Public Library-Led Digital Literacy Training to Older Adults in Social Housing
Abstract
This paper describes an in-progress two-cycled Action Research investigation of public library-led digital literacy training to older adults in social housing. Prior to the first cycle, the digital literacy needs and training preferences of CityHousing Hamilton (CHH) older adults were identified. These findings were then used to design and evaluate an Android tablet training program delivered by Hamilton Public Library (HPL) to CHH older adults onsite at their CHH place of residence (Cycle One). Findings from Cycle One were then used to design and implement another iteration of onsite HPL-led tablet training to CHH seniors (Cycle Two).
Brian Detlor
DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University
Brian Detlor is Professor of Information Systems in the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. He also is Professor (Status Only) in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto and serves as a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Social Informatics, School of Computing, Engineering, and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. He is a Past-President of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T). His recent research projects involve the investigation of digital literacy training programs, specifically to marginalized older adults, led by public libraries, social service agencies, other local community organizations. Research partner organizations include Hamilton Public Library, Dixon Hall, and CityHousing Hamilton. Brian is also an active research member of McMaster Institute for Research on Aging and the McMaster Digital Transformation Research Centre.