Internet Use for Health Information among American Indians: Facilitators and Inhibitors

Our research team explored Internet use among a heterogeneous American Indian (AI) population to determine Internet use in relation to health information seeking behaviors. Participants examined an AI culturally-tailored tobacco website as an example to explain what they wanted in an AI Internet health site. Using community-based participatory research, we conducted 10 focus groups with non-college AI men and women (N=96), stratified by age (18-29, 30-49, and 50 and over) to better understand their perceptions of Internet use and health information needs. We found that Internet use varied greatly among all strata. Participants referenced WebMD© more than any other website, but participants were not pleased with the design and navigation. When examining the sample website, participants across strata stressed that recreational and traditional tobacco use should be discussed. Participants in all strata desired a simple website design with easy to read text accompanied by images. In order to gain and maintain cultural respect, participants stated that web designers should be aware that some images hold cultural meaning, particularly tobacco. Baseline data are needed for AI’s use of the Internet to obtain health information; this research is helpful to address health inequalities among AI, particularly access to web-based health information

Digital Use and Internet Access in Fayetteville, Arkansas

A report on data gathered from a spring 2019 survey by the UA Center for Communication Research. The data will provide the City of Fayetteville with a baseline picture regarding residents’ current levels of internet access, their daily activities online, the importance of the internet to them, and the barriers they see to enhanced online access. Future study will consider the homework gap in homes with K-12 students as well as general internet access issues for residential multi-tenant environments. Data from this survey will inform the City of Fayetteville\u27s Digital Equity Plan

Older Australians and the Internet

In late 2009, Sandra Haukka secured funding from the auDA Foundation to explore what older Australians who never or rarely use the Internet (referred to as ‘non-users’) know about the types of online products and services available to them, and how they might use these products and services to improve their daily life. This project aims to support current and future strategies and initiatives by: 1) exploring the extent to which non-users are aware of the types and benefits of online products and services, (such as e-shopping, e-banking, e-health, social networking, and general browsing and research) as well as their interest in them b) identifying how the Internet can improve the daily life of older Australians c) reviewing the effectiveness of support and services designed to educate and encourage older people to engage with the Internet d) recommending strategies that aim to raise non-user awareness of current and emerging online products and services, and provide non-users with the skills and knowledge needed to use those products and services that they believe can improve their daily life. The Productive Ageing Centre at National Seniors Australia, and Professor Trevor Barr from Swinburne University provided the project with in-kind support

ICT skills acquisition by older people: motivations for learning and barriers to progression

This paper reports findings from one strand of an extensive research project investigating digital engagement of older people and the risks to sustained usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The factors that motivate older people to learn about ICTs, the barriers they face in the learning process and with on-going ICT use are examined. Research methods included focus groups (28 ICT learners aged 50+); questionnaires and interviews with seven 50+ learners; three interviews with ICT tutors; and observation sessions in three different ICT learning and support environments in England and Scotland. Findings show that while learning to use ICTs to ease the mechanics of daily life (e.g. on-line shopping) was a motivating factor for some, the more powerful drivers tended to be those applications seen as enriching quality of life e.g. using ICTs to keeping in contact with family and friends and using ICTs in pursuit of passions and interests. The key barriers relate to fear of using a computer; learning suppo rt ; quality and provision of ICT training; cost of training and technology; memory problems, and technology barriers. Implications of these findings for service providers, ICT designers and policy makers are identified and discussed

