Digital Literacy Education for Older Adults: A Scoping Review

In the context of global aging, digital technologies are increasingly recognized as a means to address the challenges associated with aging. Although many studies have explored the relationship between older adults and digital literacy, there is a gap identifying their necessary skills, challenges, and learning motivations. This review identified 30 articles from 2014 to 2024 and delineated five areas of digital literacy skills that older adults acquire, the hurdles they face in this process, and what drives their learning efforts. The difficulties faced by older adults in learning digital literacy include unfamiliarity with technology, cognitive decline, emotional barriers, limited access to digital resources, and physical and health issues. These challenges may lead to frustration in their use of devices and apps, which may affect their willingness to learn. This study, despite a small sampling size, paves the way for future research, including evaluating online fake information and addressing safety risks. 87 Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology | Oct. 25 – 29, 2024 | Calgary, AB, Canada.