Comunicar 39-ingles - Revista Comunicar

195can contribute to the development of new social links,new windows on to the world and new tools of communicationand activities of cognitive stimulation; itcan also permit access to culture and permanent educationand involvement in activities of social cooperation.To that end it is necessary to offer the possibilityof education in the specific competences that ICTrequire and their appropriate usage. The way inwhich this educative process is carried out is crucialfor the incorporation of seniorcitizens into the digital culture.In this sense, Huelves (2009:56-77) mentions some elementsthat must be consideredwhen developing digital competencesin the elderly. Theseelements are: memory, especiallyat the time of recovery,for that reason a spiral methodologyis a good strategy touse; psychomotricity, consideringsome guidelines on pos -ture ergonomics in relation tothe machine; development oflearning, demonstrating patienceand comprehension.Studies carried out inSpain to learn what use theelderly make of ICT are fewand far between, and for thatreason our research objectivesconcentrate on discoveringand describing the types of usethat the elderly make of ICT, and the technologicalresources they mostly use. The hypothesis is confirmed:the access to and use of ICT among elderly peopleis positive since they are used in activities related tocommunication, information, education and leisure:everyday activities that provide new opportunities forrelating to other people.2. Material and methodThe design of the research is a descriptive studywhose objectives and methodology respond to paradigmaticcomplementariness given the nature of thephenomenon studied, which is largely unexplored,changeable and dynamic. The participants in the studyconsisted of 215 elderly ICT users from the Spanishregion of Asturias who regularly frequent social centresfor the elderly.The research uses two instruments for data collectiontaking into account methodological complementariness:a survey oriented to the gathering of informationon the technological resources most widely usedby the elderly and the usage they make of them; discussiongroups that complement, contrast and enrichthe data extracted with specific experiences andexamples of ICT use.The SPSS tool of statistical analysis and data processing(version 12.0) has been used for the analysis ofthe quantitative data. The analysis is fundamentally, aSociety has opened up spaces for the elderly to become digitallyliterate and they (although still not many) approach ICTwith the main intention of learning about how they function(digital literacy) and to acquire the necessary basiccompetences for managing and using them for theirparticular needs, which will lead them to acquire computerknowledge and enjoy using that knowhow. This researchshows that the elderly use ICT as a form of education; thatthese generations of the elderly need and want to learn,and see this moment in their lives as the right timeto approach ICT.study of two variables with the application of statisticaldecision tests: Pearson’s Chi-squared test, Phi coefficient,Pearson’s coefficient correlation, Goodman’sLambda coefficient and the factorial analysis of variance(ANOVA).3. ResultsThe results demonstrate that the elderly are aheterogeneous social group, and the ways in whichthey use ICT are related to necessity and individualinterests.3.1. The technological resources most widely usedby the elderlyThe computer is the most widely used informationtechnology (68.8%), followed by the Internet (50.7%),resources which are normally used in public spaces(52.15%). The results also show that elderly peoplewith a higher level of education have greater privateComunicar, 39, XX, 2012© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293• Pages 193-201