia devices improves the skills necessary for active use of digital skills in everyday life and foster their adoption.