What helps adult learners with little formal schooling to develop basic digital skills?

Abstract

In today’s world, having at least basic digital skills is essential in working, social, and family life. The present study uses grounded theory to explore ways in which people with little formal schooling engage with the digital world. Drawing on 54 semi-structured interviews, it describes how people with little IT experience from formal education obtain information about digital security, privacy, the functioning of antivirus software, software updates, and so on. We introduce the concepts of computer world and ministories which draw parallels between the online and offline worlds. While creating the concepts of computer world and ministories, we follow Richard Mayer’s theory of multimedia learning, and thus ministories are based on the appropriate combination of images and texts. The study attempts to answer the following general question: ‘Is it better to teach people how to work with specific apps for everyday use or teach them the principles that are behind them?’. This question should be asked when creating new approach in IT education and not only in lifelong learning.