Digital exclusion in later life : a Maltese case-study

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving profound changes in the way in which individuals, organizations and governments interact. In particular, the internet has been a major force behind the development towards a more globalized, knowledge-based economy. However, in terms of computer access and internet usage, a digital divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has long been recognized. One key sector of non-users consists of older persons. For various reasons – including no exposure to computers over their lifetime and in their occupations, income levels, physical disability and access to affordable ICT training – only limited percentages of older people have adequate ICT skills. A growing concern is that older adults who do not engage with ICTs face social disadvantages and exclusion. This article reports upon a qualitative study on older non-users of ICTs, with its key goal being to understand what leads to, and the effects of, digital exclusion in later life. Results found that older persons who never made use of ICTs were significantly delineated by gender and socio-economic status patterns - namely, women (especially housewives, who had never been in paid employment), individuals who worked in blue-collar and working-class occupations, and the long-term unemployed. Data also demonstrated that access was not the main issue at hand, and that the failure of older adults to become digital citizens was the result of a continuum of overlapping barriers. This study provided information highlighting the rationales and motivations underlying individuals’ non-use of computers - namely, believing that they were now ‘too old’ to use new technologies, a lack of relevance or ‘life-fit’ of computers, perceived non-usefulness and difficulty to use, anxiety about computer usage, concern about security and privacy issues, and the facing of disability issues.N/

Hong Kong home economics teachers' adoption of ICT for learning and teaching

The Hong Kong government has implemented policies to increase both the availability of ICT in schools and the capabilities of teachers for using them. This paper reports the responses of Hong Kong Home Economics teachers using a theoretical framework informed by educational change theory and prior research about the adoption of ICT by teachers. A questionnaire distributed to 350 Hong Kong secondary schools elicited 252 responses that appeared to be representative of the population. Data revealed that typical respondents had attained at least the intermediate level on the HK IT competence standards for teachers, held positive attitudes toward the use of ICT in teaching, and had access to ICT in their teaching spaces. However, the mean rate of use of ICT for teaching was 1.5 hours per week and the major uses were for lecturing or explanation. Although most had encountered problems when using ICT in their teaching they generally agreed that technical support was adequate. A large proportion saw a need for additional subject specific ICT resources and professional development in pedagogy

Implications of the Information Technology Revolution for People with Disabilities

The paper focuses on opportunities for the integration of persons with different types of disabilities in the information technology (IT) labour market. Recent IT developments are identified and examined for their potentially harmful or beneficial effects on access to the IT labour market for persons with disabilities. The opportunities created by new job creation, new forms of training, teleworking, and the role of assistive technologies in facilitating workplace accommodations are briefly described. The focus is on new options for the design and implementation of computer-related assistive technologies in the workplace, and the impact of teleworking and the World Wide Web on employability and work-related training of persons with disabilities. The paper closes with a brief discussion of the roles that government agencies, business firms, labour unions, non-governmental organisations and education can play to help people with disabilities join the IT revolution and share its benefits

Are digital natives a myth or reality?: Students’ use of technologies for learning

This paper outlines the findings of a study investigating the extent and nature of use of digital technologies by undergraduate students in Social Work and Engineering, in two British universities. The study involved a questionnaire survey of students (n=160) followed by in-depth interviews with students (n=8) and lecturers and support staff (n=8) in both institutions. Firstly, the findings suggest that students use a limited range of technologies for both learning and socialisation. For learning, mainly established ICTs are used- institutional VLE, Google and Wikipedia and mobile phones. Students make limited, recreational use of social technologies such as media sharing tools and social networking sites. Secondly, the findings point to a low level of use of and familiarity with collaborative knowledge creation tools, virtual worlds, personal web publishing, and other emergent social technologies. Thirdly, the study did not find evidence to support the claims regarding students adopting radically different patterns of knowledge creation and sharing suggested by some previous studies. The study shows that students’ attitudes to learning appear to be influenced by the approaches adopted by their lecturers. Far from demanding lecturers change their practice, students appear to conform to fairly traditional pedagogies, albeit with minor uses of technology tools that deliver content. Despite both groups clearly using a rather limited range of technologies for learning, the results point to some age differences, with younger, engineering students making somewhat more active, albeit limited, use of tools than the older ones. The outcomes suggest that although the calls for radical transformations in educational approaches may be legitimate it would be misleading to ground the arguments for such change solely in students’ shifting expectations and patterns of learning and technology use

Self-reported “communication technology” usage in patients attending a cardiology outpatient clinic in a remote regional hospital

Peer reviewedPublisher PD