People at retirement age and older would seem to be one of the target groups who would profit most from online learning opportunities. However, appropriate eLearning scenarios have to be developed that address their specific need and come to grips with some of their limitations.

FIM-NewLearning at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany together with six European organisations, including the Bavarian Senior Citizens Network (BSNF) and the UK's University of the Third Age (U3A), have taken up the challenge by initiating the project eLSe - eLearning for Seniors, a Socrates-Minerva project.


The goal is to develop an overall pedagogical and technological concept for an appropriate eLearning environment especially dedicated to older people who have little or no experience in ICT. At home with a special eLSe Computer, the eLSe participants were able to acquire adequate ICT skills to write e-mails, use the internet, and use a computer as a gateway for virtual learning opportunities.

The eLSe project focuses on three main tasks:

• Development of seven eLearning modules especially conceived for the needs and interests of older people, following a carefully designed didactic concept. The modules were in part developed, or at least reviewed, by senior citizens with long-term experience in ICT training and with the support of other members of their age group. The approach is based on the immediate use and transfer of the skills learned and features constant feedback and regular retraining loops to consolidate skills already acquired.
• An open source learning platform adapted for the target group that takes strict account of pedagogical needs and usability. The screen layout is very clear and easy to work with and provides only information that the developers viewed as necessary at the initial stage. The introduction to using the eLearning platform is based on a three-step approach aimed at ensuring a secure ability to deal with the learning environment and eliminating any insecurity that might exist. The first steps involve enabling the users to display the content and to navigate through the eLearning modules.
  
  

  Additionally, the handling of embedded media, e.g. simulations, demonstrations, interactive elements, audio, and video elements, is well explained and supported, and for better understanding, online training is provided Finally, the use of the communication facilities within the platform (e.g. discussion boards, e-mail, and chat) are explained, and incentives for their use are provided by the members of the support team. This phase is also extremely important for the essential development of a sense of community among the training participants.

• In the training phase, support related to content, technical issues, and motivational factors is provided in depth by the support team as a way of maintaining motivation and learning progress while paying attention to the range of individual differences. Feedback and self-training features are reinforced, and complementary sound and visual elements are included in order to compensate for physical impairments, with synchronous support elements receiving special emphasis.

The project is now in its third year and approaching its end. The concepts and products have been implemented, tested, and evaluated in Germany and the United Kingdom, with a total of sixty participants, and pilots are starting in Sweden and Spain. The findings are unequivocal: the eLSe Project has ascertained that eLearning environments - if didactically well designed - can definitely meet the needs of older learners and are extremely well accepted by them.

There are many reasons for this.

1. eLearning comes to people and not vice-versa. This factor addresses seniors' frequent mobility constraints due to physical impairments, domestic responsibilities (e.g. taking care of relatives), or living outside areas where ICT-training programs are available.
2. eLearning works best for those whose time for learning is available at irregular intervals. The post-professional life is often characterised by a variable daily rhythm and plenty of leisure activities. In these cases, asynchronous eLearning programs offer extreme flexibility.
3. Furthermore, it is a fact that, due to their life experience, many seniors are well-versed in self-management and motivated to try something new, a fact that supports the demands of eLearning in a positive way.
4. eLearning enables people to choose their own learning speed, as they are not driven by others, and it enables them to repeat things as often as they wish. These features effectively support the changes in memory processing that can occur as people get older. For example, older adults sometimes have difficulty in novel situations in which they are required to respond flexibly to tasks that demand rote learning.
5. In addition, it should be emphasized that mentoring and tutoring can be done much more individually in eLearning. This is yet another factor that adapts well to the individual needs of older adults.
6. Competitiveness and pressure to perform amongst course participants, which often is seen as rather a problem in face-to-face learning environments, is almost non-existent. The pressure of having to be as fast as other participants is almost non-existent in virtual learning environments. This aspect is of major importance, since third agers tend to have less self-confidence and are more afraid of making mistakes. In learning processes, fear leads to increased activity in the amygdaloid nucleus, which constrains cognitive processes.
7. Mutual support amongst participants in virtual learning communities is one further positive factor, with community-building being supported by personal and technical assistance. Learners are engaged in the whole learning and teaching process and thus gain self-confidence.

A 75-year-old learner commented, "I liked being able to get to grips with this technology that was new to me in the privacy of my own home and in my own time. I also enjoyed being able to work at my own pace, since some things came quickly, whereas others did not. Being able to contact our mentors and other course members from time to time and when necessary was also a considerable help."